its not fair to compare whether lewis wouldve beaten jack johnson or jack dempsey or rocky marciano or joe louis or ali etc. they were men of different eras when humans were smaller and the training methods and understanding of physiology was completely different. the number of fights a boxer would have and the boxing 'sea' these men swam in was completely different. was he as dominant and consistent as louis or holmes? could he beat impossible foes like ali could? was he as exciting as dempsey or tyson? did he strike fear into the hearts of men like liston and foreman did? could he fell giants like frazier or marciano could? did he define his era as jack johnson or any of the above did? my memory of him is being a very large specimen for his weight class who became extremely cautious and gun shy following his first kayo loss. theres no denying his wins over tyson and holyfield were tainted by the fact that both were far past their primes. not really his fault that the bowe fight didnt happen. But he was often 2 stone heavier than most people he fought, and he acted so cautiously against them it was embarrassing. Can you imagine hagler cirlcling and feinting a super featherweight for 12 rounds? same weight difference. Good? yes. but definitely not top 10. and for the record im english, just not blind
He stopped him in the Olympics, and Bowe ducked the fight, what makes you think Bowe would beat him? Mentally he clearly didn't even fancy his own chances.
Pryor beat Hearns in the amateurs, doesn't mean he would have beaten him as a pro. A motivated, prime Bowe was a better fighter than Lewis in my opinion but that's all I have to go on.
i'm sure you have Joe Louis way down the list then considering he got beat up AND knocked out by a way past his best Schmelling. a fighter who was basic even when in his prime. at least Lewis has a genuine reason to why he lost both fights. Lewis is number 1 in both resume and H2H. trying to claim the bogus achievements of other Heavy's as better is truly mad.
Olympic win = pro win yeah? No. It actually often works out the opposite and in the early 90's Bowe was a far more developed fighter win better wins on his record.
Marciano has a worthless resume. his tough wins over Lightheavy's don't really count when they don't have the credentials up at Heavy. Holmes has a handful of good wins, but mostly ****. Jeffries???? Louis and his "bum of the month club" don't get him above Lennox in any way. ****ed up, clueless post. makes me want to be sick. :dead
Lewis' wins over Vitali and Holyfield are better than Wlad's entire career. :deal so don't talk ****.
Rahman? What's his claim to fame? Shattering Lewis's shaky chin? Toney has wins at HW over fighters based on SKILL, not a lucky punch against a fighter with a less than sturdy mandible. To say nothing of his victories at other weights!
you can't count Holyfield as he was on the Juice. but even with it, he isn't close to being the man of his era.
Americans never lose close fights do they? but they sure as hell win close ones don't they according to you lot. he beat Mercer and Holyfield. deal with it. trying to make a claim due to them being close is just sad. tell me who won the Bradley fight vs Prov and Pac??