what were Lennox Lewis weaknesses?

His durability was not the best.

I know that it was better than many make out, but it was worse than most other all time great heavyweights.

 

He had many weaknesses , their wasn't very many top tier
fighters in his era to fully exploit them.

 

He has close fights with past their prime heavies (Mercer and Holyfield 2).

Lewis could be lazy at times with his jab, although Steward improved it tremendously, so it became a strength. Still, Lewis was not a great mover, he was very hittable, except he was normally able to overpower his opponents. When he ran into iron chinned guys like Mercer, he was unable to simply overpower them.

Lewis was overly cautious at times. I also don't think his stamina was particularly outstanding. He seemed to take quite a few breathers; i think almost all heavies over 230 lbs need to take more breathers compared to guys in the 200-220 lb range.

Lewis's struggles vs smaller past their prime fighters like Mercer and Holyfield 2 show that his "size advantage" is massively overrated by his fans. Both Mercer and Holyfield were past it, fighting in spurts, (and overweight in case of Mercer) and thus were unable to take advantage of Lewis's own tendency to fight in spurts.

A master boxer like a prime Holmes could fight 15 rounds with quite high intensity. In a 12 rounder, Holmes would be able to up his intensity while Lewis would need to take breathers due to his size. I have little doubt Holmes would win. Ali is a terrible match up for Lewis; Muhammad would absolutely box circles around him.

I have always believed that heavies in the 210-220 lb range match up a lot better vs Lewis than bigger guys. Lewis feasted on bigger guys like Golota and Grant, but smaller guys like Mercer, Holyfield and a C level Marovic gave him a harder time than big guys like Golota and Grant.

Before anyone accuses me of disliking Lewis, i rank him #6 on my list. But he definitely had flaws and he struggled more with quality heavies who were smaller and past their prime than he did with the giants. A lot of Lewis's fans massively overrate him h2h and claim that his size would make him a favourite over smaller guys like Ali and Holmes. To the contrary, i think both Ali and Holmes would box circles around him, especially the 1967 Ali.

 

Questionable chin, had habit of showing up out of shape for the most part of his career, which cost him the opportunity to retire undefeated, he was twice knocked out in his prime, and though he handily avenged both losses, those KO's count against him in the all time rankings. But I think this is an unfair slur. Really, Lewis does not have the strongest chin, but if he didn't play hot and could with his training, he could have been ranked higher , probably right behind ali.

 

Stamina wasn’t great. He wasn’t a particular adept in fighter, sometimes he was too cautious. Chin wasn’t as bad as made out to be but it’s more a weakness than a strength. Overall he was a great heavyweight but some fans blow him up to mythical proportions and act like he’s an unbeatable head-to-head God. I think the above weaknesses would render him a clear-cut underdog vs. Ali, Holmes, Louis, Liston, Foreman, and Frazier.

 

There's no way he's a clear-cut underdog vs Frazier.

 

The same as most Kronk fighters, in that favoring straight jabs and crosses 90% of the time can get a bit predictable.

 

I don't think there was any glaringly weaknesses. I would say he could lack focus and concentration some times hence the two KO's. To be fair he rectified both of those.

I'd put him 6 or 7 as a ATG.

Not really relevent but as an aside he could show a total lack of class sometimes outside of the ring. In particular his disgusting comments about Bruno before their bout.

 

I am a Frazier fan and I reluctantly and sadly agree with you

 

I'm also a Frazier fan. I prefer him to Louis and basically every other heavyweight not named Ezzard or Evander. But I can't see him getting last that uppercut.

 

Would of been better for Lewis’s career had he peaked a little earlier than he did, the early 90s with Pre prison Mike, Prime Holyfield and Prime Bowe would of given us a much clearer picture for Lewis.
As it ended up he cleaned up the late 90s with some good heavies, but on close inspection (and I know any fighters resume can be picked apart) he really has some weird wins on the ledger.
Mccall
Golota
Both stand out to me and to an extant Morrison as he did not look like he used to and not surprisingly tested positive before his next bout.

Lewis was a super heavy and he could mix it up he fought back when he had too. He could also box well too. He’s a top 10 ATG. People that put him in top 3 though for me is a reach.

 

I have him at 3/4 with Holmes. He seems a lock for top 5 to me (and I don’t even like him lol). I would question people who put him outside of the top 5 more than I would people who place him at 3 IMO

 

Yes.very true......

And yet tonight. ..on the sky tyson-bruno documentary he's transmogrified into very ott complimenting Frank.i think Lennox probably realises he was wrong with his vile comments.......Frank was universally loved....in the mid 1980s he was the most loved English man alive....no one looked at Frank's colour...he was just a londoner...cccockney Frank...I recall 32 years ago Terry woman the uks letterman or Larry King....surprising Frank on video link in Vegas with his kid daughter in the studio....Terry held her up to the TV screen to greet her dad..race relationswere pretty good...than Lennox comes around like a prototype BLM pioneer comes around calling frank a "uncle tom"......... disgusting....after all Frank did for race relations in the early 80s