Would Lennox Lewis have enjoyed more support had he dropped the fake Brit act?

he got a lot of support, and is my fav HW

I still think he was a great fighter just not the all time best.

Do not use size as a measure of greatness he didn’t dominate a much smaller Holyfield who he fought twice and tko over a washed up Tyson who had been brutally stopped twice by Holyfield prior.Throw in the life and death struggle with klit and that’s the end of his resume vs great fighters.To come back and avenge a ko loss to an ordinary fighter is no great feat.It wasn’t like he was stopped by Foreman or a fighter like that.Its not how many times you get knocked down it’s how many times you get off the deck and win.If Lewis hit the deck he was not going to continue or win.Holmes was knocked down 6times I think and if you throw out the two times vs Tyson when he was old and washed up he got off the deck against shavers and some other punchers to win when he was badly hurt.Watch how bad he was hurt vs snipes Hail Mary much like McCalls and went on to win the fight.His resume vs great fighters is very shallow.Tua McCall the rock if you want to count them he’s 3-2.Great fighter but prime vs prime some of the greats would give him nap time.People get caught up with size he had good power good boxing skills but if you could tag him he ain’t getting up to win.

He was a great fighter but those two brutal kos at the hands of two ordinary fighters are troublesome.This was not like Frazier who sustained his by Foreman.His resume is good but not even the best in his era .That would belong to Holyfield and his resume is not even in the ball park compared to Ali.A lot of that wasn’t his fault and I think he was a great fighter but it’s a stretch to say one of the best ever. No heavyweight in the history of boxing had the combination of physical attributes, mental strength and tremendous skills that Lewis had and imo he would beat anybody you put in the ring with him. Ali might've accomplished more, that's up for interpretation, but Lewis is the closest to the perfect weight that we've ever seen in the history of the sport and the 2 avenged KO losses that could happen to any heavyweight don't play a role on this assessment.

His lack of being liked had nothing toi do with nothing but his style at the time which was what was THOUGHT a watered down era ( what else is new in every era ? ) and most thought he was a boring fighter ,unless you were around and had ADULT brain please don't have a response here. His arrogant attitude was also disliked so that ddidnt help,the difference between AJ and Lewis is being likeable....maybe Lewis would be different in an Social media era ,maybe not ? Me personally , I was a HUGE fan of Lewis ,even was in the same training center at times and he was an awesome gentleman who took pics with everyone ( in the poconos around 90's ) ...... now? Well ppl change and sometimes the worst comes out in guys whos time have past. AJ is miles ahead of Lewis in the perception of what a champion SHOULD be ,and his first L may be another Lewis comeback story ? Those who were there know most wrote him off, I was one bc I though Tyson would chin him up until I saw he got by Morrison and a few others. Easy to kick a guy when hes down and true is, would Lewis actually say the same things to AJ's face like most on here wouldn't to CERTAIN posters right ? lol In fact id really like to know billeau2 opinion on this to what I just said on here bc I know hes not a fake and may have another view than I had ? Lets use bold to see responses: 1) Lennox Lewis, wayyy before his particular personality came to be a factor was indeed intensely disliked. The first real inkling I can remember was the Razor Ruddock fight. Arrogance? why yes! The American media was arrogant and cast Lewis as a chinny, British heavy weight that would go down the first time he got hit with a real punch. This filtered down and many boxing fans thought Lewis to be effeminate....you cannot make this 5h1t up guys! Thus was because Lewis had the nerve to be cerebral and an intelligent human being. As a matter of fact I would put Lewis right up there with Larry Holmes (for entirely different reasons!!!) as one of the most initially disdained champions ever. So yeah this is a totally correct statement. Lewis never really forgot the slights... IMO? it really reopened the old wounds during the Vitali fight. Depending on how one views that fight Lewis did something remarkable, being undertrained, and his sheer will to take shots from one of the most chronically underrated fighters in the division at that, and of all time...Or Lewis showed hubris and got a gift. What is fact is that Lewis was raging when the media dared question his situation and how that fight played out. He had expected at that time for the media to laud him... "Lennox what a display of will and ability! My how you rose to the occasion and stopped Vitali!!" Instead he got "Do you really think they should have stopped the fight? would you have been able to fight on? etc" Watch that interview and you will see a very very angry LL. Joshua has a different situation and problem. He is not arrogant and has talent to spare. Joshua probably hits as hard as Wilder. I know I am a minority in this opinion. He has been working on putting punches together, etc. His problem is his people. Joshua needs to fight more and learn how to deal with different styles. If one has never been pressured by a pressure fighter before, they will not know how to respond. But his corner is more concerned with his status than his development and he has to find a way to change that. As far as personality Joshua is less complicated than Lewis. He certainly is decent and I don't see arrogance. I see a young guy with talent asking for the tools to succeed. Like when he was asking his corner about the shot he was hit with, and when he was told to do things that would be great but why did his corner neglect to see that Ruiz was putting him off balance? If you get a bigger man putting his weight back his punch will lose power. Ruiz hit him in the chest often just to get him moving back so he could attack and not be countered. I still do not see his corner addressing this...

You can never call any heavweight, who fought that many fighters of that very high caliber, and was only put down twice, a weak chinned heavyweight. All great heavyweights tasted the canvas, it's the most dangerous division in boxing. He was a great fighter but those two brutal kos at the hands of two ordinary fighters are troublesome.This was not like Frazier who sustained his by Foreman.His resume is good but not even the best in his era .That would belong to Holyfield and his resume is not even in the ball park compared to Ali.A lot of that wasn’t his fault and I think he was a great fighter but it’s a stretch to say one of the best ever.

You can never call any heavweight, who fought that many fighters of that very high caliber, and was only put down twice, a weak chinned heavyweight. All great heavyweights tasted the canvas, it's the most dangerous division in boxing. Took the words out my mouth, if a heavy hasn’t been down in a long career they haven’t fought anyone

That weak chin keeps him from greatest category.Lennex was a damn good fighter and I was a fan. You can never call any heavweight, who fought that many fighters of that very high caliber, and was only put down twice, a weak chinned heavyweight. All great heavyweights tasted the canvas, it's the most dangerous division in boxing.

He's as much Canadian as he is American, he's more American in fact because he's lived their longer. :lol1: Manny Steward made him the great fighter he was. Lewis decided what nationality he is and he chose Britain. Go find a canadian to be proud of. - -George Chuvalo, the end...

He has Jamaican and American too. I know you're desperate for a fighter to claim, but try attaching yourselves to one that actually wants to be Canadian. I'm not desperate but he's a Canadian and was trained how to fight here not in the UK. That's a fact.

- -Lewie majorly insecure like Holmes, hence their bitterness that other fighters more beloved than they.

That's what I'm thinking. Seeing how much Canadians have been getting behind the Toronto Raptors in the NBA finals shows that when they back someone they go all out. Hell look at George St. Pierre in the UFC his fight in Toronto still has the UFC attendance record I believe. It's sad he turned his back on a country that would have had his back for a country that never did. Geez how Could I forget GSP????? Prime example. Think about this Canada went ape ***** over Ben Johnson as the fastest man in the world. You couldn't understand what the man said when he talked, he had the personality of a pea and we went crazy during the world championships and the olympics in 1987 and 88. He was our hero and he was not a typical Canadian like Lennox Lewis was. Lewis could have been Canada's Anthony Joshua.

British people didn't hear a British accent. It was Americans who heard that and had him posing with the cup of tea. So it was tough for us to consider him a British fighter. I supported him because he was great. If he considers himself British then good on him. I'm sure, though, that he's got divided loyalties as any dual citizen will tell you.

He wasn't being a fake Brit because he was an actual Brit. He was born and raised in London England until he was 12. He then went to Canada, but represented his true country when he turned professional.

Does any of this matter now? he finished his career as the greatest heavyweight of all time that on his best day would beat any other heavyweight in the history of the sport. That weak chin keeps him from greatest category.Lennex was a damn good fighter and I was a fan.

Canada didn't have the boxing support back then. I think he did the right money decision. If he was boxing in the 2010s though hell yeah look at the support for Pascal, Bute, and so on. They even support their immigrant fighters. Canada has a beautiful boxing scene now but then there was nothing. Gatti had to fight in the states to make any money.

Does any of this matter now? he finished his career as the greatest heavyweight of all time that on his best day would beat any other heavyweight in the history of the sport. unless they are a mentaly ill bum... then lewis is going to sleep from a right hand.... 😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😝

apparently hes set to be deported back to canada after the UK government read this thread. byebye lennox.

Learning to box means you can claim them as Canadian? Can America claim him too because Steward was the one that turned him in to the fighter he was not anyone in Canada? He has dual cituzenship. Canadian and British.

Grew up in Canada won Olympic Gold for Canada. End of Story. He's Canadian. Should have worn red and White with maple leafs on the side stripe of his trunks. The whole nation would have backed him more than Britain. It's unfortunate he chose the other route. His appeal would have transferred to the US similar to other Canadians in the 90's like Gretzky Jim Carrey, Shania Twain, John Candy, or Rush. All his fights in Montreal Toronto Vancouver would be sellouts and many Canadians would take a quick flight to Vegas. Personally as a citizen of both Countries I wear the CanAm flag symbol. He should have done the same. He could have been as popular as that 100 meter Gold Medelist Usain Bolt is world wide. That's what I'm thinking. Seeing how much Canadians have been getting behind the Toronto Raptors in the NBA finals shows that when they back someone they go all out. Hell look at George St. Pierre in the UFC his fight in Toronto still has the UFC attendance record I believe. It's sad he turned his back on a country that would have had his back for a country that never did.