Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson, prime for prime, who wins?

Tyson. We all saw what Mercer did to Lewis, Prime Mike is much better than Mercer at every facet in the sport.

Tyson's head movement and handspeed would allow him to get inside and knock him out in the middle rounds.

 

Why do people always do this, take one example that support the case they want to make and ignore everything else? You could just as well use what Douglas did to Tyson as an example.

For me, this is a really hard one, close to 50-50. Both were tremendous at their best, and they both had the tools to make things very complicated for the other guy. Tyson has the better chance of a sudden KO and Lewis has the better chance of outboxing Tyson and wearing him down.

 

Except douglas was a career worst performance of tyson against a career best performance of Douglas ( who was just as good as mercer, if not better, especially in tokyo)

while lewis and mercer was average performances for both of them.

 

It might well be Douglas who made him look bad. No one handled Tyson like Douglas did, before or after.

Anyway, Lewis dismantled several opponents that was just as good or better than Douglas overall.

If one wants to one can also point to how they fared against common opponents (Ruddock, Bruno and Holyfield) as well as what happened when they actually met. Just using Mercer as an example...

 

Hard 1 to pick, Tyson was a master jab slipper and closed the gap like no one else. Size wise Lennox has the advantage but Lennox was the same size as many of Tyson's early victims.

Both are excellent defensively but at his best Tyson was rarely hit, while Lennox at his best was hit flush by Mercer, Holyfield, McCall, Rahman, Bruno amongst others. His defense was good but leaky

Speed wise Tyson is vastly quicker of hand and foot, Lennox's timing and range will neutralise this somewhat

Power most will say Tyson, I'd say Lennox has more 1 punch power. Both accurate and brutal

Chin, Tyson, although Lenny is very underrated chin wise, I'd rate it above many champs

Because of his superior speed, combinations and defense, Tyson will outbox Lenny early. Tyson should be expected to dominate early and Lennox will do well to stay in the fight. I see Lennox having big moments of his own too and it being back and forth with Tyson doing more damage.

Because Tyson is a frontrunner and short then Lenny if hes there after 6rounds can start to take over and smash Tyson from range after his head movement is less. Lenny isnt that strong of a finnisher down the straight himself so he probably doesn't turn up the tempo as much as a Holyfield, so Tyson should stay in the fight.

Tyson mid rounds KO or close UD either way

 

I agree with that statement. On the other hand, Tyson himself said after the fight in the dressing room, "I could never beat him if he fights like that. He's too big and too strong."

If Tyson himself doesn't believe that he would have beat Lennox in his prime, then I guess this is a no brainer. But Lewis' chin is what ultimately keeps me on the fence on this one.

 

Speed, workrate and defense offsets size and strength but I know what you mean. After getting caned for 8rounds you tend to lose self belief lol

 

Mike Tyson

 

That's what seals it for me. I can see guys taking Tyson out late if they survive his early onslaught such as Holyfield, Holmes, Ali but that's due to them being able to fight hard for the entire distance.
Lennox was never known for his stamina and while he had a late Knockouts, they were in fights he dominated and wasn't pushed to the limit.

Tyson KO7 for me. Good fight but 88 Tyson takes him out eventually.

 

im by no means a match, when it comes to boxing knowledge here, on the classic forum..

could you please elaborate as to why, you think lewis is a better technician..?

to me, tyson was by far a better technician, when comparing those 2, so i would like to hear your view, on this matter..

 

I agree that Tyson was the superior technician, but he he could get a bit mechanical at times. Lewis was better at "playing it by ear" so to speak, I would say. But he lacks what I think is truly crucial against Tyson and that's a high workrate.

That's why Douglas made life so difficult for Tyson - he was busy all the time and had good power and, especially, precision in his output. This allowed him to dictate the pace and thereby befuddle Tyson.

Lewis game would be more along the lines of frustrating Tyson and slowing the tempo, but on his own terms. He was very good at that, though.

 

Fight on the outside with a jab and you're instantly labeled a "technician"

Lennox had solid skills and used them well. But he wasn't the perfectly well rounded fighter some like to say he is, I can think of quite a few HWs who had better overall skills such as Louis, Holyfield, and yes probably Tyson as well (but he wasn't blessed with Lennox's height and physical proportions obviously)

 

exactly my thoughts..

if we switched it around, lennow with tysons size and tyson with lewis size, i couldnt see lewis being close to what he was, while tyson would be a monster..

the skills lewis had, atleast to me, relied much more on his strength and size.. so i couldnt agree with jc, when he labelled lewis as a "technician" in the true sense, of the words meaning..

and actually i have tyson lightyears ahead, when it comes to technique..

 

i dont know if i agree with, lewis being better at improvising.. but i certainly agree upon, that his alck of workrate, could be a problem..

douglas did an excellent job that night, but tyson was ko´ed by smoking to much :rasta

certainly.. he did exactly that when facing holyfield..

actually a funny mindset lewis had.. when facing smaller guys with power, he was doing exactly that, being cautios and trying to lower the tempo, but when facing a bigger opponent, something inside him said click, and of he would go.. loved it when lewis was mean:deal