Retired heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said on Sunday he would be tempted to return to the ring only if he was offered a 100 million dollars after former foe Vitali Klitschko called for a re-match.
Klitschko, 37, came out of retirement last month to be crowned world champion for the third time when he beat Nigeria's Samuel Peter to win the WBC crown and last week called for a re-match of his 2003 fight with Lewis.
The Briton has not fought since retaining his WBC title against Klitschko in 2003, but he told the Mail on Sunday he would need to see an offer near 100 million dollars to entice him back into the ring.
The 43-year-old, who once held the WBO, IBF and IBO belts, admits he has been tempted to return after watching Klitschko beat Peter and is back in training, but the money would need to be big.
"If someone wants to pay me serious money, 100million dollars or so, then I will fight again," said Lewis. "I don't have to do this, I don't need the money and my legacy speaks for itself.
"But boxing needs me - the heavyweight game is so boring now. "All the characters are gone. I would like to save my sport. "The fights have been so dull and one-sided. "I couldn't believe what I was watching," added Lewis after seeing the Klitschko-Peter fight from Berlin last month.
"Boxers usually come back or continue fighting for two reasons," he said.
"Either the atmosphere of the crowd or the money. "Me? I don't need either, I'm happy as I am. But I think the sport needs me and I love my sport. And I don't like seeing it the way it is."
Lewis currently weighs around 127kgs and says he would need six months to drop to his fighting weight of 116kgs. So far the former champ has only received offers of US $40m to return to the ring.
"It would have to be nearer 100million dollars to make me say yes, but there are people out there who can get that kind of money together," he said. "There are a lot of people who would pay to see me fight again. It would be exciting, for the sport and for me. "And if I come back, it will be to win, not play."
Lewis quit in June 2003 after he won a technical knock-out victory over Klitschko when the referee had to intervene in the sixth round with the Ukrainian suffering a badly cut eye. Klitschko, along with brother Wladimir who holds the IBF, WBO and IBO belts, has said he wants the siblings from Kiev to hold all the world titles.
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