Lennox Lewis was a great fighter. However he isn't seemingly held in the awe / as re Tyson Liston Foreman Ali etc, yet the best version of him ( possibly)? Beats those guys ? His fights v Golota Ruddock Botha Grant Tua make him look a match for just about anybody and his resume is long and deep. What was it about him that was lacking ( A Bowe fight ?) ( A peak Tyson fight) ? That defers him from the reverence of a Tyson Ali Liston etc ? This isn't meant to knock the above guys , just an evaluation of what LL could've reasonably done to maybe be seen as higher as an ATG ? ( given he never faced anybody who was clearly better than him ) Was it his style ? Was it timing ? What factors could've/ should've fallen in line to make LL rank even higher ?
Lewis has consistently been rated top 5 in here by many or most for 10 years. He's almost always above Tyson who is usually 7-12. You will also notice the 4 named are all American which is a factor as well to some degree.
Any intelligent boxing fan has lennox ranked in the top 10 as far as resume and h2h goes. People just didnt like his awkward personality. His main criticisms are that he took forever to turn pro and fought a washed up tyson, past his prime holyfield (many dispute the decision of the 2nd fight), and never fought bowe (regardless of whose to blame, fact is it didnt happen). Its for these reasons we dont have a 100% clear indication of who was #1 of the 90's. He could be very passive and gunshy and stunk up the joint in some fights (tua was a cringe fest). And some dont forgive him for his losses to mccall and rahman even tho he avenged them, not giving vitali his rematch, not fighting byrd and ruiz, etc. But most of this stuff is simply petty nitpicking. He doesnt have any egregious mistakes that removes him from ATG discussions.
Lewis was great but..... Holyfield was past it when they fought-and to be honest Holyfield beat him the 2nd time. I thought Mercer beat him. Tyson was WAY past it. He got iced TWICE . I mean Holmes in his prime never got knocked out. Neither did Ali. Or Liston. I think Lewis is great but thier is a gulf between Lewis and the other greats.
Lennox was never a fan favorite in America. Especially the press. At his fights, the crowd was for the other guy. But Lewis just continued to win. Hardly anyone was bothering to watch his early career in the U.S. and were busy watching the development of other fighters instead.
Lewis had it all. The only problem was the way he lost. Bam, fight instantly finished. Two times. Imagine Ali winning 2 out of 3 vs. Norton, losing the first the way Lewis lost to Rahman. One punch lands, fight is over. No one could imagine The Greatest getting stopped out of nowhere. Lewis avenged those losses, but he couldn´t make them undone.
That's a good post. I think there was the identity thing with him also. He obsessed about power and weight and I think he was a better fighter when not so heavy. He had so much natural power and great movement for a big man. I admire how he lasted the course though, way better than most.
