Muhammad Ali vs Lennox Lewis

Lewis moved like molasses compared to Ali, he would take advantage of Lewis' comparatively awful stamina and start swelling and cutting him in mid-late rounds, Ali by TKO/stoppage in 11

If Lewis tries being cautious he's going to eat lead rights and there wouldn't be a damn thing Steward could do about it

 

Lewis was (as near as matters) the same age when he faced Holyfield as Ali was when he faced Evangelista.

 

Yes, imagine that huge right hand landing as often as Kenny's did...whoosh!

 

Those were the days...what an era...apparently Ali kept getting gift decisions because they figured enough of the American public was docile enough to be happy as long as he was around- and the sport would die without him ...soon after the likes of Duran was fighting Leonard and only idiots were missing complete crap like Ali v Evangelista...and virtually all of his 2nd reign in fact, most of which reeked.

 

Norton became an ATG because the public needed to believe he was one to call Ali “the greatest”

 

Shhhhhh! Don't speak truth too loudly.

I reckon Ali had about 8 - 10 decent - great performances in the 70s, if we are being generous.

What's crazy is that his final retirement ushered in an era where outside of Iron Mike and the greatness that is a Flying Mallard doing a rooftop dropkick, Joe Public probably learned to appreciate the smaller fighters who have always been superior in conditioning and skillset to the heavyweights, it's just that - let's face it, the heavies are the traditional daddy, probably why even those of us that are seasoned probably jump the gun in trying to bestow greatness upon anyone who seems to bring back excitement to the division.

 

Lummox Lewis gets beated in the same style as Joe Bugner

 

This is very misleading. Lewis was definitely a late bloomer, and was at his peak, if not close to it in those bouts. Mike Tyson was younger than Lewis, yet he was a shell of himself by then.

 

Ali never went to prison. He had his license suspended. Oh, Ken Norton is a poor analogue for Lennox. Ken was a pressure fighter who used a cross guard defense. Lennox fights tall. Those weren't the boxers who troubled Ali.

 

I've got a lot of time for Ali the contender, he didn't need to fight who he did and keep as active, as he'd have received numerous title shots anyway, even if he lost vs Foreman, but as a champion (2nd time), he left a lot to be desired- 1 mandatory defence out of 11... and with a style that made Johnny Nelson look entertaining...nearly. The 1st reign champ was a lot better to watch, of course, but the division was mostly dreadful.

...and what a great time. It's funny but while this forum is ruled by heavyweight obsession, this isn't something i've ever been used to in my everyday life- the phase "I prefer the middleweights" (or welterweights et al) has been said numerous times in conversation, as most fans i know easily prefer this kind of stuff. They regard the heavyweight title more as an event than a good boxing match (in general).

Another example, years ago i said i'd take the wife to a big show, so i bought us tickets (and hotel/train) for Calzaghe - Glen Johnson, with the undercard of Danny Williams vs Matt Skelton. Joe pulled out the fight but Warren decided the bill was still going ahead. I told my missus about it and without any knowledge of the new main events protagonists (apart from what division they were in) said "ugh i don't want to watch heavyweights, two blokes leaning and holding each other for 12 rounds". It took me all day on the phone to get a refund too.

 

Norton became an ATG because he was a superb albeit somewhat flawed prize fighter who unfortunately came along during a time of giants.

Ali was "The Greatest" because he was the greatest heavyweight champion ever born of a woman, he didn't need Norton for validation.

 

Kenny was a decent enough fighter but he fights nothing like Lennox. One fought tall. The other didn't .

 

Truth. I have Lewis at the tail end of the top 10 on my all-time heavyweight list. Kenny is down the line. Kenny had lots of chops. He also had some flaws which were always going to keep him from the topmost echelon.

 

Stop feeding the troll.

 

10-4.