Editing Lennox Lewis (section)

===Early career===
Having achieved his goal, Lewis declared himself a professional and moved back to his native England. He claimed he had always considered himself British,<ref name="The Times 2008-04-02">{{cite news | first=Ron | last=Lewis | title=Lennox Lewis still fighting his corner as he lays into heavyweight issues | date=2 April 2008 | work=The Times| url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article3300963.ece | access-date = 21 December 2023 | location=London | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902205607/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article3300963.ece | archivedate=2 September 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/forum/566535.stm "Lennox Lewis answers your questions"] BBC, 21 December 2009, retrieved 25 December 2010</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/10/sports/boxing-bruno-vs-lewis-a-personal-battle-of-britain.html "BOXING; Bruno vs. Lewis: A Personal Battle of Britain"] New York Times, 10 August 1993, retrieved 25 December 2010</ref> but one article reported that many British fans regarded him as "a [[Canadians|Canadian]] at heart and a Briton for convenience."<ref name="Sports Illustrated 1993-10-11">{{cite magazine | first=Pat | last=Putnam | title=Bloody Poor Show| date=11 October 1993| publisher=Time Warner | url =https://www.si.com/vault/1993/10/11/129536/bloody-poor-show-lennox-lewis-kod-countryman-frank-bruno-in-an-uninspired-outing | magazine =Sports Illustrated | access-date = 9 April 2019}}</ref> In 2015 Lewis explained "When I turned pro, I had to go to the United Kingdom in order to pursue my career. The infrastructure to develop boxers wasn't in Canada then."<ref>{{cite news | first=Bill | last=Lankhof | title=Lennox Lewis wants to make Toronto 'Boxing City' | date=14 July 2015 | publisher=Sun Media | url =http://www.torontosun.com/2015/07/14/lennox-lewis-wants-to-make-toronto-boxing-city | access-date = 18 July 2015 | location=Toronto}}</ref>

Lewis signed with boxing promoter [[Frank Maloney]] and his early professional career was filled with knockouts of [[Journeyman (boxing)|journeymen]], as well as fighters such as [[Osvaldo Ocasio]].