Lennox Lewis- the best fighter of all time?

[DreamerUSA]

He's a ATG HW.

Just not an ATG overall. I consider him boarderline.

Pretty much this. I would'nt go crazy if he slipped into the lower end on some list, but would'nt put him there myself.

[BattlingNelson]

Preposterous.

[BoxingFan85]

Yeah, but let's be frank , Lewis vs McCall 2 was a joke.
According to boxrec:

McCall was arrested in July 1996 on charges of possessing crack cocaine and marijuana. The following month, he entered a drug rehabilitation center.

McCall was arrested again in December 1996 after he threw a Christmas tree in a hotel lobby and spat on a police car. Following the incident, McCall went back into rehab.

On December 18, 1996, at a press conference to officially announce the Lewis-McCall match, McCall's promoter, Don King, said McCall was in treatment.

And then we all know what happened in the fight, I wouldn't call this "avenging a loss" .

However, Lewis is a top 10 ATG at HW, personally I'd place him around 5th or 6th place.

Yeah but McCall was no elite HW either & its just that Lewis got caught with a good shot & he went down.. But if McCall wasn't in the right mind to fight he shouldn't have & in the end made a mockery of himself... IMO Lewis did not receive his due credit back in the day.. Right from Olympics to Pro & not until he retired did people start to take his achievement seriously..

[Lester Tutor]

if no Meldoniumz for the Klitschko brothers they wouldn't have had any face. Lewis knocks out Vitali in Rd 2

[bluepete]

Lewis didn't dominate. He had skills for sure but most of his advantages is because of his size. He was picking on smaller men, and the only time he fought someone bigger than him was Vitali and was giving him hell.

This isn't really true.He fought several men as big or bigger than him and decimated them.Williams,Tucker ,Biggs,Grant,Briggs,Akinwande,Golota ..all the same size as Lewis or bigger.Although cautious at times ,his destructions of Ruddock,Golota,Grant ect were something to see.He coudve beaten any man.

[W1LL]

The funny thing is, whilst Lennox Lewis was active, about 90% of Americans were very disrespectful and would discredit his achievements.

A prime Larry Holmes and a prime Muhammad Ali would give him a good fight.

[Joe Beamish]

The best opponents of Lewis weren't in their prime when he beat them, so I wouldn't rate his resume anywhere near that of Ali's. I think Ali would have destroyed Lewis. I'd also favor peak Tyson over Lewis, and I would favor Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Sonny Liston, George Foreman and Larry Holmes over Lewis.

[B-Bomber]

Yeah but McCall was no elite HW either & its just that Lewis got caught with a good shot & he went down.. But if McCall wasn't in the right mind to fight he shouldn't have & in the end made a mockery of himself... IMO Lewis did not receive his due credit back in the day.. Right from Olympics to Pro & not until he retired did people start to take his achievement seriously..

I don't know.

We are talking about a guy who, 3 months before the fight , threw a Christmas tree in a hotel lobby, was arrested and went back to rehab.

McCall was in no condition to walk the street without supervision, let alone fight Lennox Lewis, it was obvious.
Sending him out there was utterly unresponsible imo.
Luckily the crazy shìt he pulled wasn't particularly dangerous.

As for Lewis, you are right. I was but a kid back then, but I remember people giving Lewis zero credit.
Everybody was talking about Tyson coming out of jail to knock him out

[hugh grant]

Lenny definitely is in the mix with the best. Shgamt tysdo wasn't prime, neither was holyfiekd but other than thast he did what he had to.
Maybe rematched vitali that would have been excellent as the cuts win was unsatisfactory wsay to win. A ko win in rematch would be better.

[BoxingFan85]

I don't know.

We are talking about a guy who, 3 months before the fight , threw a Christmas tree in a hotel lobby, was arrested and went back to rehab.

McCall was in no condition to walk the street without supervision, let alone fight Lennox Lewis, it was obvious.
Sending him out there was utterly unresponsible imo.
Luckily the crazy shìt he pulled wasn't particularly dangerous.

As for Lewis, you are right. I was but a kid back then, but I remember people giving Lewis zero credit.
Everybody was talking about Tyson coming out of jail to knock him out

Though I liked Mike & believed the hype people gave him because I had not seen him in his peak.. I realized after watching his fights that that he was good for 4-5 yrs & pretty much done when Holyfield & Others were ruling the division..

Come to think of it Holyfield was the first HW fighter I remember seeing as a kid & he just won a title then beating Douglas..