facts but let's forget the drops he had he stuggled with those dudes who moved and had no real skill while lennox never would be dropped or stuggled against them be would go undefeated hey but joe is more skilled they say sure he was bunch of crazy stuck in time idiots
I get the premise but disagree strongly. Conn was under LHW, Rahman's raw strength is legendary. He benched loads and committed to the shot. Even if not a devastating knock out artist, I'd venture that the punch that Rahman sparked Lennox with was significantly harder than anything Conn ever threw in his life. Both men had better chins than given credit for - Lewis faced and survived much bigger punchers than Louis did. Peak Louis was a far better puncher than anyone Lennox faced considering relative fight night versions. Both men capable of sparking the other out but Lennox's chin was more proven considering the size and punching power of fighters that he survived, in my opinion, of course.
I watched the Conn fight. It did seem Joe stood flat footed while Conn basically was doing whatever he wanted, dancing around him and coming inside pot shotting him and then resuming dancing again. It seemed Joe had no answer until Conn stopped.
Correction. Louis was KO's by two sub 200lb men, who were both renowned punchers, and they had to hit him with everything except their ring stools. Lewis was knocked spark out cold, by a single punch, from a 230lb man who was not a renowned puncher. The latter is both much more damaging, and much easier to replicate. There is nothing about the first Schmeling fight, that would make you think that you were looking at a fighter who lacked durability.
On any given day, I swap around #2 and #3 in my head between Louis and Lewis, so I'd have to agree yep.
These cross era comparisons are difficult and I don't want to be one of these posters who believe the boxers of yore are always better than the boxers of now . OTOH a welterweight is still a welterweight and a heavyweight is still a heavyweight so advances in nutrition and training are somewhat mitigated. As to the matchup Lennox is so big, so strong, and so fundamentally sound. If Lennox uses his inherent physical gifts it's going to be a long night for Joe. I don't think it's a reach to say Lennox would be at least even money against any boxer who ever lived.
I think the point is that if we do the fight, the guy from the past gets the benefit of modern training knowledge for his fight prep, and gets film of the modern day fighter. You have to think Luis would emerge with an extra 10lbs of muscle and some more snap in his punches. Otherwise, it's just an unfair ambush.
Lennox would always be the larger and stronger man. The question then becomes can Louis overcome that if they both have the same access to modern techniques, training, and nutrition.