Joe Lewis

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American kickboxer, point karate fighter, and actor in films and on TV, who was briefly married to actress Barbara Leigh. As a fighter, Lewis gained fame for his matches in the 1960s and 1970s. He has twice been voted the greatest fighter in karate history, having won innumerable karate tournaments, and has attained the titles of "United States Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion," "World Heavyweight Full Contact Karate Champion," and "United States National Black Belt Kata Champion." Bruce Lee also considered him "The Greatest Karate Fighter Of All Time" and even The Iron Sheik assented that "Joe Lewis was no jabroni" and "The Greatest Fighter Of His Time". He was also named by the STAR System Records as the "STAR Historic Undisputed Heavyweight World Champion" and is credited on their site as the "Father of Modern Kickboxing". In July 2011, he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Doctors told him that if he did nothing, he'd have six to eight weeks to live. On July 18, surgeons removed the tumour. Lewis died one year and forty-five days later, aged 68, on the morning of 31 August 2012, at Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Link to Wikipedia biography