Remembering Butch Lewis as more than a boxing promoter

WILMINGTON - Butch Lewis promoted his first fight in the fourth grade, his sister Anita recalled. Lewis had convinced one of his friends to fight another kid in the school yard.

It was in his DNA. Talented people gravitated to him. Then he made them stick. So it comes as no surprise that the little fourth grader became one of the greatest boxing promoters, having worked for more than 30 years with the likes of Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali and Michael and Leon Spinks.

At the celebration of Lewis' life on Monday afternoon, there was a parade of people who painted a picture of this unique man. More than 1,000 friends and family members attended the service after learning that Lewis died of natural causes on July 23 at the age of 65. They came to laugh at these stories.

Like how he claimed he was from Chester when he was really from Woodbury, Gloucester County.

Or how he didn't change who he was for anyone or any situation. He acted the same in the White House as he did his own house. He was prideful but for good reason: he was smart and savvy.

"He wasn't the typical fight manager," said Leonard Williams, a friend.

That was true is so many ways: how he cared about his fighters to his signature look. Lewis is famous for the suits he wore to the fights he promoted. All dressed up with a bow tie to match, he would be bare-chested.

One of Lewis' crowning achievements came in 1978, when he promoted a fight between Ali, the world heavyweight champ, and Olympian Leon Spinks, who had just seven pro fights. Spinks went on to shock the world by taking Ali's crown.

At the Chase Center, where the funeral was held, dozens of pictures showed the many people Lewis touched in boxing and the entertainment business years after. One of the pictures displayed near the viewing area was a recent photo of Lewis with a gray beard. Specks of black littered the gray, his youth peeking through. His left hand held Ali's aging fist, and his right hand held another former fighter's fist. He was always bringing people together.

"Butch found joy in connecting people," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was a friend of Lewis' and gave his eulogy. "And his ego was not served by how big he was. His ego was served by how he promoted the unity of those who were talented, that needed his touch."

That touch continued to the days when his company, Butch Lewis Productions, expanded into entertainment. Oscar-winner Denzel Washington was a good friend and in attendance at the funeral.

Lewis worked hard for his success. After his grandmother, who was raising him, passed away, he moved to Chester, where he worked for his father as a car salesman and quit high school as a senior. The world was his school.

Williams said Lewis may not have had a high school diploma, but he had "Ph.D.s in human behavior. A Ph.D. in economics. And a Ph.D. in common sense."