How many prime fighters has Lennox lewis beaten?

You can go back to the newspapers, the magazines and the rankings to fact check what I am saying.

 

My point is I disagree with you .. In a twelve month period he went the distance in very tough fights against the two top heavyweights in the world and you're discounting him like he was Alfredo Evangelista instead of what he was, an inactive, inconsistent, very dangerous fighter who had his share of accomplishments against top level fighters, who was avoided by many and was capable of giving hell to anyone on any given night .. that's not a gatekeeper ..

 

Mavrovic was possible already sick and one year out of the ring (in his very last fight), so likely not at his best.

 

The bottom line on Lewis is that he fought everyone who didn’t duck him, never met a man he didn’t defeat and is the greatest super heavyweight that ever lived by far.

 

He's definitely NOT better than the big men that followed. Not even close.

Which one of them got starched by a scrub like Rahman?

 

Wilder sucks. Grant may be more skilled and that's saying alot. More quality or lack of in the division compared to the 90s.

 

Yea Ray had something that most heavyweights didn't an iron chin. Lennox landed combinations that would have dropped most almost other contenders. Mercer was able to respond with his own fire.

 

Hasim Rahman
David Tua
Francois Botha
Michael Grant
Zejko Marovic
Shannon Briggs
H. Akinwande
Phil Jackson
Gary Mason

I would consider those above as Lewis’s prime wins.
I would not consider Golota prime - two savage wars with Bowe coupled with the psychological effect of losing both by DQ would remove him from being prime. Add in the entire medical fiasco of lidocaine and having a seizure this is not a prime win.

Tommy Morrison is not a prime win - although just 26 Morrison’s best days were behind him and he was fighting the aids virus and addiction by this time. Morrison is noticeably sluggish in this bout. And popped positive for hiv in his next bout.

Mercer is a solid win but prime no. Mercer was always a tough out. However he was 35 had lost to Holmes, Ferguson, Holyfield and drew with Wilson. Many people felt he lost to a past it Witherspoon in his next bout after Lewis. The announcers were down on Lewis during this fight indicating that they felt Lewis should of performed better. Ray’s good performance and Lewis’s struggles with him have elevated Mercer as time has gone by. Mercer ran hot and cold and he was motivated but he was in better shape for Holyfield.

The Vitali fight is weird - I understand people claiming Vitali was prime and I wouldn’t argue it - but he did take the bout on short notice and his confidence soared after this bout I was in attendance to his next fight and he looked much improved. So much with the K brothers was mental. So I would say Vitali was pre prime and on short notice. But much closer to prime than Mercer, Morrison and Golota

 

Show me when he got slept by a Rahman, or struggled with a Holyfield?

Show me when Lewis, the guy who retired after fighting Vitali, showed the heart of Wilder in the fights with Fury.

 

LL is the BEST of the GIANT's... Fury by comparison is a Tier Lower and that's generous.

 

Beautiful post.

 

No doubt, you rank Gatti over Robinson at Welterweight, too?

 

The thread question asked how many prime fighters he faced. In the big scheme of things numerous would have been prime even if some may not have been the most talented. Even "bums" have a prime i guess.

Lewis was Mercer's 28th fight. He'd been a pro for just seven years and never been stopped. Lets not pretend that's serious mileage. Sure he was 35 but he hadn't boxed much and actually turned pro 2 months shy of 28. That certainly puts a different spin on things.

Also your rating of Fury has skyrocketed after his three wins (yeah wins, all of them) over Wilder during which he was of a similar age, had been fighting years longer than Mercer had when he faced Lewis and had actually started at a much younger age as well. Oh and he'd had near half as many fights again as Mercer.

His other biggish scalp was of course was a 39yo Wlad. I consider all of them fine wins and note that both were still winning fighters. Wlad may have been ready for the taking if someone really good stepped up but Wilder was as good as he ever was, or bad in some opinions.

Mercer actually re-entered the ratings straight after The Lewis/Witherspoon fights all the way up at #6. Pretty sure his best rating ever was #5 for a very short time.

Nothing personal but there are certain fighters you don't seem to be able to say much of anything positive about with Lewis and Tyson most certainly at the forefront while guys like Holyfield are immune unless cornered or pushed. I could cast a very negative picture on a lot of fighters if i wanted to take a dim view of everything they did and didn't do. We see it virtually every day on here and it's pretty obvious over time (or very quickly) when there's disdain for certain fighters. You're a smart poster and i respect your opinion but i'll often comment if i think things are noticeably one sided or worse even with fighters i don't overly rate. Of course much of the forum is opinion based but certain things stand out like the proverbial.

 

A gatekeeper is a tough contender or fringe contender who sits in the bottom half of the top 10, or just outside it, and anyone who beats him is considered genuine top 10, elite or worthy of a title shot.
Literally beating him opens the gate to the top flight.

I didn't suggest Mercer = Evangelista

I'd say George Chuvalo, even Oscar Bonavena served as gatekeepers too, Dereck Chisora a few years back. Mercer was similar in his own era.

Mercer was "unranked" going into the Holyfield and Lewis fights, a heavy underdog against Lewis, considered a durable tune-up for a title shot.

 

You haven't addressed much of the substance of what I wrote regarding Mercer at all.

You always want to dismiss my comments on ad hominem grounds and portray me as being unfair or biased. It's a shame because I know you are capable of better than that.

What I have written about Mercer is correct.