Lennox Lewis nearly fought WWE icon Brock Lesnar but key reason stopped fight

Boxing legend Lennox Lewis once turned down a massive payday to fight Brock Lesnar back in 2002. Although it appeared as if both sides were close to an agreement to get the fight underway, the bout was eventually called off after it was revealed that Lesnar would not be fighting with gloves. 

As such, Lewis turned down the reported £5 million (£8,858,337.99 in 2023) fight, despite arguably being the biggest boxer in the world, having beat Mike Tyson that same year. For reference, the fight would have netted Lewis $7.5 million ($12,826,750.97 in 2023) had it happened. 

The rumored fight was so close to happening that WWE chief Vince McMahon even spoke with officials at the Nevada Athletic Commission to sanction the fight. Although the rumored bout's details remained in the shadows for more than a decade, Lewis confirmed the details of the fight in 2015 and how close the match was from occurring. 

"Very seriously, until they said he wasn't wearing gloves," Lewis told TSN's Off The Record when asked about his fight with Lensar. "They wanted to put me in with gloves on."

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After the fight with Lesnar was canceled, Lewis faced Vitali Klitschko in 2003 which was his last win. The former world heavyweight champion then retired from professional boxing in 2004, having compiled a record of 41-2-1 with 32 knockouts. 

Meanwhile, Lesnar went on to have a successful career in WWE, winning the WWE Championship seven times and WWE Universal Championship three times. Along with his success with WWE, Lesnar also had a relatively successful MMA career. 

Lesnar was in the UFC for a number of years and even won the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 91 via TKO, beating Randy Couture after pounding him. At UFC 116, Lesnar defeated Shane Carwin to become the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion, giving Carwin his first loss and tying a UFC record for the most consecutive successful UFC Heavyweight Championship defenses.

In 2011, Lesnar retired from UFC but then returned in 2016, after spending five years back in WWE. He then spent the next handful of years bouncing back and forth between MMA and wrestling before returning to WWE in 2021 at SummerSlam. 

Since then, Lesnar has been designated a "free agent" allowing him to appear on both SmackDown and Raw, depending on what is needed from him. Despite being in his mid-40s and suffering numerous injuries during his time in the UFC, Lesnar is still showing he can provide action and entertainment. 

That said, had Lewis and Lesnar's fight happened in 2002, it would have been the first of its kind as now, exhibition matches between fighters of different disciplines are commonplace nowadays. One of the most famous of these events happened in 2017, when Floyd Mayweather faced Conor McGregor in his 50th and final bout. 

Mayweather handily defeated McGregor and has since faced YouTubers Logan Paul and Deji Olatunji in exhibitions. Tyson Fury's brother Tommy is 10-0 and has defeated YouTubers Jake Paul and KSI this year. 

Although the fight between Lewis and Lesnar never happened, it would have been one of the biggest fights had it happened with both men in their primes. Still, it appears that neither man thinks about the missed opportunity too much, given the success of both professionals in the aftermath.