Why did Lennox Lewis have so much trouble with Ray Mercer?

That's what I remember , Mercer's jab bothered him a lot and he couldn't really hurt Mercer either, whicj is why I wouldn't give Lewis a good chance to beat guys like Sonny Liston or Foreman

 

Wow. Go. Go on, go

 

I think, head-to-head, a Mercer who was on song could be a nightmare for most Heavyweights. People criticizing his loss to Holmes seem to forget that Mercer was almost 28 when he turned pro and was, unfortunately, still on a learning curve in his 19th outing, when he met an old, but resurgent and wily Holmes, who had a point to prove.

Prior to that, he'd won with sheer competitive spirit and brute force, against unbeaten Damiani and unbeaten Morrison, both by stoppage. This, with roughly two years experience, as a pro, and less than twenty bouts under his belt.

On career achievement, it is unlikely he could be considered the fourth best Heavyweight of the 90s. But, he has a good claim for being ranked in the top-10 for the period.

Head-to-head, the obvious names of Lewis, Holyfield, Bowe and Tyson crowd the top half of that list. And Mercer is in tough company, with Ruddock, Old Foreman, Morrison, Moorer and Tua being other names that could be thrown into the midway-to-bottom-half of that mix.

Lewis/Mercer probably brought the best out of Mercer and a side of Lewis, we had not seen before. We'd see Lewis dig deep again, seven years later, in 2003. It was part of his makeup, if the circumstance arose and he was given the chance.

 

Or Lewis is overrated....

 

I don't think Lewis is overrated...except when I see his name above these:

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Holyfield
5. Lewis
6. Foreman
7. Marciano
8. Frazier
9. Wlad
10. Tyson

 

Yes, but let's not forget how effective Larry's right hand was in that fight. He caught Mercer with some sweet shots from that corner.

 

Ngl I can't see Rocky above Joe or Wlad. Not got the résumé or longevity of Wlad.

Can you run through Holyfield over Lewis?
I think it's close but I don't have Holyfield as high due to a lack of consistency (as in he lost to the best he fought and quite often in the 90s) and based on the whole Evan Fields fiasco

 

Lewis got knocked out by two losers during his hey day and couldn't consummately beat a way-past-it Holyfield (and it looked to me as though Klitschko was winning that fight when it was stopped). I didn't think much of LL's win over Tyson (certainly not that Tyson). I also must mention that I feel the pre-Steward Lewis was below Bowe, Holy, and Foreman...too one-handed a fighter (more than Frazier, without question). If anyone was ducking between Bowe and LL, it was LL (though it turns out their problems were overwhelmingly financial).

Holyfield had one of the greatest hearts ever in the division. He beat prime Bowe (only person to do that, period, though I don't entirely agree with the scoring of that fight), kicked the crap out of champ Tyson (who only had one defeat at the time), beat Foreman and Holmes (who were still legitimate contenders, easily). Sure, he lost some fights he shouldn't...but not in the way LL did.

All that said, Lewis became a super fighter with Steward, and I happen to admire and respect his accomplishments overall from that period very, very much. Great fighter.