What if Rahman would have defended against Tyson instead of the Lewis rematch?

And that's a flaw of lewis's which hasim didn't need to exploit because the fight never went into deep waters because hasim sparked lewis.

Say what you want about what league they're in; they went 1-1 each winning by knockout.

 

Except Lewis won every round in the rematch and Rahman was behind on the cards when he landed that haymaker. I dont know why this point is even being argued? Lewis clearly didnt prepare for Rahman that didnt make Rahman as good as him or on his level because he got beat by him??

I think you have to look at the fighter competition as a whole to come to that conclusion?

 

Agreed, that fight had nothing to do with conditioning, and everything to do with sharpness.

I can't argue Lewis was at his best, he wasn't, but people write it like Rahman sparked a gassed Lennox. Lennox wasn't in the neighborhood of gassed.

He was off, his timing wasn't there, and Rahman was keying off a lazy jab that Steward was pleading Lennox to stop throwing.

That fight is a textbook example of why you don't **** around with a world class fighter. Lewis fought cocky, and trained cocky, and the intensely prepared Rahman gave him a small boxing lesson and knocked him clean out.

There is no coincidence that Lennox considers the Rahman rematch the meanest he ever was, and the best he's ever fought. He wanted to DESTROY Hasim. Rahman was the one who entered that rematch feeling too good, and Lewis ran right over him. Rahman really thought a repeat was inevitable.

Tyson knew from day one he was gonna get his ass kicked. He tried for a little bit, got hit, got hurt, mentally gave up, and hung around until a bored Lewis got sick of being hit more in his corner than he was getting hit in the ring, finally sucked up discomfort from an injured right hand and put his ass away.

Lewis won that fight in the 2nd round, it was all over but him putting the right shot in. Tyson never made a serious effort after the first.

 

I saw Lewis in training many times. This was Lewis in the early stages of his camps sparring with the likes of Mo Harris and Garring Lane. That cocky lazy stuff laying on the ropes. Thats what he did in training camp when he got geared up but it never came out in a fight like that until he faced Rahman and he paid the price.

Lewis wasnt sharp because he wasnt in condition.

 

And what point are you arguing?

I'm saying lewis got splattered before he had a chance to gas.

I'm saying they split a series.

Which points are you arguing?

 

Lewis didnt fight with any intensity and was clearly fighting lazy and uninterested.

I know a lot of people on this forum hate to hear excuses. As much as its the fighters fault they do play a role in these type of scenarios. Guys like Rahman and James Douglas were on the lucky end of catching great fighters who reduced themselves to ordinary fighters by lack of focus and condition but that doesnt make them as good.

Ill go back the Tua example because he was knocking guys out and looking really good but as he stepped up in competition, fighters on his level were really starting to consistently give him problems. When he finally faced Lewis he was completely outclassed.

Lewis like Tyson went right back to beating the same level guys in dominating fashion after his shocking loss to Rahman. It didnt expose them for anything other than not being prepared in my opinion.

 

Conditioning, sharpness, they mean different things to me, because they are different things.

You have one and not the other, depending on how you trained and what you did wrong.

Fact is, Lewis was not out of gas when he got poleaxed. He had just been outjabbed, backed straight up, and got cracked. KO5, and legit of his own KO4 of Rahman.

 

Well you can make that excuse for lewis if you want, but I aint giving him a pass for it. Lewis made the choices he made and only has himself to blame. Full credit to hasim for beating the premiere hw. Full credit to lewis for the sand accolade. Then again, maybe hasim wasn't at 100% because he under rated lewis in the rematch.

For your last point, these are two different examples because lewis did avenge his loss and tyson never avenged his.

 

He never got a chance to but Douglas went on to show us..

 

Irrelevant. The examples are still completely different.

 

Indeed it is, it was still a diabolic version of Lewis that Rahman landed his million to 1 haymaker against

 

How is it million to one?

A big strong, knockout punching Heavyweight lands a perfect right hand on the jaw of another on the ropes.

It is totally fair to say that Lennox was not at his best in that fight, but he was going to lose outright anyway. He was being hit with hard rights all night. Finally getting sparked by one is not at all lucky.

 

If it was a million to one shot, what about the big right hand Rahman landed on Lewis earlier in the round that spun him around ?

I hate the "lucky punch" concept, is so demeaning to what these guys actually do in there.
Like all good heavyweights with any sort of punching ability would do, he went out there to look for openings and attempt to land on target.
When Lewis did it to him, it's regarded as a classic and masterful one-punch KO. When Rahman did it it's written off as a fluke that he didn't really mean or deserve to get.

 

Agreed.

That really was the fight or lets say matchup, Mike needed to win the title. But Mike gets himself primed and ready for this guy, albeit a 5 round blitz.

It's just hard to picture Hasim getting his hand raised if he gets clipped early and weathering a storm. More like you said, Rahman doing that stupid move of his where he leaves that left arm extended and laying out there for 1.5 seconds. And Tyson still having the speed to come over that shoulder stepping in with a right hand and landing clean. Bang.

Pretty much one of those "if only" fights anyway. The loser is going to say they should have continued to...... and they win. Problem is, the loser is a guy making a mistake and the other guy being a big enough opportunist to exploit it. Me, I sure like Mike Tyson as an opportunist a whole lot more than I like Hasim Rahman as an opportunist.

 

Because he never managed to land it on a top HW again and from my memory and Lennox was clowning, trying to do a damn Muhammed Ali dancing impersonation and left his chin out to dry while doing it. Lewis was showing utter contempt to Rahman and just wasn't at the races either, he was gasping with his mouth open in the second and then paid the ultimate price for disrespecting his opponent. Would he be as cocky and arrogant against Tyson? Well we know he wasn't, if he tried to pull that shoulder rolling on Tyson he would get ko'd again

We agree for once