Boxing: Honour marks Lewis year of turmoil and triumph

Lennox Lewis has been awarded the CBE in the Honours List after an eventful year in which he lost then regained the world heavyweight championship.

Lennox Lewis has been awarded the British CBE in the Honours List after an eventful year in which he lost then regained the world heavyweight championship.

Lewis, who already held the MBE, had suffered a career-threatening defeat to underdog Hasim Rahman in South Africa in April.

But he gained revenge and won back his WBC, IBF and IBO titles with a stunning knockout victory over Rahman in Las Vegas in November.

Lewis can now prepare for his potential April bout with Mike Tyson in the knowledge that victory would take him even closer to joining Sir Henry Cooper as a boxing knight.

The West Ham-born star, who won Olympic gold for Canada before committing himself to the country of his birth, has won over an initially sceptical British public with his relaxed and friendly demeanour as well as his boxing skills.

There were few supporters willing to cheer on Lewis during his 1993 bout with the nation's favourite Frank Bruno in 1993, but he has finally emerged from Big Frank's publicity shadow and the acclaim has flooded in.

Lewis was named 1999 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the first boxer to win the award since Barry McGuigan and testament to his rather belated popularity.