Lennox Lewis vs Joe Frazier

It's blatantly obvious Lewis would go hard and unload on Frazier with uppercuts early. One only has to look at his tactics vs Tyson early in their encounter. What version of Tyson it is doesn't matter per Lewis' tactics. Tyson bumrushed and went hard and Lewis unleashed multiple uppercuts inside the first 30 seconds, big big uppercuts. He kept unloading them throughout the round as well as in the second. When Tyson got in close Lewis clinched or manhandled him.

There's not a snowballs chance in hell Lewis would be backing up and just jabbing early vs Frazier.

 

Ok, if you say it's blatantly obvious, I guess it must be fairly obvious at least.
Not sure where we got the other idea from.

 

Exactly.

 

Well simply watch the Tyson fight. Bad intention uppercuts and counter aggression everywhere mixed in with efficient clinching. Tho past prime Tyson still represents the pressuring style.

Tyson shipped some very serious uppercuts early. The guy could take a whach even at this stage.

 

I think the dude starts out serious, but sometimes switches to troll mode when the going gets rough in the debating.

If he is permanently trolling (which is far from certain), he's masterful, having 'got' you and McGrain over and over again !

 

But some of those other fights cited were just as valid too. Tua is as valid an example.
Even against Justin Fortune, Lewis started off moving back and jabbing.

Peak 1971 Frazier was a bit better than the 2002 Tyson, let's face it.

I'm not saying Lewis wouldn't unleash a big uppercut. Lewis always threw some big bombs early.
But Foreman's success came from pushing and spinning Frazier and trading with him, taking shots to land shots, all done in a very non-Lewisesque manner.
Lewis would fight more like .. Lennox Lewis.
He didn't take so many risks.

That's what I thought anyway. Who knows.

 

Oh come on, Tua was a plodder compared to Tyson aggression wise. Tua's been severely criticised for his lack thereof against Lewis. Lewis had Tua well under control, Frazier would keep coming at the risk of being hammered vs plodding to a reasonably tame decision loss.

Hence why i mentioned Tyson as "tho past prime", to ward off such an comment. We are talking the tactics of Lewis, not whether 2002 Tyson was better than Frazier.

The point is Tyson rushed and pressured and Lewis had come out in an aggressive frame of mind to gain respect - on advice from Steward. Frazier would obviously pressure too, he had to. Just as obvious is that Lewis would again look to gain respect early.

Again, Tua isn't Frazier, Joe kept coming.

Again, watch the first round vs Tyson. Also take note that Lewis pushed him off quite a few times. He'd have less trouble pushing Frazier off. The Lewis tactics vs Tyson are perfect for Joe.

 

2000 Tua was better than 2002 Tyson. In my opinion.
Tyson looked desperate, anxious and clumsy as hell, from the opening bell.

Frazier's known as a "slow starter". His early aggression is not a threatening pressure. Frazier usually took a few rounds to find his range and timing with his punches.
Tyson was known to be the opposite case.

Neither Tua nor Tyson are perfect examples for Frazier.

You seem very sure of your position here though. Thoroughly convinced.
I'll concede I'm just guessing based on what I've seen and there's no certainty.

 

Although much lower quality, Justin fortune was about as close in stature and Style to Joe Frazier. Even he lasted four rounds. Justin had nothing that Frazier would have brought to the party yet it took four rounds for Lewis to find his range. Initially Lewis struggled to land cleanly. I just imagine Frazier in place of Lewis here and think Lennox would be in trouble. Use another bout by all means for comparison where Lewis looks better but I don't think Lewis's approach to swarmers would have been much different.

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I think this on point.I have been saying all along that Lewis would have trouble landing big shots against the elusive Frazier. Lewis could however win a close points win, based on the jab

 

How Tyson looked just might have been affected by the 6'5 250 pound ATG in front of him too. Absolutely he was well past prime but Lewis' size and power was never going to make things easy for him.

Frazier is a slow starter but he still chugs forward.

Steward is one of the great strategists, he's going to have Lewis jump on Frazier early and test him.

 

Yeah, if only prime Frazier had a great strategist in his corner ....

 

Here is Lewis at what I would say was his best against Tommy Morrison.

Lewis puts on a master class here. He neutralises all the intensity out of Tommy Morrison by controlling distance to absolute perfection. Morrison never gets out of "sparring for an opening mode", so masterful is Lewis at keeping him thinking. He postures and feints Morrison from setting himself in a subtle and effective way that all Lewis has to do is pick at him. After the fight Morrison is asked if Lewis is the best heavyweight he has fought and Tommy says. "No, he just has the longest arms". Which sums it up.

Would any of this work on Frazier? Absolutely not. Ali was better at controlling distance by another method and he could not neutralise Frazier. So I don't see Lewis feinting Frazier out of position. I see Lewis getting rushed and panicked away from the solid composure he maintained with Morrison.

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