My dad is a satellite installer and he gets service calls where he has to go over to the customers house and fix problems their satellites have. Well my dad got a service call to go to Lennox Lewis' house today. I tagged along and wow his house was HUGE!!!
Dad knocked on the door and I guess one of his maids answered and directed us to which rooms had the receivers. No sign on Lennox until about 45 minutes of working, Lennox shows up and asks us how it was going. Me and my dad told him that we were big fans and he kept saying thank you while smiling. He saw we were both working hard so he offered us a drink. After 20 minutes of talking, I asked him a question. Now I know this may have been sort of disrespectful to ask, but I had to hear it from the horses mouth so I asked, "do you think you could have beaten Tyson when he was in his prime?" He looked at me and said he gets asked that question all the time. He said he always would have beaten him.
Tyson is a short little man. He would never had been able to beat me. He was a lot shorter, he was a lot smaller and would never had a chance of beating me. He was explosive in very early rounds, but that explosiveness is still from a little man. He had a chance to fight me in the 90's when he got out of prison and ran like a little girl so that should tell you all you need to know about how it would have ended. You saw what I did to him back in 2002 right? He knew what his limits were.
My jaw completely dropped at how he talked down about Tyson, But I was amazed at the same time. I always thought the fight in their primes would have been very close, but he just sounded so convincing. I wanted to ask him another question about not fighting klitschko again, but I figured that was enough seeing how he got sort of worked up over that one question!
Anyways I just wanted to share that with you all. It's always cool to hear what the original person has to say!
I've heard Lewis speak like this about Tyson on several occasions, so I'm not surprised he said it again. The reality is, a late 80s Tyson had a great chance to beat the best version of Lewis, which was probably late 90s. Lewis wasn't the best on his feet and his jab seemed to paw out, waiting to set up a big right.
Tyson would dodge and roll under that lazy jab and start landing big blow, thing is, if he cant get Lewis out in the first 4 rounds and Lewis starts pushing, holding, dragging him with his size, then Tyson gets tired and scared. I know you all don't want to hear this but he hated when a guy could fight back, it terrified him when a guy stood up to him. Lewis could do that if he survived the early onslaught and from then on, it's a simple matter of when not if.
I don't believe the story
I got Tyson beating Lennox quite easily though.
Lennox is an ATG but he always had a suspect chin. Lennox may have knocked out Tyson but there was a point where Lennox had to clinch and hold onto mike to save himself from gettin knocked... if an out of prime Tyson could make that happen imagine what a prime tyson would do
Tyson was way out of his prime when he fought Lennox.... But Lennox was about 10 years removed from his prime also. There fight didn't mean much, two old fighters both a shell of there former selves. I'd like to say Tyson would win in his prime but Lewis was a beast in his his earlier years, if I had to put my house on one, I'd go with Mike, I just think he would have caught him sooner or later.
lennox was getting older but I dont agree he was well past his best when he fought tyson. he started his pro career late and had little wear and tear on his body. he did a good job on tyson but it has no bearing at all on what he would have done with a prime mike. I agree with you that a young tyson would have got him but it is a tough call. such a damn shame they didnt fight earlier
Not a chance that Lewis beats Tyson In his prime. Tyson fought many much bigger guys. Lewis's chin would never hold up to the devastating punches Tyson would land.
During their peaks I would put money on Tyson winning a close points decision. Going the distance with Tyson in his peak was considered a success for his opponents. So lets give Lennox the respect he deserves and not imagine Tyson sparking Lennox out inside a round or two.
But Lennox will go down as greater, as he was kicking butt for a longer period and beat better fighters overall.
I agree with ths but some seem to have the audacity to have Holyfield ahead of Lewis or then give Lewis credit for his not bad longevity but then discredit someone else for it.
Tyson was definitely capable of KOing Lewis in his early run after beating Larry Holmes etc, Lewis upgraded himself as time went on fighting much smarter and fighting in a manner that a tall big heavyweight should, If he tried to take an inside game with Tyson like he was at times with Bruno I'd fancy Tyson to land something to put his lights out.
I think I have to agree with Lewis but I don't think he is giving Mike the credit he deserves, a younger version of Lewis was definitely vulnerable.
Lewis imo got better on later in his career that's not to say his early days that he wasn't good but I just think he got better with age.
The size sort of always was going to be a big issue for Mike, beating someone who knows how to fight tall etc, Lewis definitely has grown up and developed his mouthiness he never had that when he was fighting there's the pity.
During their peaks I would put money on Tyson winning a close points decision. Going the distance with Tyson in his peak was considered a success for his opponents. So lets give Lennox the respect he deserves and not imagine Tyson sparking Lennox out inside a round or two.
But Lennox will go down as greater, as he was kicking butt for a longer period and beat better fighters overall.
Tyson was way out of his prime when he fought Lennox.... But Lennox was about 10 years removed from his prime also. There fight didn't mean much, two old fighters both a shell of there former selves. I'd like to say Tyson would win in his prime but Lewis was a beast in his his earlier years, if I had to put my house on one, I'd go with Mike, I just think he would have caught him sooner or later.
Prime Tyson beats Lewis, especially since the judges likely would have favored Tyson if the fight was close. Considering how reluctant Lewis was to engage an old, past his prime, coked out Mike Tyson, I can't see Lewis getting a KO against a prime Mike. With that said, fluke stoppages due to cuts aside, i think Vitali would have beaten Lennox 10 time out of 10 if they fought. I can't see anyway that he would have been able to beat him and he himself likely knew that as well since he retired right after that.
The Mike Tyson Lewis fought was so far past his prime its not even worth discussing the ins and outs of that fight.
Lennox Lewis had a longer prime whereas Mikes window was much shorter. During Tysons peak it would be a hard to call fight, but Lennox could have won possibly but not as clear as he makes out. Yes Tyson was small but that's not much of a reason as he beat many big people.
The Tyson who was beating everyone inside a round or two and every time he fought youd wonder if his opponents would get past the first round or winning large points decisions, that Tyson v Lewis would have been interesting.
Tyrell Biggs fought them both and said Tyson was the best he fought. Tyson easily beat Bruno, whilst Lewis struggled.
So nothing is black and white.
Tyson out of prison was a shell of himself. The tyson he fought was a tough pedestrian at that point.
This isnt a debate. Imo lennox lost points that night,tyson showed had he been younger and motivated in prime ,he gets to lennox..
tyson used his size disadvantages to his favor in his young career by staying low and bobbing and weaving. lennox would have had all kinds of problems landing big on a young prime mike. Id have favored tyson at his best over lennox. the tyson lennox fought was just a total shell of himself and offers no evidence of what would have happened at his best. he was a completely different fighter at his peak
Lewis was used to fighting guys shorter than him with power - look what he did to David Tua for example. Tyson did have very good, almost frenzied, bobbing and weaving skills but he would have gotten worn out by the Lewis jab which was laser sharp, accurate and debilitating. Lewis defense was also very good so Tyson would have found it difficult to catch Lewis with power shots. Also, there's a chance that an aggressive Tyson would have walked straight into a Lewis right-hand early in the fight and it might have actually finished earlier than it did when they finally met.
Lewis said he wanted to punish Tyson for all his antics so that's why he let the fight go 8 rounds but he could have probably stopped him in 3 or 4 if he wanted. I agree though, that version of Tyson was past prime. But prime vs prime, Lewis still wins. Tyson would always be in with a shot because of his devastating power but remember Tyson said himself that it was his fear and intimidation outside the ring which helped him win a lot of fights because his opponents froze. Lewis was too composed and calm (most of the time) to let that bother him, he would have either broken Tyson down in a calculated fashion, or caught him with a big right hand and KOd him (sort of like Marquez did to Pacquiao).
No offense to Lennox but prime Tyson knocks him the **** out. That said they would have never met when Tyson had is abbreviated prime as Lennox was just turning pro when Tyson was starting to fade. Lennox does have a point on the post prison Tyson ducking him, but that Tyson was clearly on the other side.
Lewis beats Tyson all day, every day. That's no disrespect to Tyson, it's just that Lewis is probably the greatest heavyweight of all time and beats any heavyweight in history.
Tyson was a good fighter but he had a massive size-disadvantage for the division.
tyson used his size disadvantages to his favor in his young career by staying low and bobbing and weaving. lennox would have had all kinds of problems landing big on a young prime mike. Id have favored tyson at his best over lennox. the tyson lennox fought was just a total shell of himself and offers no evidence of what would have happened at his best. he was a completely different fighter at his peak