Does Lennox Lewis Get Unfair Criticism For KOing Tyson?

Lewis and Tyson.. The reason they never fought at their peaks was down to timing of careers Lewis was actually older than Tyson and their careers were on different tangents .. What does this have to do with the price of fish? Everything..

Bear with me.

Tysons best years were 86 to 90 let's pick the middle of that as 1988 as being Tysons best era, in 88 Lewis was still in the vest and helmet winning Olympics while Tyson had fought 35 times.. So a peak Tyson would have been fighting a debutant. Fast forward 4 years and Tyson has lost to Douglas, looked average beating nobodys while Lewis career was on the up, Tyson NEVER EVER improved where Lewis got better and better, the Lewis that smashed Gary Mason in 91 is the first version of Lewis that would have beat the current version of Tyson at the time, after 92 at no time ever would the Tyson of that era have beaten the older Lewis, Lennox lived for the game, prepared and trained properly except Rahman and McCall, where be took them lightly. If he had fought Tyson both them times he would have prepared and beaten him.

If you could have put a peak Lennox Lewis of the Tua or Rahman 2 fights in a time machine to fight Tyson of 86 to 90 ten times I'd back Lewis 9/10 with Tyson having a one chance in 10 of getting lucky with a winging hook

 

Chris Byrd actually called out Lennox Lewis, but Lewis's team didn't want the fight, not actually sure why they didn't want it. Maybe because Byrd was seen as a boring fighter, and didn't bring in big bucks or crowds ?

Either way it would of been interesting, just because Lewis never fought a Southpaw to my knowledge, so it presented a different challenge.

Chris Byrd vs Roy Jones Jr i would of liked to of seen aswell.

 

I never quite understood this line of thinking.

Tyson took far less punishment through most of his career than a lot of guys who are still better later. Buster busted him up and the two Ruddock fights were physical, but even in those he didn’t take some kind of sustained beatings — just a few hard punches here and there.

A lot of aggressive, come-forward fighters have longer careers with less slippage. He fought the same style as Floyd Patterson, who aged well. Heck, look at LaMotta for a come-forward fighter who took a lot more punishment.

What is it about Mike’s style that leads to early deterioration?

 

Prison, Lifestyle, Mentality. Has any boxer ever gone into prison in there physical prime and been the same after ? He certainly lost something in them 3 years, similar to how Ali did in his exile.

But as I said all 3 of the terms above, lead to his downfall.

 

It's a very physically demanding style, that requires stamina and speed. Many pressure fighters seem to get old quickly. There are, of course, exceptions, such as those you mentioned, who make modifications that extend their careers. Pacman was another one, who did that. (IMHO is always implied in any of my posts, whether actually stated or not.)

 

James Scott, Dwight Muhammad Qawi and Bernard Hopkins did hard time and coped well in the ring.

Others have had years off whether imprisoned or not and done well. George Foreman was out, what, a decade?

I think prison is an excuse. I do think lifestyle and mentality, as you put it, is what it comes down to. Mike Tyson declined because Mike Tyson didn’t work hard and lost his dedication and desire. He wasn’t driven.

As is noted on this thread, Lennox Lewis was older but he kept improving. Tyson peaked and quite striving and working hard.

That’s nothing to do with his fighting style. It’s down to his character.

 

I can see two possible answers to that.

Lewis either didn't see it as being a big money fight, or just possibly he saw something in Byrd that he was wary of.

His plan after the Tyson fight, was to fight Kirk Johnson, who was somewhat overrated at the time.

When Kirk Johnson withdrew from the fight due to injury, he took Vitally Klitschko as a replacement, on short notice.

What I take away from this, is that he was not a good judge of who was the greatest threat, in the next generation.

Either that, or he simply didn't see any of them as being much of a threat.

 

Simple, it requires constant physical effort.

Somebody like Lewis can relax behind his jab, and take a breather, while somebody like Tyson never gets a breather.

Somebody like Tyson has to move forward constantly, and slip constantly to avoid getting hit, perhaps even maintaining a crouch.

When it comes to a clinch, the taller heavier guy has the advantage.

They just lean on the smaller guy.

Of course this is all well and good, if the smaller guy is getting the job done.

Tyson's style is not one for old men!

 

Im focusing on the shot fighter part …if that’s ok with you

 

Carmen Basilio is another example

 

Ali's performance against Holmes was far worse than Tyson's against Lewis. Tyson fought like a shot fighter. Ali fought like someone who should be in a hospital not a ring. Tyson had a small chance of winning; Ali had absolutely zero chance of winning.

I'm just not seeing this comparison as valid.

Tyson won his very next fight by first round KO.

 

Again, Floyd Patterson fought the same style and aged well.

The point is Tyson didn’t train as hard so he didn’t have the high energy. He doesn’t expend a lot of energy post-Spinks. He’s a wade-win slugger.

But most of his fights are short, and in most he didn’t take much damage. Physically he should have had a lot more left in the tank beyond when he did.

 

The comparison is that this was a shot fighter facing an opponent who would have given him a tough fight even on his best day …..I’m not debating on who was more shot …obviously it was Ali

 

Who was that next opponent ?…remind me

 

Then perhaps you need to reevaluate Patterson?

Who else aged well with that style?

A man who is a ta height and reach disadvantage, who doesn't expend much energy, is called a punch bag!

Damage is not the issue.

The issue is the effort of prosecuting this style.

For example he arguably won the first round against Lewis.

His luck ran out when he had to maintain that, for multiple rounds.