LONDON (AP):

WEEKS after completing a sex change, the boxing promoter behind Lennox Lewis' rise to world heavyweight champion is back working in the sport.

"I may have had a body modification," Kellie Maloney said yesterday after announcing the resumption of a 30-year career as a promoter, "but I haven't had my brain altered just yet."

Under her previous name, Frank, Maloney was Lewis' promoter and biggest cheerleader as the British fighter won heavyweight titles in the 1990s and early 2000s. The diminutive Maloney was a recognisable figure, famous for wearing a flamboyant British flag suit on his trips to the United States for fights.

Maloney also took David Haye, Paul Ingle, and Scott Harrison to world titles.

Kellie Maloney will start afresh after taking on two fighters, Scottish heavyweight Gary Cornish and English amateur Tony Jones. Her first appearance back in boxing circles will be in Glasgow on May 23, when Cornish and Jones are scheduled to fight.

Maloney announced last August that she was transitioning genders. The change was completed at the start of this month, and she was persuaded to return to boxing when Jones knocked on her door and asked if she could manage him.

Frank Maloney handed back licences to the British Boxing Board of Control in 2013 after growing disillusioned with the sport.