By the time lewis turned pro. Tyson had beaten frank bruno. Larry holmes. Michael spinks Pinklon thomas. Tony tubbs. Tony tucker. Trevor berbick. Tyrell biggs. James smith Mitch green. And a lot of other decent names. Mostly he was lighting them up to boot. I d be shocked if lewis was beating him up in sparring or even holding his own back then.
Fact is Arnie Boehm took Lennox down to the Catskills at old Tomato's request so the 17 year old Lewis could spar the 16 year old Tyson. At first Tyson did what he was always encouraged to do and try to rip Lewis' head off. In the next sessions Lennox was getting the better of them and was ridiculing Tyson to boot, making him miss and calling him clumsy. Old Tomato sacked them on the 3rd day and sent them packing back to Canada, because it wasn't doing his boy's fragile ego any good. That is why he was always wary of Lewis. Oh, and it was NOTHING to do with his age. By the time he was 16 / 17 Tyson had been living and breathing boxing 24 / 7 for 3 years, because his Svengali made fukking sure he did. Lewis like thousands of other teenagers had to attend school, do part time work to help out their parents or whatever else was necessary. Tyson only had to follow Old Tomato like a puppy outside of the ring, and do exactly what he told him inside it.
And that at the bottoms exactly the reason i know lennox wouldnt have got the better of tyson in sparring regardless of what arnie etc says. Tyson says he knocked him out the ring the first spar. One of his trainers said he knocked him out. Its all hear say depending on who,s telling the story. But as you said tyson was training like a fully fledged professional from a very young age whereas lennox wasnt. It would be hard to believe that lennox went in and dominated him. I m willing to bet tyson beat him up. Reports might be to the contrary but people dont always tell the truth. I dont think there was any fear of lennox from mike or would have been when he was at his peak. Whereas plenty of fully fledged seasoned professionals had fear of mike. Agree post prison tho...i dont think tyson fancied it especially when he slipped further. He knew he couldnt beat him at that stage. But like the rest of them lennox would have feared tyson at his best imo. He was sharp fast. Punched in combinations. Wasnt easy to hit. Kind of get the feeling your hate for tyson makes it difficult to have a fair discussion about him tbh.
There were reports of a faded Greg Page dropping him in sparring before the Douglas fight. That was a red flag that he wasn't at his best. No way I can see Page doing that in the 86-88 time period.
It's taped, short right hand. [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS91f_zMwcM[/yt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS91f_zMwcM
It's a funny video. Everything is in Japanese of which I don't understand a damn word of it, and then I hear "and Tyson went down." Clear as day..
This is legit 50/50 I'd bet 1988 Tyson to decision or late TKO Bowe and Decision Holfield but Lewis is 50/50 Lewis could shut Tyson completeley down with holding and then win a decision, If lewis trys to actually fight/slug/ with him Tyson Wins by KO. Lewis does NOT beat Tyson without making it ugly simply because Tyson had a granite Chin, never been knocked down by a punch to the head without being severly punished, outclassed and beaten down first while Lewis while not Glass chinned could be stopped by a single Punch, so if it was a clean fight then Tyson Ko's him because both were about equal in skill and Power but Tyson could take the better punch. If Lewis makes it ugly Lewis wins because Tyson didnt work much inside and Lewis could outscore Tyson if he manages to keep the "engagements" limited by hugging clinching and leaning.
A fight of two half imo. Tyson takes the first half, with his aggressive, attacking keeping Lewis tying him up and being ultra cautious. Some of Tysons shots will wobble Lewis and it looks as if mikes on his way to a clear win. But Lewis is playing the long game, as we enter into the seventh round, he's lookin more assertive, throwing more open right hands and slamming uperrcuts in. Tyson still looks dangerous but he's throwing less combos and just single big shots. A lot of mauling now as Tyson s looking tired and his face is showing signs of the war. The end would come suddenly in the tenth, when one of Lennox many uppercut s send s him crashing down. He'd rise on shaky legs at 8 and Lennox would come out blasting, Tysons finished now tho and he takes a few more shots. With nothing coming back the ref jumps in, cradling Tyson against the ropes. Time of stoppage scores are Tyson 6 Lewis 3 Tyson 5 Lewis 3. 1 even Tyson 6 Lewis 3.
I just had to rewatch. I used to think maybe Lennox would have the edge but Tyson was so slow, he'd diminished considerably. Lewis didn't really have to do a lot to not get hit, just back up in a straight line which was what you didn't want to be doing with prime mike. Lewis did have a huge size advantage obviously. This is 50 - 50 for me, I'll pick Tyson if I have to pick a winner just because Lewis was definitely there to be hit, a lot, by a prime Mike.
Lennox Lewis, was taller, had that very stiff left jab, and deadly right hand. True Iron Mike Tyson would be in his prime, but Lewis would prepare for this fight in a very serious manner. Lennox has to protect his jaw because, Mike's power is no joke. He would have to keep him on the outside, like James Buster Douglas did. Tyson would be in his environment, with Kevin Rooney to keep him in shape, both body and mind. Both fighters hurt the other, Lewis hits the deck for the mandatory eight count in round 6, but survives to stop Tyson in round 12. No ear biting in this one, but what a fight. Way better than their 2002 meeting. Tyson like prime George Foreman and prime Sonny Liston before him, usually stopped their opponents early, the trick is to make him use his energy early, then drag him into the unfamiliar late rounds.