Lewis' resume vs. Holmes' resume

Lewis has better names overall I think with wins over Holyfield, Vitali, etc. He also never avoided anyone, and fought pretty much every worthwhile Heavyweight of his era. A slight knock against Holmes is the old age debate, about his questionable opposition after 83, where there was more deserving opponents like Pinklon Thomas, Greg Page, etc.

Pros for Holmes though is he longevity, he was also never stopped in his prime to lesser opposition like Lewis.

Overall I can see an argument for both, but based on H2H and Lewis's better opposition overall I give the edge to Lewis.

 

For me Lennox slightly tips it.

 

I think Lewis beat slightly better opponents while Holmes has better longevity, more title fight wins, and minus the losses to fringe contenders while champion. Tossup as to who you want to rate higher

 

Snap. I have Holmes #3 and Lewis #4.

Lewis has the slightly better win resume, though Holmes's often gets underrated - Norton, Witherspoon, Shavers x 2, Cooney, Mercer, Berbick, Snipes, Smith, Weaver, Williams and Jones isn't bad.

Holmes never lost until he was past prime prime where as Lewis lost to McCall and even though he was 34 vs Rahman (only a year younger than Holmes vs Spinks 1), as a big Lewis fan, I think he was still very close to prime, albeit out of shape for that particular fight.

I've no problem with Lewis being ranked ahead of Holmes. Its close either way, imo.

 

I hate to say this because Larry’s one of my favourites but regardless of standards of opponents the one thing Lennox did apart from Riddick that Larry didn’t do is he fought them all and wiped his division clean. Larry could have fought your Page’s, Thomas’s and Tubbs and Dokes but maybe due to his contractual obligation to King he didn’t. But either way he didn’t. Larry would breath them all but he didn’t fight them.

 

That sums it up for me too. They are very close and either choice is fine.

 

When people say Lewis fought them all EXCEPT Bowe, it’s a bit like saying Ali fought them all EXCEPT Frazier. Of course those two DID fight, but imagine the top two HWs of the early 70s not meeting for whatever reason…there’d be some negative repercussions regarding both fighters’ legacies, of that I’m sure.
Lewis and Bowe not meeting…for whatever reason and regardless as to who is to blame… was a travesty and it takes away from both fighters regarding their Resumes.

However, having said all that, I’d still put Lewis ahead because as has been noted already, Holmes choice of fights towards the mid 80s seemed as though they were chosen for an easy ride to his history making, record breaking 50-0 and retirement.
Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out like that

 

If Bowe refused to step in the ring with Lewis and in fact threw his belt in the garbage to avoid facing him, what exactly was Lewis supposed to do? Hold him at gunpoint and lead him into the ring?

It was quite literally beyond his control why should it affect his legacy?

 

https://thegruelingtruth.com/boxing...is-vs-riddick-bowe-and-why-it-never-happened/
A bit more to it than that tbh.

 

Yeah, I have Holmes #3 and Lewis #4. If Lewis had Bowe added to resume, he would be locked at #3 imo.

 

I dont think it does detract from his legacy or his ranking. His legacy and ranking would benefit if prime Bowe was added to his win resume though.

 

I actually agree with you. A victory over Bowe would have cemented him top 3 for me with no umming or aahing or “If only he beat Bowe.”
I actually said those two not fighting was a negative regarding their Resumes, not their legacies. Lewis was a great fighter, the best of his era and his legacy will be just that. Not fighting Bowe doesn’t affect that. But it’s a minus on his Resume, how can it not be.

What affected Lewis’ legacy more than not fighting Bowe were his KO defeats. But for those Lewis’ legacy could have …and I say COULD HAVE, not WOULD HAVE, been the HW GOAT!

 

I agree.

More extreme example of course, but Wills likely cant be criticised or his standing reduced in anyway for not facing Dempsey. But, the fact remains, if he fought and beat him, his resume would be better and he would typically rank higher.

 

Yes I agree theres a difference between Bowe flat out avoiding Lewis, compared to Holmes not fighting Page, Thomas, in favour of lesser opposition. I don't see how it effects Lewis's legacy at all, I think the only one it effects is Bowe. Because Lewis fought all comers, and Bowe selectively didn't want to fight any of the dangerous punchers of the 90s.