Lennox Lewis.

[Franko]

i dont think ibelive it at all now, but i remember watching that fight, and while it was going on and especially the 1st round i was very pissed because it almost looked like the fight was "set up" for tyson to lose, lewis is a great fighter but, never being defeated and getting ko by tyson would hurt his persona, just my .02

mike

Maybe i have not followed you correctly here, but the version of Tyson that Faced Lewis was shot! He lost the fight to Lewis because Lewis was the better fighter in 2002, however, how can you seriously claim that it looked like the fight was set up for Tyson to lose during the first round when Tyson won the first round??? Lewis never being defeated and getting KO'd by Tyson would hurt his persona??? Lewis had been KO'd twice prior to the Tyson fight! You've completely lost me... Enlighten me...

[larrytyson]

Prime Lewis beats any version of Tyson...
Bad match-up for Tyson, and Tyson himself knows he could never beat him...

well when they both were teens Tyson always beat up Lewis badly! Ad they both were not in their primes! As for prime vs prime I think it would be close UD win that could go either way! BUt there is one big disadvantage for Lenny he had shi'y chin and he could get ko'd easy!

[2skinny2fight]

ur right he has been beaten i should have restated, aparantly he has beaten everyone he has every fought pro. like he lost to mccall but then faced him again, and won, the reason i say that bout the first round, is cuz usually bell rings and tyson is on his opponent, and it seem like he kinda layed off a little, maybe its b/c it not being in his prime like i said i dont beleive it now but then i was piessed lol

[Franko]

ur right he has been beaten i should have restated, aparantly he has beaten everyone he has every fought pro. like he lost to mccall but then faced him again, and won, the reason i say that bout the first round, is cuz usually bell rings and tyson is on his opponent, and it seem like he kinda layed off a little, maybe its b/c it not being in his prime like i said i dont beleive it now but then i was piessed lol

Tyson had a good first round i.e. he used the jab to good effect in spells, and did what he could, but once Lewis got settled there was only going to be one winner. Tyson took some pinishment in the fight, and showed that he has a great chin, but it was sad to see him bashed up like that.

[me2007]

well when they both were teens Tyson always beat up Lewis badly! Ad they both were not in their primes! As for prime vs prime I think it would be close UD win that could go either way! BUt there is one big disadvantage for Lenny he had shi'y chin and he could get ko'd easy!

what is your source for the sparring between Lennox and Tyson?

[Brassangel]

If you read the book Facing Tyson, Lewis comments on sparring with Tyson when they were both younger. Lennox states that Tyson nearly took his head off every time, even when he would use a reaching jab and dancing footwork. He also admits to being a good friend of Tyson's to this day, and that Mike was able to teach him several valuable lessons during their sparring session(s).

[jkfrancis]

It's worth remembering that Lewis was going on 37 when he fought Tyson so he was hardly a spring chicken himself. I don't buy the notion that Lewis was in his prime when he fought Tyson. I think he was past his best. Granted, Tyson was further past his best but I think Lewis had a style that would always be difficult for Tyson whenever they fought. Also, Tyson's biggest win was against a light-heavyweight, Michael Spinks. Tyson never beat a great heavyweight and he never avenged a defeat. He was also stopped 4 times.
The assertion that Lewis had a weak chin is also nonsense. Nobody with a weak chin could absorb right hands the way Lewis did against Klitschko. It's just physically impossible. Okay he got knocked out a couple of times. Fighters, even great ones, can get knocked out. I think the Mccall stoppage was premature. You could see that the ref couldn't wait to waive it off. In the Rahman fight Lewis was in poor condition, over confident, he didn't aclimatise to the altitude and was exhausted when Raham hit him with that monster right hand.
The knock on Lewis is that he didn't fight a prime Holyfield and that he didn't fight Bowe (through no fault of his own). However he did beat every fighter he ever faced and held a version of the heavyweight title on and off for over 11 years.
To put Lewis' achievements in perspective let's look at some other great heavyweights.
Larry Holmes - probably the best fighter he faced in his prime was an aging Ken Norton. His biggest win came against Gerry Cooney.
Rocky Marciano - biggest wins came against old fighters in Charles, Walcott, Louis and Moore (a lightheavyweight)
Joe Louis - biggest win against Max Schmeling who was several years past his best, knocked out 173 pound Billy Conn but had to come from behind and was hurt badly in the fight
Jack Dempsey - played the race card, never beat a top black fighter like Harry Wills, lost twice to Tunney. Was also knocked out in 1st round by 37 year old journeyman Fireman Jim Flynn (critics of Lewis take note)
What you will notice is the complete lack of fighters the quality of Frazier, Foreman and Liston on their records. It was Ali who fought and beat guys like that. It is Ali by whom all other are measured, and rightly so. That is why Ali is the greatest. So when disparaging Lewis for not doing X,Y and Z remember that other heavyweights considered to be great did not do it either.

[chaz103]

tyson was beat before he ever came through the ropes what I mean is lewis had mentally defeated tyson . mike knew he was about to get his ASS kicked but he took it like a champion

[Randall_Hopkirk]

These two fighters at their primes could go either way, but i'd say Lewis's size, power and skills would have enough to wear Mike down, possibly stopping him. Tyson struggled to find his range against fighters like Bonecrusher Smith and Tony Tucker, long rangy fighters who although they lost to Tyson, weren't in much danger of being KO'd.

As for Lewis saying he'd have lost to Tyson, he said that when 17 years old, almost ten years away from becoming a world class boxer, in contrast, Tyson was almost ready to be let loose on the various tomato cans he crushed in the mid-80's.