Lennox Lewis - How good was he?

[LacedUp]

Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Corrie Sanders are a few he could of fought

Moorer was a world champion at the same time Lewis was.
Lewis admitted he ducked Sanders and continually stated he hated southpaws.

Lewis was a very good HW but he sure knew his limits.

This is obviously not true. Lewis said he wasn't good enough to fight him and he picked the guy who beat him (rahman) instead.

With regards to Michael Moorer, you can't just say he avoided him because they didn't fight - that's just insane. Moorer went after holyfield and foreman - the more lucrative options at the time.

Byrd could have happened I suppose, but ultimately, Grant was the better choice for HBO and he was also ranked above Byrd so I don't really see any case for that.

[Godsfly]

My top 5 is...

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Foreman
4. Lewis
5. Holyfield

The bottom 5 of the top 10 can pretty much go in any order because the talent really drops off from here with Jack Johnson, Dempsey, Marciano, and others.

ali, louis, foreman, holyfield, holmes. are all greater then lewis.............he's in the top 10 but not top 5.

[Mitchell Kane]

Great record, ATG HW, solid resume but overrated technically by almost everyone IMO and he never fought a southpaw.
How can you have a guy as this h2h #1 or 2 or whatever when he never fought a southpaw?

He is very much like Wladimir = labeled as boring, no inside game and all of this. Now he is retired he is suddenly this unbeatable monster that produced fireworks & was great inside.

I don't see him being superior to Wladimir I really don't.
Wlad has a better jab
Better and fast footwork
Better at controlling distance
Better handspeed, more power, crisper technique.

For me, Lewis is a poor mans Wladimir. I know its an unpopular opinion but that is how I see it.

I don't take anything away from him he was a very good HW but these days I feel he gets a little overrated and I think his resume whilst very good is for most part a little overrated & he relied a lot of catching guys at the right time.

What Wladimir lacks is variation, creativity.

Wladimir sticks with the same cautious approach of jab, jab, jab and then hook after the jab, right down the middle...very little variation, very rarely changing the target.

He can be predictable...he begins everything with he jab and from there he starts to work in his other punches.

Lewis would have challenged him right off the bat with the jab...upsetting the rhythm of Wladimir's jab, and disrupting his entire offensive gameplan.

Lewis with the longer reach, and quicker hands, would have been able to win the jab battle, and from there it would be his fight to win.

[LacedUp]

He got right up and wasn't woozy like Lennox was.

Now, do I think Wlad could have taken the punch McCall hit Lewis with any better?

No way, but that's besides the point.

Wasn't woozy? What fight were you watching? His eyes rolled around in his head and he fell like timber 3 times.

[IMDAZED]

Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Corrie Sanders are a few he could of fought

Moorer was a world champion at the same time Lewis was.
Lewis admitted he ducked Sanders and continually stated he hated southpaws.

Lewis was a very good HW but he sure knew his limits.

He fought the guy who KO'ed Moorer.

He also fought the guy who KO'ed Sanders.

I prefer that to fighting the loser.

[Godsfly]

judging by this thread I'd say lewis is actually very overrated........when you have people putting him over guys like holmes. YES. he's overrated.........

[Mitchell Kane]

He didn't need to, by then Vitali had already stopped them.

Vitali fought Ross Purrity 3 years after he beat Wladimir.

[Boxing Goat]

Wlad paws with his jab too much. These days anyway and for the past 5 years.

I wouldn't say he paws with it. He can still put some stank on it when he wants to and it's never soft so no...

[LacedUp]

This is obviously not true. Lewis said he wasn't good enough to fight him and he picked the guy who beat him (rahman) instead.

With regards to Michael Moorer, you can't just say he avoided him because they didn't fight - that's just insane. Moorer went after holyfield and foreman - the more lucrative options at the time.

Byrd could have happened I suppose, but ultimately, Grant was the better choice for HBO and he was also ranked above Byrd so I don't really see any case for that.

Also Lennox Lewis and Corrie Sanders were friends. Not saying it mattered in terms of preventing a fight, but Corrie had been fighting on Lennox's undercards a couple of times, they shared promoters and were very friendly.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

All world champs have soft touches, Lewis was no exception. Wlad has faced the #1 challenger 4 times now and is about to do it for a 5th time during this reign. I see no problem with that.


Wlad always got up and was never punch drunk when he did. Lewis stumbled into the ref when the McCall fight was stopped. He was delusional and so are you if you don't agree.


Correction: Steward modelled his Lewis and Wladimir. Period.
Wlad was honing his style and it's become more effective than Lewis' was.
The proof is in the pudding.


Like I said, I agree with the old Wlad but not the new one. He's perfected his craft and I think Lennox would be made to pay to land his shots and either man could end up on the floor.

Just my opinion. Don't get worked up again.

Compare Lewis and Wladimir's resumes.

Use actual names and not generic terms like "number 1 challenger" which means jack when that challenger is Alex Leapai