Was Lennox Lewis a great champion ?

[BrooklynBomber]

Lennox Lewis beat everybody he faced, and he didn't duck or avoid no-one. To say he did is a joke. After all, don't forget it was he who was being avoided so much on his way up to the top. What you're saying holds no water, it's like, why give a guy a rematch who you've already beaten, and you know and everybody else knows that if you fought him 100 times you'd beat him 100 times.

Lennox Lewis is a true great, and did not show no half-heartedness towards the sport of boxing. There you go again with your ludicrous accusations.

I am afraid Lennox will never get the credit he deserves.

How about Byrd?
Thats a fact he never wanted to face a southpaw.
But, considering that fact, he is still a great champion.

[K-DOGG]

Canada, aye?

Good post and good points, Hollister.....and well taken.



OH! And "Prime Lewis" would be the years between Morrison and Tua, IMO.

[hollister]

Canada, aye?

Good post and good points, Hollister.....and well taken.

lol I was trying to be funny because Canada claims him and so does Jamaica and Britain lol
Everybody wants to be associated with you when you're that good lol

[CloudJay]

If he fights a prime holyfield... this topic will never be made.

[K-DOGG]

If he fights a prime holyfield... this topic will never be made.

Or, we wouldn't be talking about Holy; but we wouldn't be talking about Holy if Tyson had never fought again after prison.


If's and buts.....it's all opinion. Afterall, prime Holy did so well against prime Bowe.

[King Koyle]

Definetly!He's in my top ten or fifteen greatest heavyweight's of all time.

[MickyHatton]

Several reasons prevent Lewis from being considered an all time great in the court of public opinion. However, none of them are valid.

1. Lewis was boring. So what? What has boring got to do with being the best. Nowhere is it written that being an "exciting" fighter guarantees the mantle of "all-time-great" for being a thrill a second has never been a prerequisite for greatness. Jack Johnson was as dull as dishwater; but as effective a fighter as had ever been seen at the time. Nat Fleisher, the founder of Ring Magazine, went to his grave claiming that Jack Johnson was the greatest heavyweight who ever lived....and he saw Ali at his best. Lewis was a thinking man's fighter; he outsmarted his opponents and those who love the primal destruction of raw prize-fighting and pure slugging have a hard time appreciating Lewis's tactical take to the sport. He was a big guy who chose to use his physical skills the best way he saw fit. He probably could have been like George Foreman, if it were his temperment; but it wasn't. He wasn't as passionate as he was scientific; but I submit this is a reflection of his personality. Not everyone wants to drive an opponent's nose bone into his brain.

2. He was stopped twice by "unrespectable" fighters while he was in his "prime". Well, first off, that's just not true. Lewis was knocked out at age 29 by Oliver McCall and while he might have been at his physical peak around age 29, he hadn't matured as a fighter into his "fighting prime", so to speak. He was still making very fundamental tactical mistakes when he fought McCall; and if you've seen the fight, you know that part of the reason he got caught was because his trainer at the time, Pepe Correa, gave him some really bad advice before the start of round two, essentially telling Lewis to take our McCall, who'd never been stopped and was still fresh. Lewis's other stoppage was to Hasim Rahman when he was 36 years old and out of shape due to not taking rahman seriously. He took his opponent for granted and he got caught; but came back months later and completely destroyed Rahman. The arguement here essentially boils down to this: an all time great should have an all-time great chin and Lewis doesn't, so he's not an all-time great. Personally, I think this philosophy is pure foolishness and prejudiced. Boxing is a learned artform, or science, depending upon your outlook; and how good you become is largely dependent upon how much you put into it.....the harder you train, the more you want to be the best, the better you beccome....provided you have a well-versed trainer, of course. True, some men are more physically gifted than others; but are these men "better", persay? They have greater advantages; but that does not make them better champions....it gives them a better chance to be greater champions, true; but how many mulit-talented athletes have you seen fall just short, or waste his potential completely? It's about want-to and dedication to one's sport. Rocky Marciano wasn't the most physically talented athlete by any stretch of the imagination; but he sure as hell "wanted it" more than most. Lewis did not have a glass jaw; but is was merely average. This is a physical trait; but somehow, after being knocked out on national televison by Oliver McCall, Lewis came back to dominate and beat the best in the division for the next ten years. How many fighters have you seen fall apart completely after their first knock-out defeat? There's the championship character....or "want-to", persay.

3. He's British.....aka "not" an American. Let's face it, this is where most of the bias comes from. Americans, by and large, love American fighters just like English fans love English fighters, Mexican fans love Mexican fighters, and on and on. But this big Brit came over here and did his thing his way, and in the end, was far better than Rid**** Bowe, who was "our guy" and he had the gall to beat Evander twice. Sure, Evander was old; but, look on the bright side, you can use that excues in an arguement when Brits or Lewis fans talk about how a prime Lewis would always beat a prime Holyfield. There's no way to know, for sure; but it's fun to argue. Thank God, Bowe ducked him, or we might acutally know the answer to that question, 'cause then, they would have fought back in 1993 or so.

4. His "level of competition" wasn't as good as some other champions Oh really? How the hell is his level of competition suppose to be beyond question when the best fighters in the world shamelessly ducked him? Lewis destroyed, absolutely destroyed Razor Ruddock in Two rouns after Mike Tyson had struggled for 19 rounds with the same man. (Mike softened him up.. ) That win earned him a shot at Rid**** Bowe; but "Big Daddy" decided to trash the WBC belt rather than face him. Mike Tyson did the same thing three years later. Lennox Lewis was Tyson's #1 contender after his win over Ray Mercer at MSG; but Mike decided to let the WBC belt go rather than face Lewis. Mike chose the "mighty" Bruce Seldon as his next opponent instead. While "that" Mike Tyson wasn't "the best" Mike Tyson, it's still the one who helped Evander Holyfield seal his place in the hearts and minds of fans by getting his ass kicked. Imagine if he'd faced Lewis instead. (If Lewis had won, Mike would have been "shot". )


Lennox Lewis is an all time great; his accomplishments speak for themselves. Critics can howl all they want; but its not going to change a thing.

Great post!

[Steak]

i dont get it how people say 'Lewis's losses were more worse because he was beat by one punch and other champions' losses were from accumulation'. I mean...if someone is worn down and beaten, thats not really a fluke...Lewis's losses came from flash KOs while he was beating his opponent anyway.
those are more flukes than Louis's losses seems to me...

and if i remember right, it seemed that Lewis' stoppages were a bit premature anyway.
________
Cuautitl?n Assembly

[PATO 1]

If he fights a prime holyfield... this topic will never be made.

if tyson ahd not ****d someone we might not have been talkin about how great holyfield is

[AlexMc2]

Wow... I'm new here and it's taken me ages to read all 13 pages of post on this discution. One thing that sticks to mind is El Temible's post about Tyson avoiding to fight LL and I agree, infact it is said in some circules that tyson and Lewis once trained in the same gym and in a practice fight Lewis knocked Tyson out. This is even before Tyson become HW champ. So, if this is true how about that for Tyson's PRIME!

I see Lennox a the greatest of our time and I'm sorry he wont come back!!