Lennox Lewis is overrated

How did this become about Wlad again lol

 

Because it's not very popular. People follow the general trend, repeating slang. Most of those who followed his career don't consider him as great as the casual fan. Neither do the boxers who fought him. Holyfield claims Bowe was better, Tyson claims Holyfield, Biggs, Ruddock, Bruno claims Tyson, McCall claims the 46-year-old Holmes, and so on. When Lennox was retiring, a columnist wrote a long article asking if Lewis was in the top 10. This was considered quite controversial; he was usually outside the top 10. If someone had said he was in the top three back then, they would have been ridiculed. And today, many fans claim he's the Goat, better than Ali. I even read on this forum that his victory over McCall was a magnificent and devastating display of power and precision. I've also read many times that he destroyed Bowe in Seoul. Is he overrated? Damn it!! Was he great? Damn it!

I've been called a Lewis hater, but my opinion hasn't changed. I've been following boxing for over 30 years. When Lewis was finishing his career, I had him around the 10th best heavyweight of all time, and now I have him around the same, although I think the K brothers might be higher. They weren't around back then. Usyk is still lower in my opinion as a heavyweight.

If Lewis is considered a top three heavyweight, it's a huge overstatement. If he's considered underrated, it's unrealistic. Lennox has become the sacred cow of boxing.

 

Top 3 could be pushing it but I would struggle to not to see him in the Top 10 but everyone has there own criteria I suppose.

 

While I agree in general with your post, there is no way to rank Vitali over Lewis based on achievements. Vitali might be a nightmare for a lot more accomplished HWs H2H but his resume is just too thin. Wladimir's one look like Ali's in comparison

 

That's right. Lewis's resume dwarfs Vitali's hands down. On the other hand, Vitali is significantly underrated compared to Lewis, and the difference between Vitali and Vitali is much smaller than their resumes. A resume isn't always everything.

 

No, I find it the opposite. So many people write him off in H2H because if McCall and Rahman can land then what if...

 

He's not overrated. I think anywhere in the top 10 is good for him and most people put him there. I have him at #7, but I can see the case for #3. I think he got lucky a few times in his career and that helped him. The numbers (Undisputed with 14 title defenses) and the names (Tyson, Holyfield, etc.) are there. The eye test is there (SHW who can box and punch). He retired at a good age and made a lot of money. Arguably one of the best boxing careers ever.

 

He had gotten somewhat overrated as far as resume and accomplishments go

Head to head he's a monster

 

Bowe isn't underrated, but Lewis is overrated. Bowe's legacy is going 2-1 against overrated Holyfield, then getting battered twice by Golota and needing DQ's to save him. Everyone forgets Bowe was as dirty as anyone and was also fighting dirty vs Golota. He just got smoked at his own game.

 

I had Bowe winning all three of the fights with Holyfield tbh, (the loss fight should have been a no contest anyway imo after the 21 minute delay mid fight due to the hang glider crash) and I’ve never heard anybody call Holyfield over rated till now . Golota did seem to have Bowe’s number but threw both fights away getting himself disqualified.

 

Get real sunshine. Lennox the Lion shatters Bowe's glass chin with one swipe of his paw

 

Clearly you are not reading replies

A ton of people would have bet on Lewis

 

Lewis’s career added up to more than the sum of its parts: he had the numbers and the longevity, he dominated a strong era - but he lacked the ‘high highs’ of other all time greats. And honestly h2h he is extremely overrated at this point. I’ll maybe do a run through of his resume at some point, for now I’ll just say: Holyfield and Tyson were shells of themselves by the time Lewis fought them, and of the lesser opponents Lewis fought he often gave pretty meh performances. I have no idea what the people who put him h2h up there with Ali are seeing.

 

Funnily enough I’d say the complete opposite is true.