Best five wins thread. Lineal / Ring Magazine heavyweight champions.

If 40-years-old cruiserweight, who was knocked out 3 times in the last 4 fights by cruiserweights in #4 in your resume - well, then your resume in incredibly weak.

 

There is always one odd pick on your lists, at leas in my eyes.

 

Lennox Lewis:

1. Holyfield - past his prime, but still great fighter
2. Vitali - well, Lennox was losing the fight and won it by cuts only, but he was at the same age as Holyfield was against him
3. Ray Mercer - the most underrated win in Lewis resume by a huge margin. Probably because it was controversial decision. I had it a draw (95-95), but it wasn't robbery, so even closest win is a win. Lewis had to dig deep in that fight - he was fighting the guy who could take all his best punches, who had better jab, who knew how to prevent Lennox' holding, and who was tough as hell. And he still overcome that tough challenge which is great result IMO. Very underrated win
4. Tua - out of shape, yes, but very dangerous puncher with very good resume
5. Knocking out the guy who just knocked you out is always impressive. Plus it was fantastic performance from Lennox that night, probably his best ever
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Lewis' resume is very deep - Ruddock, Golota, Bruno, Tucker, Morrison and others... Great resume! Tyson win though clearly isn't among his top 5 wins - Tyson was shot, rusty, overweight... He was a shell of shadow of his former self. I don't know how can anyone rank Tyson win over Lennox' wins against Mercer, Tua or Rahman. Tyson was just a name when Lewis fought him, much like Ali in Holmes' resume

 

Lewis:

1. Vitali- yes he was down on the cards. But a young Vitali beats anyone else Lewis ever beat, including the faded Holyfield.
2. Holyfield- i am reluctant on this one. Holyfield was past it and not just slightly IMO. He was a year away from struggling vs frickin Ruiz. Still, unifying the titles was impressive.
3. Mercer- Mercer could be hot and cold and was clearly hot on that day. Good win.
4. Tua- Probably Lewis's best boxing performance vs a dangerous undefeated puncher.
5. Ruddock- Ruddock was very dangerous, coming off a tough but game loss to Tyson

I like Morrison but i will take a 92 Ruddock vs the faded Morrison that Lewis beat, and Tommy probably had HIV by that point anyway.
The Tyson win should not be a factor. Tyson was a spent force.

I will give a honorable mention to Bruno.

Lewis's resume is good but clearly not as good as Holyfield. Still, i don't think the older Foreman wanted to fight him, Bowe refused and Moorer probably didn't want to fight him either. You can only fight what is in front of you.

 

Lennox Lewis -

1. Vitali Klitschko - Klitsche fought on for 9 more years, won belts (including Ring), and never lost again.
2. Hasim Rahman - Not an ATG. But a fighter with lesser character than Lewis would've let the knockout loss get to him. Instead, he sucked it up, trained hard, and dominated Rahman in the rematch before scoring a spectacular knockout.
3. Andrew Golota - Lidocaine shot or not, Lewis utterly destroyed the guy who'd just done so well against Bowe. It wasn't supposed to be this easy.
4. Evander Holyfield - I don't know... The late 96-97 run excepted, Holyfield hadn't looked good for five years. Additionally, it was a close win for Lewis. Still, Evander is an ATG fighter.
5. Ray Mercer - For whatever reason, Mercer was on a roll. He made Lewis work for his paycheck. Lewis gained invaluable experience that night.

It's funny... with Briggs I struggled to find names for his top 5. With Lewis I want to squeeze more guys in.

 

good choice.

IMO that version of Tyson would lose to Tua and Ruddock. Mercer too.

I think any version of Tyson would beat Bruno because Frank was scared of him.

 

Lennox Lewis

1. Vitali Klitschko - would go on to have a very good career and Lewis was 37 when he won.
2. Holyfield - Holyfield was past prime but still formidable.
3. Mercer rock chinned warrior made Lewis dig deep in a true could go either way fight
4. Tua came in out of shape but another legit contender with a rock chin-Lewis made him shell up and take the scorecard loss
5. Rahman- Big Revenge KO of a man that should not have iced him in the first place.

Honorable mention: Ruddock Bruno

Why they missed the cut:
Tyson- no explanation needed was a ghost of the fighter he was 14 years earlier.
Morrison-last fight before he tested hiv positive at 26-Morrison looked heavy and lethargic in this fight perhaps the effects of the virus or had living caught up to him
Golota: Had horrible reaction to a prefight lidocaine shot that he sued and won damages for.
McCall- Should never been allowed in the ring

 

Lewis
1 vitali
2 holyfield
3 tua
4 mercer
5 ruddock

In number 5 could have been rahman, bruno, mccall or past prime tyson too

 

Lennox top five wins:
1.Holy 2. Vitali Klitschko 3. Tucker 4. MCall 5. Tyson
Honorable mention: Bruno,Golota,Rahman,Grant,Akinwande

 

I'd say Byrd definitely, Ruiz no, because it would have been before all his biggest wins came and Ruiz won't likely win a title after loss to Lewis