Old Time Heavies who'd most likely beat prime Lennox Lewis

Errr, define "old time".

 

Ali holmes foreman

 

John L Sullivan
Paddy Ryan
James J Corbett

 

The best finishers would probably have the best chance, so we are talking Dempsey, Louis, Liston, before the colour era.

Beyond that, you would look for some sort of evidence from their record, that they matched up well against big heavyweights stylistically.

 

Sullivan is the name on that list who might not be as ridiculous as it sounds.

All that we really know about Sullivan, is that he fought out of a crouch, was about the same size as Joe Frazier, and that his key strengths were power, hand speed, and finishing prowess.

Based on this limited knowledge, we cannot completely dismiss his chances.

 

I think John L is underrated, probably just because he’s from the 1800s and there is no fight or training footage of him. If he hadn’t been an alcoholic, he could have dominated much longer imo.

 

I'll assume Old time is BA (Before Ali). I'd favor Liston, Dempsey, and Louis. I'd give Jeffries a 51-49 chance. Marciano a 40 (much as it pains me to say as a huge Rocky fan). Johnson is 49/51.

 

Max Baer could really hurt Lewis.

He has the speed and power to catch a lazy Lewis Jab.

 

Louis is the only one that I'd say had a real shot at that chin.

Dempsey has the speed but not the size; Marciano has the durability and power but is completely out-reached.

Johnson might possibly beat the listless version of Lewis in a stinker.

I'm not really inclined to favour any boxer before Ali. They could do it (I had a long and strenuous argument that Marciano could beat the Lewis that fought Levi Billups and I stand by it) but I wouldn't favour them to beat a tip-top prime version.

 

Sullivan if we take his reign from the McCaffrey fight, had 5 fights in7 years.

 

Lewis, next to Ali is the worst stylistic nightmare for the other heavies.imo

 

Marvin Hart