Lewis, overated or a true Heavyweight great?

[Great]

Lewis the place in the best 10 unequivocally deserves.
Let's recollect, that about it has told Foreman: " It I and Ali in one person ".
Let's recollect, that has told about Lennox Muhammad: " Earlier I was the Greatest, and now he " (not word for word).

[Dr.Depravity]

I dunno bout top ten. Top 20 for sure.

[hollister]

To me, Lewis is in the same class as the Klits, but with more confidence than Wlad, and a little more coordination than VK. He was able to use his reach and his weight pretty effectively, but he held too much for my taste, and some of his tactics were dirty. I doubt I will ever appreciate him more than I do now, nor will I ever compare his situation to that of Larry Holmes. Holmes was a great fighter, a gracefull boxer with a great right hand who wasn't appreciated because of fighting right after Ali. Lewis is a lumbering clod who hits hard when he can keep his opponent on the outside, and wrestles when he can't. I believe Holyfield was a much better fighter than Lewis in terms of stamina and skill, not to mention chin, he just lacked power. Lewis was a good fighter, but not nearly as good as he would have you believe.

[SonnyG8R]

Lewis the place in the best 10 unequivocally deserves.
Let's recollect, that about it has told Foreman: " It I and Ali in one person ".
Let's recollect, that has told about Lennox Muhammad: " Earlier I was the Greatest, and now he " (not word for word).

Are you dislexic or something?

[Bubba Chunday]

Lewis the place in the best 10 unequivocally deserves.
Let's recollect, that about it has told Foreman: " It I and Ali in one person ".
Let's recollect, that has told about Lennox Muhammad: " Earlier I was the Greatest, and now he " (not word for word).

Not word for word...and then some! lol

[dempseyfire]

Underrated fighter in a b-c class level of fighters, But you cant say that or even use that an arguement...Lewis cannot help when he was born and had no choice on when to fight, Marciano fought in one of the ****tiest times in HW history and he beat EVERYBODY! As did lewis and fought all the big names as well and beat them convincingly.


Lewis deserves to be in the top 10

Louis
Holmes
Ali
Holyfield
Foreman
Lewis
Frazier
Marciano
Floyd Patterson
Ken Norton
Michael Spinks-Deny it all you want but this guy was damn good
Mike Tyson-Short lived but loved every ounce of it to carry over for 15 years in peoples minds


Liston,walcott,schmelling,dempsey and a few others rank up their this is no particular order but just some of the top heavyweights of all time.

Boxing is not about stats its about the depth and quality of the era you fought in and how you handled himself. Lewis fought in a weak era (although compared to now it seems like a golden age) and still managed to get KO'd twice by two C-list fighters, deserved no more then a draw against an overweight 35 year old Ray Mercer, and the Holyfield rematch coulda gone either way. He also never fought a 15 round fight and showed stamina problems and fatigue in many of his tougher fights. He did manage to stay on top for awhile and for that he's somewhere in the 11-15 range on my all time ranking.
I also think a Holmes comparison is mute-just look at Holmes vs Cooney or Norton and then Lewis vs Holyfield or Tyson-Holmes was on another level then Lewis in terms of skills and fluidity.

[Bubba Chunday]

Boxing is not about stats its about the depth and quality of the era you fought in and how you handled himself. Lewis fought in a weak era (although compared to now it seems like a golden age) and still managed to get KO'd twice by two C-list fighters, deserved no more then a draw against an overweight 35 year old Ray Mercer, and the Holyfield rematch coulda gone either way. He also never fought a 15 round fight and showed stamina problems and fatigue in many of his tougher fights. He did manage to stay on top for awhile and for that he's somewhere in the 11-15 range on my all time ranking.

Id agree. I think Holyfield and especially Tyson were WAY passed thier best. Not his fault i know, but those are the biggest names he fought.

[phallus]

i think Lennox just barely makes the top 20, but like the others said,
it's not his fault he came up in a weak time for the heavyweight division

[whdempsey]

He's in the 5-10 range and should always be put above Holyfield and Tyson.

No he shouldn't. Tyson is one thing, Holyfield another. Don't forget, he beat both of them when they were old, and most guys say would have lost to them when they were younger. Furthermore, although I strongly disagree with the draw in their first fight, Holyfield won the rematch on my scorecards. Also, although it's clear that Holyfield has detiorated very much, most of his losses (except the ones to Toney, Byrd, and what should have been a loss against Lewis) it should be noted his others were extremely controversial. Also, Holyfield's two losses earlier in his career came on nights when he should not have been in the ring. With his heart problem against Moorer, and the Hepatitis A he suffered from in the rubber match with Bowe, it's very easy to argue that at his best, Holyfield would have beaten anyone he ever faced. Of course, technically Lewis did beat everyone he ever faced, but only technically in the minds of most fans.

[whdempsey]

Are you dislexic or something?

I'll bet money he's ESL.