Lennox Lewis and Joe Louis s Peak Performance Iyo? Lennox for me, it's his blasting of Hashim Rahman. Louis, id say his annihilation of Max Schmeling. Lewis, to come back at that stage and age to regain his title is very impressive. What Joe did against Schmeling, I don't see many heavyweight s doing THAT to Max. Stone cold killer.
The Schmeling rematch is a good pick for Joe Louis. He avenged a loss in probably the most emphatic and decisive manner that anyone ever could and Joe was certainly at his pinnacle by that point. As for Lennox I’m not sure that beating Rahman was a peak performance . While it was certainly a good win and a nice effort, Lewis was nearing the very end of his career and Rahman was hardly one of his best opponents . Not sure which I’d pick as his best. The razor Ruddock win was outstanding but also came before his improvements made by Emanuel Steward. The Golata win was fantastic as were the Grant and Morrison victories. I suppose there are a lot to choose from.
No your right about Rahman not being one of his best opponents but I've based it more on how impressive he was, coming back in his late thirty s to ko the man who d done just that to him not so long back. He looked at that point to be able to go on for many more years if I'm being honest. But that's of course with wonderful hindsight.
Louis's was Budy Baer 2. Budy was a massive heavyweight (6'6, 245-250 lbs) with massive power. Louis had bulked up to about 207 lbs by then, he was just as fast but stronger at that weight. IMO if Louis was fighting today, he would weigh between 207-215 lbs. By the Budy Baer 2 fight, Louis had more experience than he did in Schmeling 2, and he had dealt with a wider variety of styles by then. IMO Louis was never better than he was in 1942.