How does Lewis resume stack up in heavyweight history?

Corrie Sanders robbed him of top 2 maybe even Goat status.


It is what it is.

Emmanuel Steward would have viewed that Wladimir fight as the biggest fight of Lewis's career because Steward knew about Wladimir and the immense talent Wlad possessed.

Lewis would have dominated that version of Wlad (even a 2003 version of Lewis)

I never thought Emmanuel or Lewis viewed Vitali as a threat and they paid for it.
It's not really their fault.. Vitali quit against Byrd and at the time was seen as a disgrace.

Wlad was different. He was the heir apparant.. Emmanuel and Lennox would have relished that challenge.



Of course it won't matter to Klitschko fans.. they would have simply said 'Wlad was too green' and claim Lewis retired to avoid fighting the 'bigger tougher brother'

 

I agree. It's very close since Lewis gets more fan fair for beating punchers than Tyson who fought the more talented boxers. Very comparable resumes.

1 - Ali
2 - Holyfield
3 - Lewis/Tyson/Louis

Something like this^

 

Nor can I my good man.

 

I'd agree with most of this.

Holyfield was past his best by the Lewis fight. Was he still dangerous, yes. Was he prime, hell no.

From what I remember of each fighters Tyson fights was that Tyson was a much more live contender at the time of the first Holyfield fight. Perhaps we didnt realise how much Tyson had regressed as a fighter, but I still remember him as menacing leading up to the first Holyfield fight. It took more serious balls for Holyfield to put his title on the line against Tyson than it did for Lewis to fight Tyson.

Im a Brit and a fan of Lewis. However, there is something missing from his career to give him the number 2 spot. I think its the lack of fighting great fighters in there prime. For this I cant put Lewis at number 2 in resume. Lewis had plenty of very good wins. His lack of great wins goes against him imo. His win against Klitschko is getting better by the year, still its probably his only great win against a great fighter near there prime.

 

Number #2

 

Tua is an underrated win for Lewis. People simply say : oh the hell he was too small for Lennox. It was too easy, it would be seen as a better win if Tua had knocked down Lewis at some point, because it would make for a better story.

This fight may prove how a lot of HW fighters in boxing history only stand the very slimmest chance against Lewis and we don't want to hear about that.

 

The excellent Lewis résumé is behind those of Ali, Louis, Holmes, and perhaps Marciano.

The late-blooming, once-stopped Lewis arrived as an all-time great when he decisively beat Evander Holyfield, but, at the same time, it became clear that Holyfield was too old to consistently implement his at-times-successful game plan of pressuring Lewis. It was also clear that a younger Holyfield would have Lewis back on his heels much more often and could very well have beaten Lennox.

The capstone to Lewis' legacy is of course the Tyson victory, but it must never be forgotten that Tyson was long, long gone as a great fighter--fourteen years removed from his prime, to be exact.

Prior to Tyson, Lewis would have to avenge losing his title by one-punch knockout to Hasim Rahman.

"The Lion" proved to be the best among a collection of modern, relatively crude heavyweight punchers, thanks to his continually developing skills, experience and scary punching power. In the second half of his career, he was very fortunate in hooking up with and being polished by master trainer Emmanuel Steward. Lewis beat every man he ever faced.

But the shadow of prime, juggernaut Mike Tyson (and by derivation, that of Evander Holyfield) always eclipsed the impact of Lewis' accomplishments in the ring and, on the other hand, Lewis' own inconsistency in getting knocked out twice by single punches prevents him from aspiring to the heights of dominance of Louis, Ali, Holmes and Marciano.

 

That part is a laugher.

 

It is good to see him finally getting his dues, but he is very definitely outside the top two.

The top two heavyweight resumes of all time belong to meseurs Barrows and Clay, and I don't expect an serious challenge to that order in my lifetime.

 

Maybe if Wlad stays champ till 45 and fights 2 times a year without any loss.

But then I read the part of a serious challenge...

 

Lewis has a superior resume to Louis. I don't see how anyone could think otherwise.

The Holy that Lewis beat would have beaten any of Louis's opposition during his prime.

 

You're the clown.

Marciano never lost his title by one-punch kayo. He established dominance of his era and then retired undefeated, much more than can be said of Lewis.

Holmes recorded 20 straight defenses. Lewis' two reigns put together do not approach this.

It is not laughable but foolish to try to assail Joe Louis' résumé: the most defenses ever, the most years on top ever.

Résumé is not mere head-to-head comparisons of victims.