Lennox Lewis - How good was he?

[Dirk Diggler UK]

those statements were made before the Vitali fight. I understand being a fan but those were actual statements not sh@t I made up. Just stop it and admit it.

Of course because he was coming back, he had to claim that he was still fresh and still at the peak of his powers.

He's not exactly going to say, "I'm shot to **** but I'm getting paid an arseload so that's why I'm coming back".

Use your head you utter ***wit.

Also....why was he out of the ring for a year if he wasn't contemplating retirement? What was he doing? You've ducked that question twice now.

[young_robbed]

needless to say, he was ATG. Top 5 heavyweight ever.

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Lewis (or foreman, idc)
5. Foreman

[hitman smax]

How good was he?

He was and is, without a doubt, the best heavyweight of his era. Better than Tyson, better than Holyfield, better than Bowe, better than anyone who fought during his career. No doubt about it.

Very few fighters retire being able to boast that they avenged every loss and beat every single significant fighter of their time. The only significant name missing from Lewis' resume is Bowe, and that's because Bowe's handlers were scared of Lewis. But Lewis knocked his out at the Olympics, and that counts for something.

And that's the answer to the other question, YES, Lewis would have beaten ANY Rid**** Bowe. Not only that, but Lewis would have knocked his ass out AGAIN, and it would have been the most embarrassing moment of Bowe's career.

The only small asterisk on the resume of Lewis is that he didn't give Klitschko a well deserved rematch. But Lewis was pretty much done at that point of his career, and was very lucky to escape their first fight with a win. Sometimes you gotta walk away from the table with the chips you have. That was the smart thing to do.

[Mitchell Kane]

So why was he out of the ring for a year after the Tyson fight and no one knew if he was coming back or not?

Klitschko fantards and their ridiculous revisionist history

Lewis pretty much just wanted the Tyson rematch at that point in his career.

He didn't want Chris Byrd, Kirk Johnson, Vitali Klitschko.

I think he just wanted to get paid again for beating Tyson and walk off.

[IMDAZED]

Lewis pretty much just wanted the Tyson rematch at that point in his career.

He didn't want Chris Byrd, Kirk Johnson, Vitali Klitschko.

I think he just wanted to get paid again for beating Tyson and walk off.

Yup, that was the plan. I forget why that rematch never happened. They both campaigned for it pretty hard right after the fight.

[Mitchell Kane]

Good points especially with King but why didn't he fight him whilst waiting for Holyfield?
He avoided Moorer who was trained by Manny Steward and Steward didn't want that fight for Lewis, he advised Lewis to stay clear.

I just don't think there is any excuse for him never fighting a southpaw throughout his career when there certainly was some very good southpaws around and a few holding world titles.
Instead of fighting them he was fighting the likes of Tyson, McCall, Fortune, Holyfield, Ruddock, all of which was not only past prime but drug addicts.
I mean fans look at this names and its like wow he beat Holyfield, he beat Tyson and avenged his loss, Ruddock wasn't a bad fighter either. Holyfield bounced back so it deserves credit but its undeniable he waited and caught a lot of guys at the right time. For whatever reason(s) he didn't fight most his resume when they was anywhere near close to their peek. He got out of the game at the right time. IMO he was a very good, a great HW but a very careful one who always knew his limits.

There was a lot of shady **** with King but I will always have a hard time ranking a guy so high h2h or whatever that did not fight one southpaw and to me quite clearly picked his opposition very wisely.

Actually, Holyfield was the one who waited on that fight...go back and revisit the negotiations.

[Elroy1]

Man this thread has been busy overnight!

2 points..

Tyson ducking Lewis? Never heard that one before. I kinda doubt that. The payday and the belt was kinda Mike's sole reason for being there.

And on the Klitschko-Lewis debacle..

I notice some guys trying to convince the board that this was a shot version of Lewis or not his best.

Lennox is maybe the best, but the version of Lewis that showed up to fight Vitali was very nearly a top form Lewis. He fought hard and well considering his opponent, you can see it.

His greatest form was Rahman 2, only 2 fights previous.

He came in only 5lbs fatter than usual, not the inflated blimp Lewtards try to push. He'd had a year off sure, but he was not twiddling his thumbs the whole time, he was prepared to face top-contender Johnson for some time, 1 year off at modern HW is nothing too drastic. Ask Haye LOL. Hell VK came back after 4 yrs!

The claims of Lewis being shot for Vitali are nothing more than staunch Lewis fans trying to push their boy over the line for that grab at glory.

[LacedUp]

Man this thread has been busy overnight!

2 points..

Tyson ducking Lewis? Never heard that one before. I kinda doubt that. The payday and the belt was kinda Mike's sole reason for being there.

And on the Klitschko-Lewis debacle..

I notice some guys trying to convince the board that this was a shot version of Lewis or not his best.

Lennox is maybe the best, but the version of Lewis that showed up to fight Vitali was very nearly a top form Lewis. He fought hard and well considering his opponent, you can see it.

His greatest form was Rahman 2, only 2 fights previous.

He came in only 5lbs fatter than usual, not the inflated blimp Lewtards try to push. He'd had a year off sure, but he was not twiddling his thumbs the whole time, he was prepared to face top-contender Johnson for some time, 1 year off at modern HW is nothing too drastic. Ask Haye LOL. Hell VK came back after 4 yrs!

The claims of Lewis being shot for Vitali are nothing more than staunch Lewis fans trying to push their boy over the line for that grab at glory.

Tyson clearly ducked Lewis on multiple ocassions. He/don king paid him $6 million I think NOT to fight him. Then he said multiple times that he wasn't quite ready for him.

Lewis was clearly not at his best vs Vitali. He was demotivated and hadn't trained properly. He was by no means shot, but he was not the Lennox that turned up for Tyson. That's for damn sure.

[Elroy1]

Tyson clearly ducked Lewis on multiple ocassions. He/don king paid him $6 million I think NOT to fight him. Then he said multiple times that he wasn't quite ready for him.

Lewis was clearly not at his best vs Vitali. He was demotivated and hadn't trained properly. He was by no means shot, but he was not the Lennox that turned up for Tyson. That's for damn sure.

I don't see how you can say that. I mean as soon as the bell rang, Lewis was at it, never let up, the pace was being pushed on him and he didn't fold. It was a slug fest the whole time, no chance of a stinker with such a tall, aggressive and good opponent.

It was a different style of fight than the Tyson affair.

I just don't see how you can point to anything in Lewis's performance that night and say, clearly, he was not himself.

Previous versions of LEwis had performed much MUCH worse, you know, those ones around the time that many like to call his prime

A lot is made of the last run of fights guys have, that they are not their best because they are getting old. And sometimes it's true. I would not claim Holyfield was as good when he was older.

But often, age is accompanied by experience (and weight at HW) which sometimes outweighs the athleticism advantages of youth. Which is why the champs are approaching 40 often and old dogs can often upset the young guns. Boxing is not a purely athletic sport, it has so many variables that experience counts for much more than most realise! LEwis falls under this category.

On Tyson I don't know enough for further comment. I thought Chris Byrd was paid money to step aside in order to make the Tyson/Lewis fight??? :s

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Man this thread has been busy overnight!

2 points..

Tyson ducking Lewis? Never heard that one before. I kinda doubt that. The payday and the belt was kinda Mike's sole reason for being there.

And on the Klitschko-Lewis debacle..

I notice some guys trying to convince the board that this was a shot version of Lewis or not his best.

Lennox is maybe the best, but the version of Lewis that showed up to fight Vitali was very nearly a top form Lewis. He fought hard and well considering his opponent, you can see it.

His greatest form was Rahman 2, only 2 fights previous.

He came in only 5lbs fatter than usual, not the inflated blimp Lewtards try to push. He'd had a year off sure, but he was not twiddling his thumbs the whole time, he was prepared to face top-contender Johnson for some time, 1 year off at modern HW is nothing too drastic. Ask Haye LOL. Hell VK came back after 4 yrs!

The claims of Lewis being shot for Vitali are nothing more than staunch Lewis fans trying to push their boy over the line for that grab at glory.

Yep, inactive for a year and the heaviest of his entire career. He was just hitting his prime in time for Vitali.