thats a fair and good breakdown, but I would also include fighters like, Farr, Walcot, Charles & Marciano to beat him, and there would be many more yet... you see tough skilled boys who reigned on top for years through deep waters from boxings finest period are ALL-TIME proven. where as Lewis, RRJ and BHops might have been nullified after 3-5 years against always and only the best or better fighters.
By the same stretch the past greats might not have ruled in the modern era. All subjective isn't it. I think we just have to judge a man based on his era.
Basically all the heavyweight champions if they reach the other champ's chin with their best punch can TKO or K.O the other. They all hit hard.
I think Alis sheer speed would make Lewis look stuck in the mud and he would have nightmares about Listons jab and what would follow it for years to come. Tyson I think would bomb him out too. Lewis is one of the best heavyweight champions ever and would rightfully be the favorite over most. I think the smaller and faster heavyweights have more of a chance than some of the bigger and slower ones.
I agree on Ali's speed ,and remember how much success the slower ponderous Bruno had in out jabbing Lewis, prime Liston was a couple of steps above Bruno. Tyson would be a very tough fight.
Using a pre-prime Lewis fight to illustrate how a "prime" Liston would give him problems is slightly biased.....
I think it is true and ,objective to say Lewis had some problems with good jabbers throughout his career, and Liston was one of the best.
I think that when Lewis was at the top of his game and not taking anyone lightly, he could have POTENTIALLY beaten just about anybody. That's not to say that he actually would, but he'd certainly have a chance. Prime versions of Tyson, Holyfield, Ali and Holmes are the only four that I would be hesitant about picking him over, but on the right nights he might have prevailed against them as well.
It certainly was a flat performance by Lewis and an admirable effort by Ray Mercer. Especially considering that Ray was 35 years old, not very active as of recent, and had looked terrible in most of his latest outings. If we take this one fight and use it as a berometer, then Lewis might not stack up well against a lot of true greats. This is not the reality however. For every poor performance the man had, there were numerous others where he looked almost unbeatable. Dispatching Golata in such quick fashion after he had just battered Bowe from pillar to post is one example. Out boxing Tua in one sided fashion is another and while Briggs and Grant were not particularly talented, they were still big strong heavys in their primes with good records and Lewis made short work of them... Frankly, I think Lennox has a good chance at beating just about anybody.
agreed, but when addressing his ability to handle a good jab those victories don't give a clear indication. tua had NO jab to speak of and golota had no chance to use his. mercer had a decent jab and landed it with ease. morrison had a minimal jab that lewis neutralized completely in a career best performance. holyfield was able to close the distance with his jab though tyson wasn't. vitali, when he threw a jab, didn't find him hard to find. overall, the jabbers that prime lewis did fight were able to use it against him pretty effectively :good
I think that he would have considerable sucess, even against the best of them, but he would also have a fair few losses and it wouldn't necesarily take the better ones to do it. He might obviously come up short against some of the greatest, but I suspect that one or more of the weaker champions with power would get lucky.