Lewis was told by the World Boxing Council he must agree to face the Ukrainian again by March 1 or be stripped of his title.

Lewis has been considering his future for some time and it is believed his mother Violet ultimately had the biggest say in his decision to quit.

In doing so Lewis becomes the first reigning heavyweight champion to retire since Rocky Marciano in 1956.

Gene Tunney also announced his retirement as champion after beating Tom Heeney in New York in 1928.

Lewis’ 14-year career began after he claimed the Olympic super-heavyweight title in 1988 while representing Canada. He lost only two of his 44 paid fights against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman – both defeats he later avenged.

Lewis became Britain’s first major world heavyweight champion of the century when he was handed the WBC belt by Riddick Bowe in 1992. He finally became undisputed champion seven years later when he beat Evander Holyfield at the second time of asking.

Lewis went on to wipe out Mike Tyson in the eighth round in Memphis in 2002 and was urged to retire on top.

Instead he battled Klitschko and retained his title when the Ukrainian – who was winning on the scorecards – was forced to retire with bad cuts.