Is Lennox Lewis the best Overall heavyweight in history?

[KnockoutNed]

lewis did not fight good boxers and lewis was badly knocked out to hell by journeymen he should have more loses against marovich and holyfield 1 and mercer

McCall and Rahman weren't journeymen, at least when Lewis fought them. Both were rated inside the top 10 by ring magazine.

You never watched any of those fights and are just parroting other posts. Mavrovic and Holyfield were one sided fights. Mercer fight was competitive.

[Poppo168]

Lewis is one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time for sure, he was massive, long reach, powerful, smart and crafty. George Foreman himself said that Lewis was the greatest heavyweight in history lol

[Mr.MojoRisin']

What settles is that tyson lost to every hall of famer he faced....thats if you take away an old larry holmes or lightheavyweight michael spinks when he came up against a boxer who could move and also punch back...he got beat badly...fact

Yeah you're probably right.

[juggernaut666]

People are really confused here .... LOOKING at Lewis ENTIRE career he should be considered one of the hardest HW's to defeat period when you add skills from his debut to his last fight ,not to mention the guy was 6'5 230/250 . His opposition always fought him harder either a grudge or bc he was the champion .

Lewis always ADJUSTED to whoever he fought sometimes resulting in mediocre fights but sure wins (Mercer did not beat him and neither did Holyfield who was ENHANCED and strong as ever )

Lewis dominated the 90's give or take 2 or so fights that made him look better .....

1 / Ruddock : He had switched trainers as well as coming off 2 brutal Tyson fights ,he basically said knock me out bc he threw no punches . He did look good in his previous fight but thats bc the other guy threw no punches.

2 / M.Tyson : A total mismatch at the TIME it took place (Tyson k.os Lewis under Rooney or early 90's when Lewis was raw ) didnt even take place in the 90's where at least Tyson had SLIGHTLY more speed.


Lets look at the ACTUAL fighter under Steward who developed much more difficulties to deal with . (Lewis did lose to Mc Call while Steward was his Mc Calls trainer ) Despite 2 losses he avenged ,AT HIS BEST how many guys would you HONESTLY think deals witnh him ? Take a good look at the Golota (who mugged Bowe ) and Morrison fights (soundly handled a focused more experienced Morrison ) thats what hes capable of when he doesnt hold back .

People will argue about hall of famers or ALL TIME GREATS (smh ) ,but those arent SKILLS , basing Lewis career on SOLEY wins and dominance ofthe 90's (you cant use 2 loses ,thats a DOUBLE STANDARD ) only a handful of fighters would be CAPABLE of dealing with him not saying any would win or lose in this thread ,its arguable ....here they are !

1 / V.Klitchko (also fought Lewis while green) This fight however showed how tough both actually were .

2/ M.Tyson (Aggressive two handed fast pace fighter at his BEST ? Go rewatch the Briggs vs Lewis fights bf you tell me its a mismatch )

3 / W. Klitchko (Equal in skill if not more at times )

4 / A .Joshua ( i had to add him bc there is no one else with those ATTRIBUTES )

5/Rid**** Bowe (Only bc it would be personal )


Is he OVERALL the best HW ? He had a great jab ,good left hook , great uppercut and devastating overhand right .Stylistically could brawl and box inside or out and put ALL this together in a 6'5 245 pound frame UNDER Steward ...

Yes this is all subjective but considering the era and tough opposition he faced (no matter when he fought them some were at their best despite age ) and despite he RAN from Vitali , OVERALL i would say yes as of now considering the total resume and talent of ability to keep winning.

[The plunger man]

People are really confused here .... LOOKING at Lewis ENTIRE career he should be considered one of the hardest HW's to defeat period when you add skills from his debut to his last fight ,not to mention the guy was 6'5 230/250 . His opposition always fought him harder either a grudge or bc he was the champion .

Lewis always ADJUSTED to whoever he fought sometimes resulting in mediocre fights but sure wins (Mercer did not beat him and neither did Holyfield who was ENHANCED and strong as ever )

Lewis dominated the 90's give or take 2 or so fights that made him look better .....

1 / Ruddock : He had switched trainers as well as coming off 2 brutal Tyson fights ,he basically said knock me out bc he threw no punches . He did look good in his previous fight but thats bc the other guy threw no punches.

2 / M.Tyson : A total mismatch at the TIME it took place (Tyson k.os Lewis under Rooney or early 90's when Lewis was raw ) didnt even take place in the 90's where at least Tyson had SLIGHTLY more speed.


Lets look at the ACTUAL fighter under Steward who developed much more difficulties to deal with . (Lewis did lose to Mc Call while Steward was his Mc Calls trainer ) Despite 2 losses he avenged ,AT HIS BEST how many guys would you HONESTLY think deals witnh him ? Take a good look at the Golota (who mugged Bowe ) and Morrison fights (soundly handled a focused more experienced Morrison ) thats what hes capable of when he doesnt hold back .

People will argue about hall of famers or ALL TIME GREATS (smh ) ,but those arent SKILLS , basing Lewis career on SOLEY wins and dominance ofthe 90's (you cant use 2 loses ,thats a DOUBLE STANDARD ) only a handful of fighters would be CAPABLE of dealing with him not saying any would win or lose in this thread ,its arguable ....here they are !

1 / V.Klitchko (also fought Lewis while green) This fight however showed how tough both actually were .

2/ M.Tyson (Aggressive two handed fast pace fighter at his BEST ? Go rewatch the Briggs vs Lewis fights bf you tell me its a mismatch )

3 / W. Klitchko (Equal in skill if not more at times )

4 / A .Joshua ( i had to add him bc there is no one else with those ATTRIBUTES )

5/Rid**** Bowe (Only bc it would be personal )


Is he OVERALL the best HW ? He had a great jab ,good left hook , great uppercut and devastating overhand right .Stylistically could brawl and box inside or out and put ALL this together in a 6'5 245 pound frame UNDER Steward ...

Yes this is all subjective but considering the era and tough opposition he faced (no matter when he fought them some were at their best despite age ) and despite he RAN from Vitali , OVERALL i would say yes as of now considering the total resume and talent of ability to keep winning.

Tyson would never have beat lewis period

[BattlingNelson]

I see the nuthugging around here hasn't gotten any better during my absence. Good seeing ya again Bat :cool9:

I think it just comes with the territory mate. Welcome back.

[juggernaut666]

Tyson would never have beat lewis period

Tyson would be to explosive and rock Lewis who was dropped by far less punchers.Tyson had a chin of steel and showed it in all his fights. Lewis hit Tyson over 200 times how many shots would he really get off against a prime 220 Tyson? Tyson had ALL the tools to take him out..power/speed and style along with excellent defense.

These guys arent anywhere near Tyson so you cant say he wouldnt beat Lewis who also struggled with Bruno a similar type of power who Tyson crushed. Yes Lewis at his best is tough ive explained that but Tyson still today is the most balanced Hw of all time,of equal speed/power along with offense and defense.

[The plunger man]

Tyson would be to explosive and rock Lewis who was dropped by far less punchers.Tyson had a chin of steel and showed it in all his fights. Lewis hit Tyson over 200 times how many shots would he really get off against a prime 220 Tyson? Tyson had ALL the tools to take him out..power/speed and style along with excellent defense.

These guys arent anywhere near Tyson so you cant say he wouldnt beat Lewis who also struggled with Bruno a similar type of power who Tyson crushed. Yes Lewis at his best is tough ive explained that but Tyson still today is the most balanced Hw of all time,of equal speed/power along with offense and defense.

Absloute bollocks...tyson was lost when a fighter smothered him and used his size , we saw that with tucker, bonecrusher, tillis , green...lewis was the most complete heavyweight since muahmmad ali and his record proves it ..the more times i see you post the clearer it becomes you have no idea what your talking about....mike tyson had the shortest prime in history ...lost to every great fighter he faced and buster douglas battered him from post to post and beat tyson at his own game and the same reason why holyfield beat him....take his punch and u fire back he loses heart and becomes a clincher ......you wanna talk common opponents lewis destroyed ruddock tyson stuggled with him....lewis whitewashed tucker and dropped him 2 times and tyson was rocked by him...lewis beat holyfield 2 times and holyfield took every punch tyson landed stood there and gave it back and knocked him out..lewis would have done to tyson what he did to tua if tyson had been a younger pro....tyson was great knocking over medicocre heavyweights like tubbs,biggs,williams,......as i said you don't have a clue what your talking about

[juggernaut666]

Absloute bollocks...tyson was lost when a fighter smothered him and used his size , we saw that with tucker, bonecrusher, tillis , green...lewis was the most complete heavyweight since muahmmad ali and his record proves it ..the more times i see you post the clearer it becomes you have no idea what your talking about....mike tyson had the shortest prime in history ...lost to every great fighter he faced and buster douglas battered him from post to post and beat tyson at his own game and the same reason why holyfield beat him....take his punch and u fire back he loses heart and becomes a clincher ......you wanna talk common opponents lewis destroyed ruddock tyson stuggled with him....lewis whitewashed tucker and dropped him 2 times and tyson was rocked by him...lewis beat holyfield 2 times and holyfield took every punch tyson landed stood there and gave it back and knocked him out..lewis would have done to tyson what he did to tua if tyson had been a younger pro....tyson was great knocking over medicocre heavyweights like tubbs,biggs,williams,......as i said you don't have a clue what your talking about

Lewis was rocked numerous times in EARLY rnd by Briggs , Grant among a few others like Tucker and Bruno both out of primes and even dropped by Akiwande that the ref didnt see and TKO'd against Tyson sparring partner . Ive already went over EVERYTHING AS USUAL ,my post covered the entire topic . Fanboy counter points dont work with me you should know that by now .

You even stated Buster defeated Tyson the same way Holyfield did by his OWN game ??? That would make Tyson aLONG outside jabber and lateral counter puncher ?Tyson also fought Tillis and Green in only his 2nd year as a pro and defeated both easily! You sure you want to engage in COMMON sense with me?

[billeau2]

Tyson versus Lewis

Tyson is always tough to evaluate because of his competition and his own issues. One gets the impression that one guy who could and did really beat Tyson up time and time again...was Tyson!

I want to weigh in on Tyson versus Lewis because this is one of those fights where we have precedent. We cannot compare the Tyson Lewis fought to a prime ready to rumble TYson, I think we all agree to that factoid.

One problem Lewis had was being ackward. He actually saved himself imo against Vitali because Vitali was right there in front of him... Meanwhile Mercer, for example, presented some problems because Lewis had to find him. Lewis was quoted as saying after that fight "I trained wrong." Perhaps explaining a lack of mobility?

Juggy has mentioned situations where Lewis got hit. Its also worth noting that Lewis was able to defeat Ruddock nicely because he found a way to avoid getting hit by Razor's strong punch. Razor was very good at setting up his dominant hand...often persisting in attacking the body, etc to get his hook off. A chess game like this plays right into Lewis strength. By staying to the side of Razor and using the jab Lewis set up his flurries, using superior speed as an advantage as well. So what of Mike Tyson?

Tyson would come in on Lewis and that would be a real problem for Lewis. Prime Tyson had head movement and could punch either hand, going back and Forwards. Holmes had some success against Mike with his jab, but even Holmes, while diminished, still having a great jab, could not keep Mike off with the jab.

I think this means that Lewis would taste Mike's power for sure. Could Lewis' chin survive? Lewis did get rocked occasionally, thats a fact. These two had a rivalry not for nothin!

To say that Lewis would easily best a prime Tyson is wrong imo. Some big guys were able to take Mike's power (bone crusher for example) but Lewis, while not having a bad chin, did get rocked occasionally. Getting rocked by Shannon Briggs is not the same as getting rocked by prime Tyson... Though Briggs was better than people now make him out to be.

Edit: can anyone think of a time Lewis was down and took a count? Because it would be interesting to see if Tyson knocked him down, like he did with Razor Ruddock, how recuperative Lewis would be. This is an unknown regarding this mythical match up.

One more thing: Tyson was hard to hit in the early rounds with his head movement...even in the actual fight between the two one could see that lewis had to extend himself to catch Tyson. The longer the fight goes the better Lewis' chances.