Lennox Lewis

[Steak]

I cant put him in the top 5 becuase he was knocked out visciuosly by 2 mediocre fighters. sure he avenged them which helps but still doesnt change the fact he was stopped by them,,,plus his 2 biggest wins were over holy and tyson who were both past there primes. I put him somewhere between 7 and 10 all time. his right hand and hand speed for his size were awesome

that makes no difference. Rahman and McCall were both very strong punches when they loaded up their shots. and Lennox wasnt even brutally knocked out...he was getting up when the ref called it off. Especially so in the McCall fight.

tell me this...if Muhammed Ali was getting up from that Henry Cooper punch, and the ref called the fight off because Ali WAS very hurt and Ali lost...but then he went on to win the rematch convincingly and do everything the same throughtout his career...would you hold it against him and not call him a great?
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R-Class

[OptimusWolf]

I'd put him in the top 10, and on a fighter v fighter I'd see him beating possibly everyone else in the list.

The losses to mccall and rahman hurt him, but he has such an impressive resume, and he fought so impressively at times over a long career at the top.

His demolition of Ruddock was outstanding, he would have beaten a prime tyson that night for sure.

[ßringer]

I'd say he makes the top 10, right at number 10. He's one of only two Heavyweights to have ever beaten everybody he was in the ring with, he beat Holyfield and Tyson, unified his division, avanged his 2 losses in dramatic fashion, and went out on top.

[Guest]

Top 5 of all time. He has one of the best resumes of all time, and the 2 losses and draw that he has, he avenged them.

I suppose really we should just say two losses - no draw.

I had him lower 10... it would have been interesting if the poll was public.

[Primal Instinx]

I think Lennox had some good handspeed and power punches without a doubt but what aches me the most is that he never fought Wladamir and IMO he was loosing the Vitali fight. I hate that he retired so soon because he did bring the heavyweight division some credibility.

[Randall_Hopkirk]

My top 5, for what it's worth:

1. Muhammed Ali
2. Joe Louis
3. Larry Holmes
4. Lennox Lewis
5. George Foreman

[Randall_Hopkirk]

I think Lennox had some good handspeed and power punches without a doubt but what aches me the most is that he never fought Wladamir and IMO he was loosing the Vitali fight. I hate that he retired so soon because he did bring the heavyweight division some credibility.

Wlad was just a promising HW when Lewis entered the twilight of his career, plus he'd just seen Him get KTFO by Corrie Sanders, a close friend of Lewis. At the time, Wladimir was no more of a threat than Chris Byrd, John Ruiz and James Toney.

[Wiley Hyena]

Lewis did have pretty fast hands, but he was slow and plodding. He was afraid of getting hit in the jaw and rarely allowed himself to engage in any in-fighting. He had great punching power, but a suspect chin. Lewis was a dominant heavyweight champ, but not top ten in my book. At least, not yet.

[lennon]

I cant put him in the top 5 becuase he was knocked out visciuosly by 2 mediocre fighters. sure he avenged them which helps but still doesnt change the fact he was stopped by them,,,plus his 2 biggest wins were over holy and tyson who were both past there primes. I put him somewhere between 7 and 10 all time. his right hand and hand speed for his size were awesome

Lewis was past his best when he fought Tyson also, he is actually older than Tyson and had only 3 and a half rounds between that fight and being knocked out himself. He then looked diminished beyond repair at almost 38 against a 31 year old Vitali Klitschko yet he still won. So if your going to hold him beating guys that you say were on the slide you should also give him redit for being able to do what they couldnt do when he himself was also on the slide!

[Randall_Hopkirk]

Lewis did have pretty fast hands, but he was slow and plodding. He was afraid of getting hit in the jaw and rarely allowed himself to engage in any in-fighting. He had great punching power, but a suspect chin. Lewis was a dominant heavyweight champ, but not top ten in my book. At least, not yet.

He wasn't an inside fighter, simple as that. His strengths were his jab, and obviously his huge overhand right, not mention a monumental uppercut. The one fight where he did engage on the inside often was the ray Mercer fight, one which was very close, to close to call.

He utilized his strengths to the utmost, whilst at the same time showing a variety of weapons someone of his size had no right to posses. His chin wasn't that bad. He took flush shots from Klitschko, Tua, Mercer, Holyfield, Briggs, Morrison and still went on the win those fights.