Lennox Lewis vs Joe Louis

[damuttz112]

Lewis by UD or late TKO. Americans hated him because he dominated the Heavyweight division and defeats most the US hopefuls.

[nomadman]

Is this being fought under modern rules? 12 rounds, modern gloves, clinch-tolerant refs?

Honestly, I'm not sure this'd be a fair matchup. Louis's style was perfectly evolved to deal with the fighters of his era who, on the whole, were not exceptional movers or outboxers, and who tended to favor fighting on the inside for longer stretches than is common today. He was also, in most cases, the bigger man in his fights and could afford to be the stalker; the few times he fought opponents bigger than himself they were either immobile lumps who couldn't effectively move away from/roll with the punches (Carnera, Simon), or who had no idea how to make use of their height (Buddy Baer). Not really a great sample of opponents to base anything on.

Lennox, on the other hand, was almost perfectly evolved to deal with fighters from his era: much larger and physically stronger men (on the whole) or mid-sized explosive punchers with quick feet, a lot more expansive movement around the ring (as opposed to the tight circling of Louis's day), far less infighting and a lot more clinching. I'm not saying one era is better than the other, but both fighters would have expected different things from their opponents, which makes a direct style comparison rather difficult.

How would Louis respond to a huge athletic specimen like Lewis pumping a ferocious jab into his face round after round, staying out of Louis's punching range with better footwork than he's ever seen from the likes of Simon or Carnera, muscling him about in the clinch whenever he does manage to close distance? And how does he respond to Lewis's power? How does he take the sort of punch that flattened Rahman? Louis wasn't immune to being hit and dropped; far smaller and less talented fighters did it in Braddock, Galento and Baer. Even Conn had him on very shaky legs. Louis's stance was such that he left the whole left side of his face exposed as he came forward. It was not a flaw in his day and age, given the way fighters fought, but it'd be utterly disastrous against a fighter like Lewis who'd exploit that hole from the opening bell.

To take the other side, Lewis might find it difficult to fight a fight that required him to infight with his opponents more than he's used to, and which would penalize him for what he would not consider to be excessive clinching.

Under modern rules, however, I can't see anything other than a Lewis win. Joe would have a hell of a time getting on the inside, find himself taking major punishment from Lennox's jab, find himself getting clinched or turned if he did manage to get close, and finding Lennox a much harder target to hit than he perhaps expected from such a big man. And if any fighter is going to drop the other with one shot my bet's on Lewis not Louis.

Joe's best chance here IMO would be if Lennox got lazy or overconfident, as he was wont to do. A focused Lewis, however, would be my firm pick to win.

[res]

Originally Posted by damuttz112

Lewis by UD or late TKO. Americans hated him because he dominated the Heavyweight division and defeats most the US hopefuls.

I don't think the American bias thing works. It wasn't just Americans that weren't excited about him, most non-British folks in general weren't excited about him. However he was unquestionably a great champion.

Getting knocked out cold by journeymen during your prime has a way of cooling people's enthusiasm for you, especially among casual fans.

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by res

I don't think the American bias thing works. It wasn't just Americans that weren't excited about him, most non-British folks in general weren't excited about him. However he was unquestionably a great champion.

Getting knocked out cold by journeymen during your prime has a way of cooling people's enthusiasm for you, especially among casual fans.

Us Brits weren't massively enthused about him either, as most of us didn't consider him to be British until the tail end of his career. Bruno was always the UK's heavyweight darling.

Lennox is quite a good fighter to view objectively, since he didn't really seem to belong to any one nation.

[elijahlyric]

Originally Posted by Scott9945

I thought I'd seen it all until I read that Henry Akinwande had "way more power than Joe Louis".

Just because Akiwande didn't turn out what boxing experts expected. Doesn't mean he didn't have more power. Example, Deion Sanders is the best cover DB ever, and in most eyes the greatest DB ever with world class speed, but there are plenty of guys that didn't amount to much in their respective careers. Whom are faster than Deion! Get my point

[BigStereotype]

Originally Posted by elijahlyric

Just because Akiwande didn't turn out what boxing experts expected. Doesn't mean he didn't have more power. Example, Deion Sanders is the best cover DB ever, and in most eyes the greatest DB ever with world class speed, but there are plenty of guys that didn't amount to much in their respective careers. Whom are faster than Deion! Get my point

Not to get off topic,but other than MAYBE Cromartie, not really...

You're right on a macro level, but I don't think Akiwande is an appropriate example.

[elijahlyric]

Originally Posted by BigStereotype

Not to get off topic,but other than MAYBE Cromartie, not really...

You're right on a macro level, but I don't think Akiwande is an appropriate example.

I see what your saying

[BigStereotype]

Tua's hook was harder than Louis had in his arsenal, he just wasn't nearly as fluid an offensive fighter

[elijahlyric]

Originally Posted by BigStereotype

Tua's hook was harder than Louis had in his arsenal, he just wasn't nearly as fluid an offensive fighter

^^^^^
This right here, well put. Point I was trying to make.

[Scott9945]

Originally Posted by elijahlyric

Just because Akiwande didn't turn out what boxing experts expected. Doesn't mean he didn't have more power. Example, Deion Sanders is the best cover DB ever, and in most eyes the greatest DB ever with world class speed, but there are plenty of guys that didn't amount to much in their respective careers. Whom are faster than Deion! Get my point

Well my point is that despite his size, Akinwande doesn't hit as hard as Joe Louis did. Not even close. I didn't think Briggs did either, but at least he hit hard than Akinwande. I'm saying this having seen those two fight many times. That comment just seemed disrespectful to one of the two greatest heavyweights ever. Knocking out Jeremy Williams with one punch doesn't make you Joe Louis.