• Lennox Lewis, 48, has no intention of facing Vitali or Wladimir • Former heavyweight champion denies rumours of $100m purse

Lennox Lewis has dismissed reports that he is preparing to make a comeback to fight one of the Klitschko brothers. The former world heavyweight champion is took to Twitter to insist he has no intention of stepping back in the ring at the age of 48.

Lewis tweeted: "A hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question does NOT equal reality £NoComeback," before adding: "I'm not stepping back in the ring but I AM looking for the next crop of new talent!"

The response will kill off rumours he was preparing to accept a world record purse in excess of $100m to provide the Klitschkos with some much-needed competition.

He told BT Sport: "The question was asked of me: 'Did anyone ever offer you any money to come back?' And I said 'yeah'. And they said 'how much?' I said '50' [million US$].

"They said: 'Wow, that's a lot of money. You're not going to take it?' I said 'no – something like that would cost at least 100' [million US$].

"So they said 'yeah? how long would it take for you to train?' And I said 'six months, a year if I was serious'. And then the story just went. The question was asked of me. A bunch of reporters were asking me questions around the table and obviously it got misconstrued. But there's no money on the table."

Wladimir Klitschko successfully defended his world title in Moscow last Saturday night with a routine victory over the widely regarded best available challenger, Alexander Povetkin.

Lewis last fought when he beat Vitali Klitschko in June 2003, and despite sporadic reports to the contrary, he has resisted the temptation to make a comeback.