Lennox Lewis, Greatest Heavyweight of all time

It has.

And this just in, from the realm of possibilities, that place where anything can happen:

Tomas Adamek might beat Wlad. Or at least make him look foolish.

The feathers-and-quack term has not as yet been bandied, but if this highly anticipated match-up never materializes, future historians may well suspect fowl play.

Yes, and given the arbitrariness of the word duck, and given that my opinion seems to be with the consensus in this matter, that is equivalent to allowing that there was no duck.

It's heartwarming to read your concession here.

Don't mention it, old chap.

Alway glad to be of assistance in setting an errant soul back on the path of truth.

 

I'm sorry, I won't compromise to this. Bowe especially. Calling him a gutless coward and excusing Lewis in the same breath is hypocritical.

 

To some extent it might be.. But Lewis had a much bigger case for facing Bowe than Byrd did to Lewis. Riddick signed a contract stating that upon getting his shot at Holyfield he would give Lewis the first crack at it. It was also the fight that the whole world wanted to see.

 

Oh dear !

I feel a case of regression coming on...

 

Lennox Lewis isn't the greatest heavyweight of all time but the best right time, right
place fighter.I think he was a leftover specialist.
1. Talent: Tyson ruled easily the eighties in pro.
Where was Lewis in 80s? He's older than Tyson.
I think he was very skinny in his amateur years.
His chin was weak.He was slow.He had only effective thing his right hand.
2. Pro carrier longevity: Sucks he had only 44 fights.
3.Best pro-wins:Holyfield who was nearly in his prime but he wasn't impressive against
Bean.He beat Holyfield only by points.
Tyson who was a post-prison,chaotic opponent.
V.Klitschko Lewis wasn't good.
Pro-losses two early ko by a decent mccall and a below average rahman.
4.Skill: Lewis skill is overrated.The Mercer fight showed it.This fight was in his prime.
The fat,slow 6'1" Mercer outjabbed him.It was a close fight.
(The 21 years old Tyson outjabbed the fast,granite-chinned 6'5" unbeaten Tucker.)
5.Lewis' power is overrated.He couldn't knock billups,ocasio,tucker,mercer,akinwande,
holyfield(2times),mavrovic,tua.
He knocked chanet and v.klitschko by cut and mccall by mental problem.
He wasn't a ko king.
6.Other problems:Where are the Vitali Klitschko rematch?
Lewis was a boring fighter.
Lewis won only one heavyweight undisputed fight.
7.The ducking blah-blah is unimportant.
All in all Lewis hadn't a sovereign era.Greatest with a mediocre punching power,
weak chin only decent skill with a boring style ? No thanks !

 

Two 6'2" fighters destroyed Lewis.
Super-heavyweight.Don't fool us! Lewis couldn't knock the skinny Mavrovic out.
Super-heavyweight it's an idiotic idea.a good 220 pounds fighter never wanna stay
in lower divison for nothing.
The 5'11" Chagaev was the first man who beat Valuev.
Valuev was a much more heavier fighter than Lewis .Lewis never was a super-heavyweight. Maybe Valuev was.Who wanna see Valuev-Julius Long type fights for
title for nothing ?

 

I don't see it that way.

Lewis and Byrd were ranked by RING #9 and #10 when they agreed to fight a higher ranked slugger #4 Tua and #4 Ruddock in a fight that they were led to believe would result in them facing the HW King. They did what was required of them and were shafted for dubious reasons.

I feel people are trying to protray Byrd in the same light as 2000 Ruiz, and I actually applaud Lewis for taking the Grant fight instead. But this situation is different.

 

I'm sorry you are taking this topic so personally.

Here's some reading material.

It was only two months ago, at 32, that Byrd finally got a crack at a belt. WBC champion Lennox Lewis, who is widely regarded as the bona fide heavyweight titlist, has been careful to avoid Byrd—even forfeiting the IBF crown for refusal to defend—but Holyfield, desperate to regain his titular glory, met Byrd for the vacant championship. It was a typical performance for Byrd, outpointing a stronger opponent, mixing it up in the end to prove he's not just a finesse fighter. As he did in wins over dangerous boxers such as David Tua and Vitali Klitschko, Byrd defused Holyfield's power with his bag of tricks.

[url]http://sportsillustrated.ca/vault/article/magazine/MAG1143127/index.htm[/url]

 

I can see some congruencies between the two scenarios, but I don't have them as being dead on even. Lewis had beaten Bowe in the olympics, was undefeated, had sparked a man who many believed was going to be the next champ in only two rounds, and was promised a title shot by way of contract. It was also viewed as by far the biggest fight in boxing.. Lewis vs Byrd bares little semblance to any of the above.

 

I don't think they are exactly the same, but not different enough to call one "gutless coward" and completely excuse the other with honors.

It wasn't exactly a binding contract either, not much different from Lewis/Tyson. Lewis had to agree to meet Byrd next to get the Tyson fight oked as I pointed to earlier.

Back in ’92, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and Ruddock signed to take part in a mini-tournament to settle the heavyweight succession. It was not a binding contract but a letter of intent for the winners of Bowe-Holyfield and Lewis-Ruddock to meet in a final showdown in 1993.

[url]http://www.boxinginsider.com/headlines/memory-lane-when-bowe-ducked-lewis/[/url]

The rest just seems like arguing the different degrees of a duck, I just don't like seeing a deserving fighter do what he's supposed to do and get shafted, especially if it was a makable fight with no contract disputes, scheduling conflicts, or anything. Just outright dismissed. Byrd didn't even get a lowball offer to accept or refuse like Lewis did. That sucks.

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl


You really need to get a sense of humor, lad.

Have you ever heard the expression, "takin' the **** ?"

I don't need to read it, it's pretty recent. I was there.

Holy was shot, over 40, over the hill, pick your cliche.

He never had a good win after Rahman (where his head was needed to get him through) some time before Byrd.

 

-No, is that some sort of jive?

-Same year as the Byrd fight and he didn't need his head, that was colleteral, Rahman was outclassed. And somebody had to fight Byrd...

 

I've said my peace, I'm out. Have a good weekend.

 

Great observation. Tyson definitely had a higher skill level than Lewis.

 

Its all good 'Goose. We all have to express our opinions and I think yours was a valid one. Kinda like the few times that I battled you and Anthony on the Foreman issue(s). Makes this place exciting. Have a great weekend.