Butch Lewis will be remembered for changing the business of boxing as a promoter. He promoted fights for Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Michael and Leon Spinks.
His promotion of the Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks fight in 1987 became the largest guaranteed payday in boxing history. Lewis also delved into Hollywood as a producer of the films Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored and Out-of-Sync.
Many prominent individuals paid tribute to Butch Lewis at his home going service in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 1. Denzel Washington, Magic Johnson, Judge Joe Mathis, Robert Townsend, Darryl “Chill” Mitchell and Morehouse College President Robert M. Franklin were all in attendance.
Lewis died on July 23 of natural causes in Bethany Beach, Del. –amir shaw
