On this day in 1992, Lennox Lewis bagged the British heavyweight belt outright in his 20th professional contest
Lennox Lewis, then 26, defeated Derek ‘Sweet D’ Williams at the Royal Albert Hall in the third defence of his British belt, retaining his European title and bagging the Commonwealth strap in the process.
Entering the ring with 19 wins and 16 knockouts, Lewis was matched well in the first round by the man that had legendary trainer Angelo Dundee in his corner. Williams was ultra confident, taking time to trash talk to Lewis during rounds, laughing at him and tapping his head jokingly to frustrate the home favourite.
Lewis only started to get his jab working in the second part of the second-round, which was when he began to find the openings for the first time, but was outlanded by the underdog up to that point.
In the third round, 'The Lion' landed a huge right hand that hurt 'Sweet D' and caused him to stagger around the ring, desperately tryng to hold on. A vicious right uppercut downed Derek shortly after and, although he beat the count, referee Larry O'Connell rightly stopped the contest with 30 seconds remaining in the third segment.
Lewis ended that standout year of his career as a world champion, but not in the conventional way – it was later in May 1993, the following year, that ‘The Lion’ would lift his first world title in the ring with a unanimous decision win over Tony Tucker in America.
Lewis actually entered that bout as the champion already after winning the eliminator for the WBC World heavyweight title in his preceding fight with Donovan Ruddock in October 1992. His status was elevated to WBC World heavyweight champion when the titleholder, Riddick Bowe – who Lewis beat in the 1988 Seoul Olympics to win gold – refused to face him.
The 1986 Commonwealth and 1988 Olympic champion ended his glittering career as a three-time world heavyweight champion and two-time Lineal champion.