Could Lennox Of Beat Tyson At His Peak?

Tyson couldn't stop Tony Tucker in his prime, I don't think he have much luck against Lennox; a far better fighter. Lewis would frustrate the much smaller Tyson, sticking the jab, not letting Tyson close in on him. Lewis by late stoppage or UD.

No way a prime Tyson loses to Lewis, no way. Tyson hit too hard,his hands were too fast and his movement too much for Lewis all this would add up to see a Tyson win by KO inside 6 rounds. The same Tyson who couldn't KO Tony Tucker and failed to stop Ruddock in their second fight?

I respect your opinion and respect your picture Yes, very respectable words and images.

Lewis would have won if they fought when they were on top of their game. I respect your opinion and respect your picture

Lewis would have won if they fought when they were on top of their game.

They wouldn't have stopped the fight if it was Tyson because of his rep and popularity. To say Lewis would have been KO'd with the next punch is total speculation. The risk of getting hurt is something all boxers accept. When a champion trains for months, he doesn't want the plug to be pulled on him after just one good shot in the 2nd round. Lewis deserved a chance to defend himself and his title. When Holy stopped Tyson he had given him a frightful beating the round before, so I don't see the comparison. Tyson had every chance to get back into the fight. I don't consider either of Lewis' loss to be a fluke, just that the first one was a premature stoppage. And Manny Steward is one of the most self serving people in boxing, and that's saying something. All that being said, your response was very reasonable and I appreciate that. One good shot that put him down hard and fast. When he got up he was unsteady. The ref could have let it go, but I would give it at least a 95% chance that Lewis gets KFTO within the next 20 seconds, and if you are the ref, I'm not sure you are risking your job or the fighter's long-term health. It's a hard decision when you are ref, which is why, if we can agree, it's better to just make a rule that says the fighter has to be KFTO and nobody can complain what happens to the fighter. They should also bring back smaller rings and smaller gloves. I don't know, maybe someone like Smoger would have given him another shot. He did get up. The Tyson comparison was only because it's the only Tyson fight I can remember where Tyson was stopped in such a way, unless we bring up the Buster stoppage since Mike did make it up, but even that isn't a good example since Lewis was at least better off and wasn't in LaLa-land, but still showing signs of being stunned-groggy. But neither was from one punch, putting him down on the canvas and as early as the second round. I forget which fight I was watching not to long ago when the fighter got up, and was in better condition than Lewis was in and the ref let it continue and he got KFTO with the next punch. It would be better to use another fight/fighter when comparing the Lewis stoppage, but hey, I don't mind if a fight continues until the fighter is out cold, but I might be in the few. For Emannuel, kind of agree.

It would have only taken one punch to put Lewis back down. It took one solid punch to put an aware Lewis down, imagine what another shot from McCall would do to a groggy Lewis. But, hey, I can agree, let them get KFTO...a Champion deserves that and let him deal with whatever injuries might happen. I would favor them let it go on like they used to way back in the day. Manny probably switched over to Lewis because Lewis was a "steady" fighter, where McCall had some serious issues and as we saw in the second fight, break down from his party habits/Cocaine habbit. For Tyson, it's hard to say. First, it's hard to imagine Tyson being put down by a single shot, in the second round, getting up groggy. Stunned early, sure, but not flat on his back by a single shot in the second round. It depends on the ref. Some refs would have stopped it as well, since they would be a part of history seeing Tyson getting stopped. Others would have allowed it to go on to see Mike get KTFO. Maybe you can use the Holyfield (I) fight where Tyson was stopped on his feet. Should he have been allowed to continue...did he deserve to be KFTO as well? It was no fluke. Manny taught McCall what he needed to do to knock Lewis out. They did this on Ringside, and I think they showed Manny telling McCall right before the KO, what punches to throw. Lewis left his guard open to much and was able to be countered. Even the Rahman fight/punch was no fluke. The only thing with this fight that helped Rahman win, and this is from Lewis's camp, Lennox didn't train and prepare properly...wasn't as motivated. So yes, this can have an effect on a fighter. They wouldn't have stopped the fight if it was Tyson because of his rep and popularity. To say Lewis would have been KO'd with the next punch is total speculation. The risk of getting hurt is something all boxers accept. When a champion trains for months, he doesn't want the plug to be pulled on him after just one good shot in the 2nd round. Lewis deserved a chance to defend himself and his title. When Holy stopped Tyson he had given him a frightful beating the round before, so I don't see the comparison. Tyson had every chance to get back into the fight. I don't consider either of Lewis' loss to be a fluke, just that the first one was a premature stoppage. And Manny Steward is one of the most self serving people in boxing, and that's saying something. All that being said, your response was very reasonable and I appreciate that.

lewis would beat tyson prime for prime tyson is actualy the most overrated boxer i can think of some people actualy consider him top 10 all time heavyweight with not one great victory on his resume People put Marciano in the top 10, despite not fighting one fighter over 200 pounds that was decent and fought Grandfathers around his own weight or lighter and he struggled at times. Tyson's victory over Spinks was still greater than any of Marciano's wins, so how do we judge, unless we agree to take Marciano out as well. There is a list of overrated fighters/resume. And I made a thread about not understanding how Lewis isn't in some people's top 10.

lewis would beat tyson prime for prime tyson is actualy the most overrated boxer i can think of some people actualy consider him top 10 all time heavyweight with not one great victory on his resume

You don't take a champions title away in the 2nd round after one good punch. The referee should have allowed Lewis to continue and he could have stopped it quickly if Lennox got in trouble again. Do you honestly think for a minute that fight would have been stopped if it were Mike Tyson coming off the floor? As for self serving Manny, he was McCall's trainer that night. That stoppage gave him a heavyweight champion. He switched over to Lewis right after that fight knowing what a fluke win it was. You mean the same Manny who's now picking his fighter, Andy Lee, to beat Kelly Pavlik? I think Lewis made a mistake getting up too fast, I think his pride was hurt more than anything. If he had gotten up about 2 or 3 seconds later, I don't think his legs would have been wobbly and the ref wouldn't have stopped it.

You don't take a champions title away in the 2nd round after one good punch. The referee should have allowed Lewis to continue and he could have stopped it quickly if Lennox got in trouble again. Do you honestly think for a minute that fight would have been stopped if it were Mike Tyson coming off the floor? As for self serving Manny, he was McCall's trainer that night. That stoppage gave him a heavyweight champion. He switched over to Lewis right after that fight knowing what a fluke win it was. It would have only taken one punch to put Lewis back down. It took one solid punch to put an aware Lewis down, imagine what another shot from McCall would do to a groggy Lewis. But, hey, I can agree, let them get KFTO...a Champion deserves that and let him deal with whatever injuries might happen. I would favor them let it go on like they used to way back in the day. Manny probably switched over to Lewis because Lewis was a "steady" fighter, where McCall had some serious issues and as we saw in the second fight, break down from his party habits/Cocaine habbit. For Tyson, it's hard to say. First, it's hard to imagine Tyson being put down by a single shot, in the second round, getting up groggy. Stunned early, sure, but not flat on his back by a single shot in the second round. It depends on the ref. Some refs would have stopped it as well, since they would be a part of history seeing Tyson getting stopped. Others would have allowed it to go on to see Mike get KTFO. Maybe you can use the Holyfield (I) fight where Tyson was stopped on his feet. Should he have been allowed to continue...did he deserve to be KFTO as well? It was no fluke. Manny taught McCall what he needed to do to knock Lewis out. They did this on Ringside, and I think they showed Manny telling McCall right before the KO, what punches to throw. Lewis left his guard open to much and was able to be countered. Even the Rahman fight/punch was no fluke. The only thing with this fight that helped Rahman win, and this is from Lewis's camp, Lennox didn't train and prepare properly...wasn't as motivated. So yes, this can have an effect on a fighter.

Lewis was hurt and was on unsteady legs. Even Manny on Lewis-Ringside said it wasn't a bad stoppage. McCall would have put him right down and who knows how hurt he would have been. One other thing, Tyson's movement got me thinking of the fighter some say Manny made sure Lewis didn't fight, Chris Byrd. Not so much because Manny/Lennox thought he would lose, but because Lennox would still look bad even winning, and that is the elusive Chris Byrd. Wlad was able to, and I'm talking about the first fight since the second fight Chris wasn't as elusive, to get to Chris because of how fast he {Wlad} is at throwing punches, something not a strength of Lennox. And the reason, from what I remember hearing, that Vitali threw out his shoulder, was because he was missing so many punches trying to hit Chris. You don't take a champions title away in the 2nd round after one good punch. The referee should have allowed Lewis to continue and he could have stopped it quickly if Lennox got in trouble again. Do you honestly think for a minute that fight would have been stopped if it were Mike Tyson coming off the floor? As for self serving Manny, he was McCall's trainer that night. That stoppage gave him a heavyweight champion. He switched over to Lewis right after that fight knowing what a fluke win it was.

Check out Ray Mercer vs. Lennox Clip To be honest, I don't know. Hopefully a time-machine will be invented so we can pick them at their peak and let them fight it out to answer our questions.

See even if Mike starts timing the uppercut, Lennox still has his jab to rely on. And Lewis unlike most knows how to fight tall. The clinching, leaning, etc. will wear Mike down. Even when he was a physical specimen. Which is why Tyson was taught to fight "small" when fighting "tall" fighters. Lewis tends to paw with the jab, not a good thing with a fighter like Tyson and also tend to drop his hands, even when he was with Manny. The heavier he got, the less active he was as well, but it did help wear down fighters like you said he would do to Tyson. I wonder what Rooney would tell him to do if Lennox started to lean on him. I remember hearing McCall actually used to lean on Tyson and grapple with him in order to build his {Mike's} strength, like Dempsey used to have Bill Tate do...that's what I heard anyway. It's sound reasonable, after all, Mike watched and liked Dempsey.

Yes, this is what I pointed to as well, but it has also been noted, and this isn't just me, that even the Ruddock-Tyson was able to make Ruddock miss once he had the timing down, and Razor is faster than Lewis, plus, it's harder to see a lead uppercut the way Ruddock throws it than Lewis does from the back-hand/right. Tyson was incredible at the use of the bobb-weave and slipping...with timing. Even Tucker, how many uppercuts did he land after the first big one in the first when Tyson came charging in? See even if Mike starts timing the uppercut, Lennox still has his jab to rely on. And Lewis unlike most knows how to fight tall. The clinching, leaning, etc. will wear Mike down. Even when he was a physical specimen.

Lewis would definitely beat a Prime Tyson. He wasn't scared and that fear factor would play no part in the bout. Lewis is a smart fighter and would have TKO'd a prime Tyson. The Fear factor is overrated with Tyson. First, you should ask yourself how a 5'11, 220 pound fighter scared the shit out of people bigger than him. Second, Mike didn't have to rely on it, nor did he talk smack in pre-fight build-ups when he was with Rooney...he had enough confidence he would win and it wasn't until he was with King, he became over-confident, but shallow, which caused insecurities, causing a drop in confidence. But even after Rooney, Tyson talked smack to Ruddock, who wasn't scared at all, and even talked right back and Mike...he still lost. Ruddock also said he thinks he and Tyson finished each other off as fighters between the two fights. I could see Leis winning, but not by TKO. I just cannot see how Tyson at his peak gets TKO'd...to good of a chin and to much head-movement.

I just rate people based on how they fought against the opposition they faced. Some could argue that Tyrone Brunson would destroy Kelly Pavlik because Tyrone is 18-0 with 18 first round knockouts. While not completely impossible, if you look at his opposition, then you cannot determine how he would do at all. Lennox Lewis' resume of fighters he beat is far greater than Tyson's. Comparing him to Lewis, or how he would have done against him is like comparing Edwin Valero to Manny Pacquiao. I understand your point, however it's styles. Bruno even said it was harder to hit someone like Tyson because he is short, quick, elusive, and powerful. He could throw off 3-5 hit combinations in the HW division, something that is rare. Holyfield was good at it, but by the time he met Lennox, he was past his prime. The only person I can recall that was good that was as short as Tyson that Lewis fought was Tua, and that was when Tua was fat as a cow...and he is nowhere near Mike in physical ability. Lewis does have the better resume. And he is definitely one of the brightest minds boxing has had.

He'd get under Lewis' jab and eat a sharp uppercut. That's the only reason I think Tyson loses. Lennox's uppercut is perfect for Tyson's style. He'd lean on him too. Yes, this is what I pointed to as well, but it has also been noted, and this isn't just me, that even the Ruddock-Tyson was able to make Ruddock miss once he had the timing down, and Razor is faster than Lewis, plus, it's harder to see a lead uppercut the way Ruddock throws it than Lewis does from the back-hand/right. Tyson was incredible at the use of the bobb-weave and slipping...with timing. Even Tucker, how many uppercuts did he land after the first big one in the first when Tyson came charging in?

Lewis would definitely beat a Prime Tyson. He wasn't scared and that fear factor would play no part in the bout. Lewis is a smart fighter and would have TKO'd a prime Tyson.

With a bogus stoppage by a Don King bought referee? Lewis was hurt and was on unsteady legs. Even Manny on Lewis-Ringside said it wasn't a bad stoppage. McCall would have put him right down and who knows how hurt he would have been. One other thing, Tyson's movement got me thinking of the fighter some say Manny made sure Lewis didn't fight, Chris Byrd. Not so much because Manny/Lennox thought he would lose, but because Lennox would still look bad even winning, and that is the elusive Chris Byrd. Wlad was able to, and I'm talking about the first fight since the second fight Chris wasn't as elusive, to get to Chris because of how fast he {Wlad} is at throwing punches, something not a strength of Lennox. And the reason, from what I remember hearing, that Vitali threw out his shoulder, was because he was missing so many punches trying to hit Chris.