Sonny Liston vs Lennox Lewis

That would be a good matchup. I too would favor Liston. But, I wouldn't totally rule out a stoppage the other way.

 

Sonny Liston KO

 

Each fighter at their best: Lennox stops him.

Lewis would have dwarfed Liston. Basically a straight forward clubberer, Liston lacked the defensive prowess to avoid Lewis' superior jab. Liston frequently over committed to punches. Against a fluid big man like Lewis, that is doomsday. If he does get close, Lewis roughs him up on the inside with a mixture of spoiling and some powerful uppercuts.
A master at adapting his punch angles mid fight, using footwork, fluid boxing, the ability to dig deep and brawl if need be, and more power to boot; I don't see how anyone can reasonably favor Liston.

 

Great match up. I think both of these aren't far off as hard as it gets for each other. I might very narrowly lean toward Lewis. His size and height allied to some Steward era boxing might get him home.

 

Lewis beats him, though Liston could make things awkward. Mercer had a lot of success and the two men fight somewhat alike.

 

Liston wins. Stylewise this is a difficult fight for Lewis.

 

I get more and more unimpressed with Lewis every time I watch one of his fight.

Liston ko 4

 

The issue isnt so much size (reach is equal and liston beat men the sane height as lewis), but attitudes.

Both men often performed better in shape, and both men were not the most mentally fit HW champs compared to, say, Holmes or Holyfield who couldnt be shook if you snuck a baseball bat into the ring.

Liston fought through through adversity (broken jaw and nose) against Marshall and Williams respectively. Lennox was fat, old, and wheezing against a prime vitali and took care of business, so the issue isnt so much "heart" either.

Neither man liked to be embarrased. Liston hated being clowned by Ali and Lewis didnt appreciate Rahman and Tyson belligerent antics in and out the ring. If both men are 100% confident and not distracted emotionally and in shape it should be a good scrap, otherwise there could be a freak occurance.

As for who would win, Lennox should obviously be favored but he struggled with the similarly sized Mercer who wasnt nearly as skilled as Liston and a 36 year old past it Holyfield. Many people make the case Lewis was given a gift in both fights and he struggled with them more than any other opponent except perhaps his KO losses obviously. This isnt easy to call, but Lennox in his prime could hypothetically get a points lead and lame it out, deliberately hiding behing a jab, clinching, covering up, using lateral movement, and occasionally throwing a right lead to keep liston weary. Both men might make a mutual agreement to not press the action and avoid a war (like tyson vs smith). In that case, Lennox by lopsided ugly decision.

If it does become a war, it pretty much would be a shootout and who lands the first big punch. Its a myth lennox folds under pressure and avoids punchers like the plague. Again, the issue was his state of mind. Against mccall he was overconfident and looking forward to potential paydays with the big american stars and against rahman he was overly emotional from the trash talk. Against golota he wasted no time and pounced on him. Against Briggs, the unofficial knockdown woke him up and he took care of business. I could see a similar situation occuring with liston...HOWEVER...Liston was one of the deadliest "finishers" with a legendary mean streak. If he hurt Lennox and smelled the blood in the water, he wouldnt let him off the hook, period. It could become very ugly for either man.

Overall, id favor lennox 6-7/10, both in their primes, in shape, and mentally stable. But the slightest change in variable could swing things the other way. This is a very volatile matchup.

 

I'd favor Lewis but wouldn't bet a whole lot of money on either fighter. But certainly Lewis has more arrows on his quiver than Liston.

 

not a great matchup for lewis, fair chance of him getting stopped.

It'd be the ultimate test of his range fighting skills.

 

You gotta remember when Lewis fought Merciless Ray Mercer, Merciless had never been stopped, he had a granite chin, and was an Olympic gold medallist. First time he was stopped he was well into his 40s. Plus they made the fight just 10 rounds to try and give Mercer every advantage possible, so that Mike Tyson wouldn't have to face Lennox Lewis.

Also, in the early rounds, Lennox Lewis was trying to box, he was still learning at the time as all boxers are throughout their careers, he was being experimental, it was a training exercise for Lewis, good preperation for a potential fight against Tyson. In the later rounds he started hitting Mercer with big hard shots, but Mercer to his credit stayed on his feet while Lewis used him as his own personal punch bag for 10 rounds.

You take away the biased HBO commentary, the anti-Lennox NY crowd, the biased in fight stats, this fight was not even competitive.

Mercer caught him a couple of times but Lewis won that fight 100-90

 

First thought was Lewis, but even in his best efforts Lennox had moments were he was vulnerable. One good shot from Sonny behind a jab and Lewis is done

 

Given their eras it would have been interesting but given a 90's prime Sonny vs. a late 50's Lewis you're looking at a whole new ball game...

 

easy win for Lennox way to great at outboxing slow jabbers who easy to read like son