Lennox Lewis - What Are Your Thoughts?

Hi Buddy.
Like you post, like it a lot, precise, concise, and speaks of a person who knows his boxing, the last couple of lines gave me a lot to muse over, aside from Clay of 66, I too would have chosen Lewis as that person, very imaginative and unique slant.
stay safe amigo.

 

Lewis and Bowe were the first 6-5, 230+, champs who were not just champs because they were big. They both had good amateur backgrounds and good skill sets. They also had some physical advantages over most of their competition, like many top fighters had in their eras. I don't know how they would do now, when everyone they fight is as big or bigger then them and also has a good amateur career and skill set. I think they would be around the top and competitive but neither would be dominant.

I don't hold Lewis' losses to McCall and Rahman against him, no champ before him had to face 6-2, 235 pound strong athletes like those two. A lot of former champs might have had knockout losses if they fought athletes like McCall and Rahman instead of fighters who were much smaller and not as athletic/explosive. Things change in sports, boxing is no exception. They had changed in the Lewis/Bowe era too, though the fighters continue to get bigger and stronger. Today, 250 pound explosive heavyweights are common place and anyone is vulnerable.

IMO, nobody is getting through a gauntlet of Zhang (6-6,280, southpaw), Hrgovic (6-6, 240), Joyce (6-6, 250), Wilder (6-7, 225, EXPLOSIVE), Fury (6-9, 275, SKILLED/QUICK), Joshua (6-6, 245), Usyk (6-3,220 SKILLED southpaw) without losses. There are plenty of others too (big, athletic, and skilled), it's not like fighting Walcott, Charles, Patterson, and Folley. All of these guys today are huge, skilled, and dangerous.

 

Better than average, not an all-time great. Starched twice with one shot. Not sure where to rate him really. We got too many excited fanboys on here.

 

Very good points! I have Lewis at #6:

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Holyfield
5. Foreman
6. LL

I have been back and forth switching Foreman and Lewis. I'm not sure Lewis ever had a fight as important as Frazier-Foreman I, Norton, Moorer. They were all hugely rated at the respective times of their being taken out.

I think Bowe, (early 90s) Mike, and (1991-1997) Holyfield would have been roughly the same range of competition as Foreman faced. AND it's true, though George was knocked out by Ali, he did get brutally knocked down twice against Lyle and came back to beat the hell out of him.

All that said, Lennox Lewis was a freakily outstanding fighter...as I write this I have to say that stopping Vitali when he was both past his prime and overweight does count for more than most people seem to think. Not quite on the level of Foreman's best foes (maybe Norton) but still a big plus.

 

Thanks and I agree with your points to. I will add that despite losing Foreman's fight with Holyfield pushes him ahead of LL overall for me. While I think Lennox's resume is stronger than Foreman's first career, when you add George's comeback I think we see another level of determination and guts. You see what I mean though about Lennox not having that awe inspiring win over a fellow ATG? Foreman dynamited Frazier twice and Norton. Lennox never had a fight that made as big a statement IMO, chopping down Michael Grant just doesn't cut it for me! Also in the first part of his career Foreman only lost to Ali and Jimmy Young, one an ATG and the other a very handy fighter who I feel is significantly better fighter than McCall or Rahman.

One thing worth mentioning is I never felt Lewis loved the game. He was not a passionate fighter and I felt he saw boxing as a bit beneath him. No knock against the guy, getting out with your marbles and a stack of cash is to be admired but we never saw Holyfield level heart from him which I feel holds him back in overall standing.

 

I agree. An easy consensus ATG. I can't imagine anyone ranking him below top 10. He was also the one who called it at the right time and retired. That said, he could have been an interesting older fighter -- his size, strength, power, and skill wasn't going to go away; he'd have lost some hand/foot speed, that's about it. I'm glad he didn't do it, there was no point in risking his health when he was able to retire a rich man with a solid legacy, a great last win, and having avenged both of his losses.

I will say my ranking of him is influenced by his H2H capabilities. He didn't really have a career-defining win (which isn't really his fault) or a get off the canvas and pull victory from the jaws of defeat moment. Had he fought a better version of Tyson and beat him just as decisively, had he fought Bowe and prevailed, had he done something wild like knock out Holyfield, his resume would look a lot better. But it isn't his fault that Tyson dodged him (paying a step-aside fee) or that Bowe dodged him, and he was robbed in that first fight against Holyfield.

 

Lennox defeated the star of the next generation in his farewell fight. This is what sets him apart from other champions; that's the bottom line.

 

Personally, I rate Lennox top 3 atg heavyweight.

 

I think he’s got a strong argument for being one of the top five best heavyweights of all time. I have no problem with him

 

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Joe Louis
3. Larry Holmes
4. Lennox Lewis
5. Rocky Marciano
I think in time Lennox will become the third ATG HW

 

What's funny is that nobody seems to hold this against Holmes, who repeatedly said he fought for money. Great example of this in his own words is in his book. He talks about concealing the fact that he had a detached retina prior to fighting Mercer because he knew his route to a big money fight with Holyfield was through Mercer. He talks about being unable to spar for weeks leading up to the Holyfield fight due to a hand injury and not wanting to push the fight back because he'd worry it and the big payday it was bringing would be called off. Know what he doesn't really discuss in his book? Boxing history, love of the sport. Know what he does discuss a lot? How the finances in boxing work, how much he made for each fight, what kind of investments he made, etc. Does that sound like a guy with some deep love of the game? Lol.

 

A

Actually these are very good points!