Many fighters polarise opinion.Lennox more than most.His legacy of all the modern day ATG's seems the most cloudy. Why ? On one hand his detractors say he was boring, laboured wins, beat Tyson leftovers,over cautious, lost to 'B' grade fighters McCall and Rahman by knockout,missed his defining fights, eg, Bowe or peak Tyson,laboured against post prime Holyfield,struggled v Bruno/Mercer/Tucker/Mavrovic/Klitschko (and declined rematch) and walked away with his legacy in doubt. OR , his supporters would say, Intellectual fighter, Won Olympic Gold, won tough fights early in career which came at high risk, Weaver,Biggs,Ruddock,Mason, Ducked by Bowe and Don King ( Tyson)through no fault of his own. Avenged 2 X 'one punch' defeats to McCall/Rahman in undisputeable style.Some spectacular knockouts when on song. Beat every challenger in his way,a list of genuine foes as long as your arm, to add to those above,Mercer/Tucker/Tua/Grant/Golota/Morrison/Bruno/ and took out legends Holyfield/Tyson/Klitschko/ Never seen to share a ring with a superior overall opponent. Retired and walked away with dignity. Which way do you see it ?
His biggest issue is being koed by singular blows twice. The pluses however are he was a huge hwt who backed up his size with skill. I was impressed by his ability and disappointed at times with his less than ideal focus. I rate him highly all time within my top five.
You can pick apart anyone's career if you dig deep enough. Lennox is one of the greats and it isn't up for debate.
When it comes to heavies, people tend just to rank their resume and achievements in the light of how much they like them. That's my 10 year experience on here, anyway. It's something you just don't see (occasional flag-bearers aside) when other divisions are under discussion.
The few replies already confirm my original point. One reply sees him as an AGT One reply can't forgive him those 2 X knockouts.
Lewis did not have a good chin. But he fought in a talent deep time and went against many punchers. Personally I felt he was a little lucky vs Bruno and Vitali and gave neither rematches Getting stopped a few times if you fight often enough vs top ten modern heavyweights is part of the deal. LL is part of my top 5 at heavyweight
Old fat holmes ate mccall punches all night long no problem, like china chin maskaev twice against rahman. They hit lewis once and he was out cold, his chin is pathetic. You hit him once and he's gonna need a stretcher to leave the ring. And some people favor him vs bowe lol
A rematch for Bruno? That's crazy talk. Over here, the calls for Bruno to retire after that fight were nearly unanimous. There was very little or no talk about a rematch for Bruno at the time. People were surprised that he was able to win three rounds, but very few people (nobody?) thought he should get another shot at that. People were worried about him.
Whooa !! Lewis had a China chin ? What on earth ? Got collared twice in a 13 year ( and very active career). I can take he was cautious and at times overweight and lacksadasical, but China Chin ? Sorry No. As for Bruno rematch. Also No. I was at the fight , freezing cold night,Lennox just couldn't get going, but once he did, fight over. Bruno was good, but a grade or two behind Lennox. They could've fought 5 times over and Bruno would never have won and that's no disrespect to him. There was no clamour for a rematch. Frank was lucky to get the chances he got.
If you want to dig Lewis he waited until Holyfield and Tyson were passed their best and never gave Klitschko the rematch he promised. Just imagine if McCall and Rahman never gave Lewis a re-match.
