The level of Lewis' opponents

[Benncollinsaad]

Here are some of his more noteworthy performances..
All against top 10 fighters..

He KO'd the very best version of Frank Bruno
He KO'd Shannon Briggs who had just beaten Foreman
He KO'd Botha who had just drawn with Briggs
He KO'd Ruddock who had just KO'd Jackson & stopped Page
He KO'd Morrison who had just KO'd Ruddock & beaten Foreman
He beat Mercer who KO'd Morrison
He KO'd Golota who had exposed Bowe
He KO'd Grant who had KO'd Golota
He beat Tua who had KO'd Ruiz, Izon & Maskaev
He beat Holyfield who had only lost to Bowe & Moorer
He stopped Vitali who is still arguably no1, still to this day!

So who did he duck?

A prime Tyson because he was in prison? or Ibeabuchi because he was in the nut house? I know certain posters believe that Lewis ducked Bowe, but absolutely nothing could be further from the truth, and we'll put it to the vote if need be!

Perhaps he should have fought Vaughn Bean, Lou Saverese, Jesse Ferguson, Bert Cooper or even Tim Tomashek lol, but one things for certain, he fought the very best available to him, and beat them all.. Moorer could have stepped up, and would of had a punchers chance, but I'm not sure whether or not, that match was ever suggested?
As you can see from the above top tenners, he was right in the very thick of it when it came to fighting against good quality opposition..
I'd say the only guy he ever ducked was Ruiz, not because he couldn't beat him, but more because he might look bad doing it..

It doesn't matter if Morrison had koed Ruddock before that fight, he was not in the same shape in the Lewis fight. Golota had been injected with lydocaine, FOR THE EIGHTEENTH FAKKING TIME! And Botha drew Briggs, but it was an out of shape Briggs, who was never much more than a slugger.

[mickey malone]

It doesn't matter if Morrison had koed Ruddock before that fight, he was not in the same shape in the Lewis fight. Golota had been injected with lydocaine, FOR THE EIGHTEENTH FAKKING TIME! And Botha drew Briggs, but it was an out of shape Briggs, who was never much more than a slugger.

Nothings ever perfect.. Tyson wouldn't have lost to Douglas if he was'nt still off his trolley from the night before..
Douglas was still a high level contender as Tyson was a high level champion..
All of the contenders I have mentioned have spent considerable time in the top ten during Lewis's era..
What fighters would you suggest, who I haven't already mentioned?

[Benncollinsaad]

Nothings ever perfect.. Tyson wouldn't have lost to Douglas if he was'nt still off his trolley from the night before..
Douglas was still a high level contender as Tyson was a high level champion..
All of the contenders I have mentioned have spent considerable time in the top ten during Lewis's era..
What fighters would you suggest, who I haven't already mentioned?

Oleg Maskaev, Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker, Larry Donald...I'll probably remember someone else.

[mickey malone]

Oleg Maskaev, Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker, Larry Donald...I'll probably remember someone else.

They were WBO level fighters.. Johnson being the best of them, kinda missed the bus, fighting a lot of journeymen while Lewis was in his prime, but after beating Maskaev and Donald came on late to fail miserably against Ruiz.. Donald had his chance with Bowe and was exposed, while Maskaev was indeed crushed by Johnson at the end of his journeyman spell..
Whitaker by anyones standards was a fringe contender, and only briefly entered the top ten, after one of his flash victories..
Lewis definately fought more worthy contenders than the above..

[The Number 6]

Lewis beat the best heavyweights of his time who were willing to step into the ring with him.

He destroyed Razor Ruddock before his title reign, a Ruddock who gave Tyson quite a few problems in their 2 fights a few fights before.

Then he beat Tony Tucker, who while not being a world beater, was a good fighter. That was probably the most motivated and well trained version of Tucker since Tucker's fight with Tyson, and probably the last time Tucker was really motivated as well. Lewis handled him.

Frank Bruno was next, highly rated at the time with losses only to the best in the world. Bruno was very motivated for this fight, kept calling himself the True Brit while labeling Lewis a fraud.

Sure he lost to McCall, it was a punch he never saw coming, happens to everyone. Unfortunately for Lewis, it happened to him twice over the course of his career.

After a few comeback fights, 1 of which was against former Freddie Roach right hand man Justin Fortune, he fought Tommy Morrison who at the time was considered a top 15 heavyweight. Lewis destroyed him.

Ray Mercer was also considered a top heavyweight back then, Mercer gave Lewis arguably his toughest since Bruno in a fight that could've gone either way. As a sidenote, I had Lewis scraping it.

Then came the farce of a title fight against McCall which was none of his fault, Don King who I believe was McCall's promoter at the time forced McCall to fight when McCall was going through withdrawal for his cocaine habits.

Henry Akinwande was actually a pretty highly regarded heavyweight hopeful back then who held the WBO title, can't imagine why honestly but he was. Lewis fought him when Akinwande was supposed to be at his best coming off good performances against Alexander Zolkin and Scott Welch. Akinwande hugged his way to a DQ loss, quite a disappointment.

Andrew Golota was another highly rated heavyweight at the time with his only 2 losses coming against Bowe in DQs because of those low blows, Golota had also beaten fellow prospect Danell Nicholson prior to the Bowe fights. Lewis annihilated him, something no one would do until Lamon Brewster did it 8 years later.

Lewis fought Briggs because Briggs beat Foreman who was considered to be the lineal champion, whether Briggs deserved to beat Foreman is another matter but you can't blame Lewis for fighting him. Lewis survived some early storms to knock Briggs out. Briggs has since gone on to become a title holder.

Where did you hear Mavrovic was weight drained? Never heard of a heavyweight being weight drained before honestly. Over trained? Sure. Under trained? Yep. But weight drained? Never.

Then came the 2 fights against Holyfield to have an undisputed heavyweight champion, he honestly dominated Holyfield in the first fight only to have the fight scored a draw, then he also won the second fight which was closer but he won it nonetheless.

Michael Grant was a heavily hyped HBO product at the time who was I believe a mandatory to one of Lewis' belts. He was deemed the American hope back then, poor guy got exposed on a big, big stage.

You could argue about Botha getting a title shot but Botha was world rated, he was coming off a disputed draw against Briggs, which he should've won in my eyes, I think even Briggs said he was lucky to get a draw and he was beating Tyson before Tyson caught him, the Tyson fight is also noteworthy because Tyson tried to break Botha's arm in the clinches when he became frustrated. Lewis again, destroyed him.

Tua was number 1 contender to Lewis' title, a lot of people thought Tua would win the fight, comparing him to a young Mike Tyson. Lewis turned the fight into a boxing clinic.

Then came the Rahman fight, Rahman was a rated contender, a heavy underdog and caught Lewis with a shot that Lewis didn't see coming. The second time that's happened in his career. I happen to think Rahman caught Lewis at the right place at the right time. Lewis was overconfident, was filming a movie and didn't arrive to the high altitudes of South Africa until only a week before the fight, a disaster waiting to happen honestly.

We then saw what happened in the rematch when Lewis was fully prepared and motivated.

Everyone pretty much wanted the Tyson fight to happen, it was a huge fight even though Tyson was way past his prime, some people actually gave Tyson a chance at winning.

Anyways, that's like a fight by fight of Lewis' career. He beat a lot of top 10 heavyweights of his time when the top 10 heavyweights were actually top 10 heavyweights unlike today's division, most of the time emphatically leaving no questions about who was the winner. He was a great heavyweight.

This has turned into a good debete, but this early post pretty much nails it down the way i see it.

[Benncollinsaad]

They were WBO level fighters.. Johnson being the best of them, kinda missed the bus, fighting a lot of journeymen while Lewis was in his prime, but after beating Maskaev and Donald came on late to fail miserably against Ruiz.. Donald had his chance with Bowe and was exposed, while Maskaev was indeed crushed by Johnson at the end of his journeyman spell..
Whitaker by anyones standards was a fringe contender, and only briefly entered the top ten, after one of his flash victories..
Lewis definately fought more worthy contenders than the above..

Why didn't Lewis fight Ruiz then?? He even chose to surrender his WBA belt! And why was he stripped off the IBF belt the last time he was champ? Who did he duck then?

[mickey malone]

Why didn't Lewis fight Ruiz then?? He even chose to surrender his WBA belt! And why was he stripped off the IBF belt the last time he was champ? Who did he duck then?

I've already mentioned that he ducked Ruiz, and for 2 very good reasons..

1. The fans did not want it
2. It would have been a promotors nightmare

[GJC]

It doesn't matter if Morrison had koed Ruddock before that fight, he was not in the same shape in the Lewis fight. Golota had been injected with lydocaine, FOR THE EIGHTEENTH FAKKING TIME! And Botha drew Briggs, but it was an out of shape Briggs, who was never much more than a slugger.

Whatever your opinion or take the thing is when Lewis signed to fight these guys they were credible challengers. Now you can't blame Lewis for Golota going round the twist just before the fight or another guy going on a silly diet or another guy not training properly etc, can you?

[Benncollinsaad]

Whatever your opinion or take the thing is when Lewis signed to fight these guys they were credible challengers. Now you can't blame Lewis for Golota going round the twist just before the fight or another guy going on a silly diet or another guy not training properly etc, can you?

I never did, but it makes his victories over them lesser.

[sonnyboyx2]

Ruddock - Damaged goods after Jaw & eyesocket smashed by Tyson
Tucker - Junkie
Jackson - who?
Butler - who?
Fortune - who?
Bruno - gave Lewis a lesson in jabbing
McCall (1) - sparring partner Journeyman
Morrison - HIV
Mercer - case can be made that Mercer was `robbed of decision
Akinwande - class C
McCall (2) - Junkie who was only days out of rehab
Golota - sedated with tranquilizers in dressing room after panic attack
Briggs - over-weight, yet staggered Lewis
Mavrovic - Who?..
Botha - Junkie undeserving of title shot
Tua - Fattest man to ever fight for title (weighed over 250lbs)
Holyfield - Yrs past best days yet robbed of decision in 2nd fight
Grant - ex basketballer undeserving of title fight, Class C fighter
Rahman - journeyman who poleaxed Lewis
Tyson - Decade past best days, shell of former ATG (was sedated)
Klitschko - unfortunate loser who was refused rematch