1988 Mike Tyson vs 2001 Lennox Lewis

[MartialMind]

Who wins this fight?

[OctoberRed]

Lewis would have been a tough fight for Tyson at any time, but the 2001 Lewis was already done and hittable. Tyson by KO.

[SheenLantern]

I think the Tua fight was Lennox's best performance, and this would have been right after that. I have Lennox by UD

[Granath]

Tyson by KO, round 4.

Tyson slips the jab using that wonderful body/head movement, slides under and throws combinations at Lewis, whose chin can be dented. Lewis wakes up sometime next week. Peak Tyson didn't last long but it was something to behold when it was around.

[Mugwump]

In 2001 Lewis was past his athletic prime. But a lot of that was to do with him lacking motivation after he'd pretty much achieved everything he set out to.

For the first Rahman fight he arrived in the ring way overweight and hardly seemed interested. But we shouldn't forget that after that defeat he spent a lot of time in the gym and arrived for the rematch a completely different fighter knocking Rahman's brains halfway to Mars.

For the Klitschko fight he was again overweight and pretty badly out of shape. In rounds 3 and 4 it looked to me like he was about to gas out under Vitali's onslaught. And yet when the fight was stopped if anything he seemed to have gotten his second wind and was really coming on strong.

Had he had the opportunity to fight a young Tyson he would have arrived in peak condition. For all his success the 1988 version of Tyson hadn't faced anything like the challenge Lewis would pose. Whilst I'm sure Mike would have thrown everything at Lewis I just don't see there being any doubt over the winner once Lewis starts to connect with those big bombs.

As Frank Bruno proved - prime Tyson could be hit ... and hurt. Bruno lacked the killer instinct to capitalise on his success. Lewis didn't.

[QueensburyRules]

In 2001 Lewis was past his athletic prime. But a lot of that was to do with him lacking motivation after he'd pretty much achieved everything he set out to.

For the first Rahman fight he arrived in the ring way overweight and hardly seemed interested. But we shouldn't forget that after that defeat he spent a lot of time in the gym and arrived for the rematch a completely different fighter knocking Rahman's brains halfway to Mars.

For the Klitschko fight he was again overweight and pretty badly out of shape. In rounds 3 and 4 it looked to me like he was about to gas out under Vitali's onslaught. And yet when the fight was stopped if anything he seemed to have gotten his second wind and was really coming on strong.

Had he had the opportunity to fight a young Tyson he would have arrived in peak condition. For all his success the 1988 version of Tyson hadn't faced anything like the challenge Lewis would pose. Whilst I'm sure Mike would have thrown everything at Lewis I just don't see there being any doubt over the winner once Lewis starts to connect with those big bombs.

As Frank Bruno proved - prime Tyson could be hit ... and hurt. Bruno lacked the killer instinct to capitalise on his success. Lewis didn't.

- -Bruno was handily beating up Lewis until he ran out of steam.

The invincible Lewis never existed. The invincible Tyson did, thus the difference in these parameters.

[Sugarj]

Both of Lewis's defeats were one punch knockouts. I'd be very surprised if prime 1988 Mike Tyson couldn't find Lewis's chin within the first 5 rounds.

Lennox was a terrific heavyweight, but the Tyson he met was 13 or 14 years past his prime.

[SheenLantern]

As Frank Bruno proved - prime Tyson could be hit ... and hurt. Bruno lacked the killer instinct to capitalise on his success. Lewis didn't.

I agree that Lewis wins but post Kevin Rooney = not prime Tyson.

[Mugwump]

Both of Lewis's defeats were one punch knockouts. I'd be very surprised if prime 1988 Mike Tyson couldn't find Lewis's chin within the first 5 rounds.

Lennox was a terrific heavyweight, but the Tyson he met was 13 or 14 years past his prime.

I'd argue Lewis' KO's were far more to do with him not taking his opponents seriously than any perceived weakness in his chin. Lennox was caught many times in his career by some pretty explosive punchers and yet he never went down in those fights. I mean, Vitali caught him with some absolute bombs at a point in his life when he was hopelessly demotivated and out of shape. But he still didn't go down.

One thing is for certain - fighting a young Tyson you can bet Lewis would be in the best shape possible and focused to a razor edge.

[Mugwump]

I agree that Lewis wins but post Kevin Rooney = not prime Tyson.

I suppose ... but not by much. He's ... what .... just over a year away from the Berbick victory? In any case the Tyson who turned out for the Bruno fight was only two months ahead of the 1988 date mentioned in the initial post.

And Bruno wasn't the first person to hurt Tyson or give him problems. Tillis certainly gave him problems.