Lennox Lewis - How good was he?

[LacedUp]

LOL Yeah poor Holyfield was always considered the easy option by the top brass that's true, in the end it did his legacy many favours though.

Obviously I agree with Red on the fact he could have fought on some more (Lennox) and at the very least should have rematched VK, but on the other side of the coin I would not wish him to have gone down the Holyfield path and fight on to multiple losses.

Basically a fighter should fight on through his 30's and early 40's if he is still winning (i.e. he is still "primish") when he happens to lose or struggle as Holyfield and even Ali did, they should really retire.

Nobody wants to see a great champion become brained because they dunno when to quit.

I think it's something Klitschko fans will always want, and I understand why they would have wanted the rematch. I wanted to see it too.

But looking from Lennox's perspective, Vitali wasn't in his era. He wasn't part of the scene in the 90s and therefore the thirst for beating him (again) was close to zilch. Lennox's legacy wouldn't have gained much from beating Vitali, because it was a new era.

I don't think you can say how long a fighter should continue to fight for, as each fighter is different. When you fight at world level from 18 years old like Tyson, then it's damn near impossible to keep it going for 20 years. Especially these days with the PPV, the notoriety, pressure etc. Also, if you take into account the beatings and the wars he's been in.

Others like Wlad, really only entered the world scene (as in fighting top contenders) consistently in 2004+ - One of the reasons why he can keep himself fresh. And despite taking a beating a few times, he hasn't really been in any 'wars' that has really taken it out of him - similarly to Lennox before the Vitali fight. He'd only really been in with Mercer which was a very tough fight.

Also, Lewis talked about retirement after Holyfield. He said he wanted Tyson and then that was it. He fought Vitali in what was clearly his retirement fight from the start, but nobody expected it to be such a good close fight.

[New England]

one of hte best ever at HW.

solid resume
great fighter H2H. his power, size, jab / style, and underrated chin give any HW ever huge problems.



he'd knock wladimir into next week. their chins are on a different level, and wladimir wouldn't be able to jab jab grab all night on a dude with longer arms who is strong enough to handle him in clinches.

[IMDAZED]

ATG and a top 10 HW.

Yes, in his prime he would've beaten Bowe.

[M Bison]

To be fair I don't think LL needed to fight Bowe, Bowe clearly was shook and Lewis win over Golota is a better win than beating Bowe imo.

[Elroy1]

I think it's something Klitschko fans will always want, and I understand why they would have wanted the rematch. I wanted to see it too.

But looking from Lennox's perspective, Vitali wasn't in his era. He wasn't part of the scene in the 90s and therefore the thirst for beating him (again) was close to zilch. Lennox's legacy wouldn't have gained much from beating Vitali, because it was a new era.

I don't think you can say how long a fighter should continue to fight for, as each fighter is different. When you fight at world level from 18 years old like Tyson, then it's damn near impossible to keep it going for 20 years. Especially these days with the PPV, the notoriety, pressure etc. Also, if you take into account the beatings and the wars he's been in.

Others like Wlad, really only entered the world scene (as in fighting top contenders) consistently in 2004+ - One of the reasons why he can keep himself fresh. And despite taking a beating a few times, he hasn't really been in any 'wars' that has really taken it out of him - similarly to Lennox before the Vitali fight. He'd only really been in with Mercer which was a very tough fight.

Also, Lewis talked about retirement after Holyfield. He said he wanted Tyson and then that was it. He fought Vitali in what was clearly his retirement fight from the start, but nobody expected it to be such a good close fight.

Now we're getting into argumentative territory again lol. I should just mention that it isn't exactly Lennox's or the Klitschko's fault that they are so good and stylistically adept to cruise through their careers without taking many real beatings.

I also remember Lennox saying he "feels good, really good, wanted to carry on his career, was like a fine wine, getting better with age" before the VK fight. And even directly after the VK fight "he wants a rematch" and also this "I want his brother next, 1 for breakfast, one for lunch"

I remember that!

[LacedUp]

Now we're getting into argumentative territory again lol. I should just mention that it isn't exactly Lennox's or the Klitschko's fault that they are so good and stylistically adept to cruise through their careers without taking many real beatings.

I also remember Lennox saying he "feels good, really good, wanted to carry on his career, was like a fine wine, getting better with age" before the VK fight. And even directly after the VK fight "he wants a rematch" and also this "I want his brother next, 1 for breakfast, one for lunch"

I remember that!

Listen, I'm not going to dispute that for one second. Of course it's because they are that good - to some extent it's also because no one else is good enough to give them a tough fight.

Yes, he did say that. In preparation for a PPV fight. He talked many times about retirement before Vitali was even in the picture. So it's a bit of both.

[New England]

Listen, I'm not going to dispute that for one second. Of course it's because they are that good - to some extent it's also because no one else is good enough to give them a tough fight.

Yes, he did say that. In preparation for a PPV fight. He talked many times about retirement before Vitali was even in the picture. So it's a bit of both.

he also didn't train hard. it was obvious that his career was winding down.


was a rematch warrented? absolutely. it was a great, competitve fight. lewis won via stoppage.

was it a duck? of course not. he was ready to retire. he had money, and he never came back. it's a clear case of two fighters being in different eras, not a duck.

[LacedUp]

he also didn't train hard. it was obvious that his career was winding down.


was a rematch warrented? absolutely. it was a great, competitve fight. lewis won via stoppage.

was it a duck? of course not. he was ready to retire. he had money, and he never came back. it's a clear case of two fighters being in different eras, not a duck.

Yeah that's pretty much exactly how I see it as well.

[Pugilist95]

Good fighter, somewhat overrated by the Klitschko fans on this forum because their guy put up a good fight against him.

[beez721]

he also didn't train hard. it was obvious that his career was winding down.


was a rematch warrented? absolutely. it was a great, competitve fight. lewis won via stoppage.

was it a duck? of course not. he was ready to retire. he had money, and he never came back. it's a clear case of two fighters being in different eras, not a duck.

im kinda mixed in my emotions when it comes down to lennox not rematching vitali. I can understand it in that lennox was obviously past his best but he did also promise vit the rematch and went back on his word which wasn't very cool. anyway,,,it doesn't really matter now as he won the fight fair and square and achieved his greatness but I so wanted to see that damn rematch,,lol