Former undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World Lennox Lewis took some time to warm to the American public during his career but believes Anthony Joshua will be a big hit in the States.

I can recall watching many of Lewis’ American fights on TV and although it took a bit of time for the US boxing fans to warm to him, when they did, they had big respect for him. Particularly after he beat Mike Tyson.

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America has always being a tough market for Brits to crack, but Lennox Lewis believes Anthony Joshua has everything necessary to do so – particularly after doing a deal with US TV network Showtime this year.

Speaking on Sky Sports this week Lewis said:

“Yeah I think he’ll have a great impact, I think the American public will love to see him. He’s such a big, strong man. They’re not used to seeing that type of boxer, they’re used to seeing guys with big bellys and stuff like that. So when they hear about this big British boxer that looks so strong and is coming over to America they’re going to tune in to see who this man is.”

He added:

“For me I went over there and they booed me. That really gave me the energy to go in there and win, so when I won I could hear a lot of cheers afterwards. It was really just turning the corner because there’s a lot of people that are patriotic over there and don’t believe that British fighters are all horizontal and that they can’t fight. But I’m sure Anthony Joshua is going to show them that it’s not true and that there’s great fighters in Britain.”

Here’s the biggest round of Lewis’ American boxing travels, and indeed of his career:

(Credit: Boxing Legends):

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