Prime "Iron" Mike Tyson vs. Prime Lennox "the Lion" Lewis

Tyson knocks him out, cold. Early. If guys like McCall and Rahman could do it, you know Prime Iron Mike would. Lewis just didn't have the chin to stand up to Tyson at his best.

 

Prime Tyson kos any version of LL. Lennox was the greater ATG, but Mike was way too much of a ferocious beast not to land repeatedly on him.

All respect to Lennox, very great fighter, but Mike would get him.

 

I voted Tyson but people think this is way too clearly a win for Tyson. In his prime his resume doesn't have anyone quite like prime Lewis on it.

 

I go back and forth on this one. Right now, I'm leaning ever so slightly towards Tyson to KO him. I just can't for the life of me see Lewis holding him off forever. Tyson will eventually get through and when he does, it won't be pretty.

 

Tyson.

Unless Lewis landed that right hand flush. He could drop anyone with that mile long pile-driver right.

 

Lewis by stoppage. As he did against past it Tyson he'd go right back at him in the first and establish himself from there. He'd also spoil a lot, lean on Tyson and wear him down.

 

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I think a prime Tyson stops a pre Steward Lewis but a prime Lewis is too big, smart, skilled, and hit too hard. Lewis had too many great performances at a high level for me to go against him

 

I’ve gone back and forth over the years. Last time I went with prime Tyson. Right now I’m leaning towards Lewis. In five years who knows ??

 

Tyson. Lewis wasn’t prime when he got Ko’d by Mccall. But Mccall was Tyson’s sparring partner - Tyson was much faster, quicker and dynamic. He finds openings and exploits them. Lewis would always have punchers chance but Tyson had good chin. Too quick for Lennox imo

 

Tyson by KO

 

Tyson is probably my favorite fighter ever and I hated Lennox, but I’m not confident at all about Tyson’s chances here.

Lennox would almost certainly approach Tyson with much more respect than he did Rahman or McCall (when Steward was in Oliver’s corner) or Vitali. Tyson was one of the fastest starters in boxing history and a devastating mix of speed and power.

One of the ideal things to do against smaller swarmers, obviously, is the uppercut. The fighters who had their limited success against a 80s Tyson often caught him with that uppercut, or used the right type of jab and movement, but would mix it in with clinching. Lewis was a giant and could do all of that, and had a vicious uppercut. He was generally pretty sneaky (and sometimes just blatant) at getting that left hand behind his opponent’s neck before landing the right uppercut (he did it about a half dozen times in the 2nd round of their 02’ fight).

Tyson had a sturdy chin and you had to really give him a beating to stop him, but Lewis definitely hit hard enough to get Tyson’s respect. He was a monster hitter himself. The whole “stand up to Tyson” thing is overblown, but it’s true that he could be really prone to frustration and impatience.

Lewis managed distance well and could clinch, where Tyson was prone to being inactive. Lewis was 20-25 lbs heavier than Tyson, and it wasn’t fat. He was very strong physically. Tyson was skilled at slipping the jab, so he could of course do damage when he got inside (not when staying inside for large stretches, but while coming inside). It’s a tall order. It would be interesting to see if he could effectively get to Lewis’s body to set up bigger shots upstairs. I didn’t often see guys going to Lewis’s body, perhaps because they got countered hard, but it’s not like he would necessarily need to consistently work on it. Just a couple effectively hard shots to set up the shots upstairs could be key.

Over time I think less likely of Tyson’s chances against Lewis and higher against Holmes’s. Holmes was fairly vulnerable to the right hand. Snipes nearly stopped him with it, Shavers almost took him out with an overhand right, Weaver hurt him with it at the end of a round. Been awhile since I saw the Norton fight but I think he landed some good right hands.

Also doesn’t hurt that Cus trained Tyson for years as a teenager on how he would fight Holmes. Cus felt you could time him with the right hand, which is what happened eventually. Obviously a 1980 Holmes would be harder to time than a 1988 Holmes, but I think a prime Holmes might still get caught and it would be the difference.

Needless to say, Weaver, Shavers, and Snipes were not the type of finishers that Tyson was

 

Great post. Agree with everything. It took Stonehands years to turn me to his view that Tyson beats Holmes but he got me there - eventually.