The Lewis Era vs. The Klitschko Era

[Darkstar]

Ask any boxing fan about Lennox Lewis' ATG status and you'll generally get the same answer : Most people have him on their top 10 Heavyweight list of the greatest to ever do it.

Ask that same boxing fan about the Klitschko brothers' reign and the result will be.....Well, not exactly the same.

Throughout his career Lewis was generally looked upon with disdain by most in the boxing public : He fought once a year, he dominated his division, but yet people still defined that era as "post Tyson". Not to mention embarassing knockout losses to 2 contenders of his era : Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall. Lewis would go on to avenge both of those losses by knockout. But the damage to his reputation was already done.

In the years since Lennox has retired, a begrudging amount of respect has been bestowed upon the former Heavyweight kingpin : Most people now recognize his talents, and give full credit to his accomplishments.

Now look at the Klitschko brothers Era : They took the reigns after Lewis' retirement and have pretty much dominated it ever since. Vitali was looked upon as the stronger of the two for a while, but a 4 year retirement and numerous failed comebacks (thanks to repeated injury) thrust his brother Wladimir into the spotlight.

Wlad is a fighter very similar to Lewis : He's technical in his approach, not one for taking unnecessary risks in the ring, and he's pretty much dominated every opponet put infront of him. To top it off, he also has 2 embarassing knockout losses to contenders of his era Lamon Brewster and Corrie Sanders on his record. Unlike Lewis, Wladimir avenged only one of those losses, scoring a 6 round RTD over Lamon Brewster.

When casual boxing fans think of the Heavyweight division now, they generally say it's "gone south". Or that it's not nearly as good as eras past.

But was Lennox Lewis' era really that spectactular by comparison? What's the difference between Corrie Sanders and Oliver McCall? Is there one?

When it comes to the issue of legacy, most people consider Lewis to be the greatest of his era, and they list him as an "All Time Great" Heavyweight Champion. Fans and experts alike

When it comes time for Wladimir and Vitali to step aside, they can rest assured that they will go down as the greatest Heavyweights of their era.

But when it comes to "All Time Great" status, one must ask oneself: Would Lennox Lewis get the same amount of respect he gets today, if during his era, there were TWO Lennox Lewis' who fought in a similar style, dominated their opposition, but refused to face one another?

Nice thread, its well put.

[ßringer]

Nice thread, its well put.

Thanks, I tried. Glad you liked it.

[La_Vibora]

Well lets not forget that technically Vitali is undefeated, he was clearly winning both of the fights he lost before freak injuries stopped those fights. So he should be 39-0 right now to be honest. I don't see much of a difference between the Klitschko era and the Lewis era other than the fact that Lewis' era had "sexier" names, but otherwise the talent level is pretty much the same since by the time Lewis fought the named fighters of his time they were already past their best. I am not sure if I quite understand the point of this thread. I am also not sure if I would put Lewis in the top 10 seeing how he got KOed twice by subpar opponents and never beat a great fighter in his prime.

[ßringer]

In that sense I guess you could make a strong argument that Lennox would lose his ATG status, but I personally still rate him that high because of his style and effectiveness as a big man. It's just hard to say that he couldn't be competitive in any era because of his combination of boxing skills and raw physicality.

You make a very interesting point though. Perhaps if Wladimir had been a ping-pong champion and the boxing world only knew Vitali we would sing his praises more often

They're like a big dark cloud for each other, almost.

Wladimir, on paper, is the more accomplished. But who could really say he'd be a serious threat in any golden Heavyweight era?

Vitali, on paper, is less accomplished : Because of the near 4 years off. But who could really say he couldn't be a serious threat in a golden era?

[Sin City]

the better question is: how would Bernard Hopkins have faired against a bigger opponent as he never did fight someone who was physically bigger then him. never moved up in wieght to fight anybody..

[IMDAZED]

Good thread.

Obviously, Lewis did it for a longer period and also avenged his losses (either immediately or while the fighter still had something left). But I think that what separates the two eras is quality of opposition. It's amazing how much **** has changed. I remember how everyone complained of how boring Lennox was, yada yada yada. but when I look back -especially compared to what I see today - I can't help but wonder what we were smoking. Maybe Tyson & Holyfield spoiled us because Lewis had plenty of exciting bouts - Mercer, Golota, Ruddock, Briggs, etc.

Wlad has the potential to be a great HW. I really feel that way. But he's got to show us a little more. I can't imagine him winning a war or beating the quality of opp Lewis did. Sure he'd win his fair share but a couple guys would leave him bloodied on the canvas. ****, a 41 year-old Mercer busted his face a bit by landing about seven jabs. A prime Mercer is world's better than everyone he beat. ****, I'd pick Zjelko Mavrovic over most of these guys fighting now. Amazing, isn't it?

[ßringer]

Well lets not forget that technically Vitali is undefeated, he was clearly winning both of the fights he lost before freak injuries stopped those fights. So he should be 39-0 right now to be honest. I don't see much of a difference between the Klitschko era and the Lewis era other than the fact that Lewis' era had "sexier" names, but otherwise the talent level is pretty much the same since by the time Lewis fought the named fighters of his time they were already past their best. I am not sure if I quite understand the point of this thread. I am also not sure if I would put Lewis in the top 10 seeing how he got KOed twice by subpar opponents and never beat as great fighter in his prime.

I stopped reading after the bolded part.

Lewis did a massacre on Klitschko's eye, he got a TKO. Lennox looked like trash and he still managed to damn near rip his eyeball out. Not to mention split his lip in half.

Did Klitschko look good against Lewis? Yes. He certainly did. But he lost, there's absolutely no other way to twist it.

He also lost to Byrd. He may have been winning that fight, but he quit. Meaning he gave up, retired on his stool, giving the victory to Byrd.

As for Lewis - Wlad also got KO'd twice by subpar competition, the difference is Lewis avenged those losses by KO, and has victories over the likes of Klitschko, Tyson, Tua, Botha, Grant, Holyfield, Briggs, Golota, Mercer, Morrison, Bruno, Tucker, and Ruddock.

[ßringer]

the better question is: how would Bernard Hopkins have faired against a bigger opponent as he never did fight someone who was physically bigger then him. never moved up in wieght to fight anybody..

Make a thread about that tomorrow and I'll let you know how I feel on it.

I'm fading fast over here, and I'm trying to keep this all on the same page.

[sylvestersweet]

No.
Vitali is like Calzaghe in a way in that he stayed under the radar and when it was time for him to take center stage he only had a few fights. He was WBO champion for a while but that was still during the reign of Lewis. Then when he had the torch passed to him, he knocked out three so-so guys and then took four years off and came back to fight two more so-so guys. Only five fights on top. Lewis fought his fair share of so-so guys but he did fight Tyson, Holyfield, Golota, Ruddock, prime Rahman, etc.
Also Vitali's only real career defining fight was a loss(to Lewis).
Wlad's career has been different. Even though he doesn't have the talent of Vitali, his activity would give him the nod over his brother in an ATG race. But still he's probably not an ATG either since he's been knocked out three times and won his unification fight against Ibragimovf in such an unimpressive fashion.

[Left Hook Tua]

the better question is: how would Bernard Hopkins have faired against a bigger opponent as he never did fight someone who was physically bigger then him. never moved up in wieght to fight anybody..

bernard hopkins is the greatest welterweight fighter of all time!!!!!