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

A technician, well a successful one, needs to be accurate and precise. And also being able to lead off and counter are key weapons when defining one. A full repotiare of punches with either hand is essential IMO.

Hopkins and Marquez are two that spring to mind from today's crop.

 

Tyson 3rd round KO. Lewis is a legend but Tyson's speed and strength would overpower Lewis' height and reach advantage.

 

Tyson by knockout.

 

Exactly. I was being sarcastic :good

 

I know you were . Your sarcasm was spotted from the other side of the Atlantic. But thought I'd follow up briefly on what defines a technician anyway.

 

Lewis KO9.

Mike fought in an absolute **** era.

 

thats ridiculous. Lewis beat a completely shot, overweight version of tyson. I wouldn't even call that Tyson 40% at his best.

lets look at a few facts : tyson at his peak wasnt one dimensional. His offensive arsenal was the most deadly in hw history. He could hit you with jabs, double-tripple jabs, jab to the body, right hands, lead left hooks, body shots, uppercuts. And his speed and headmovement was second to none.

And lets not forget the intimidation factor. We can say all we want that Lewis wouldnt be intimidated walking into the ring with a peak, undefeated tyson but we dont know that. We know for sure Tyson wouldn't be.

As for the fight, Lewis would try to keep tyson on the outside with a jab and right hand ... but honestly, how many opponents of Mike Tyson have we seen try to do that?? It's a lot harder than it sounds. It may be easy against an old, fat compltely shot version of Tyson, but a peak Mike is a completely different story.

I kind of agree its a 50/50 fight, but I think Tyson would have the definite edge. I predict a Tyson KO in the mid-late rounds or UD.

 

see mike tyson v larry holmes..

 

Oh. Poor Lewis! To fight Tyson in his prime you need to be fast or faster in your hands, have fast reflexes to avoid those sharp punches and be able to move around the ring all night long. I can only see one man do that and that is Muhammad Ali before HIS exile.
Lennox Lewis would obviously give Tyson a fight for a couple of rounds but after that Tysons brutal force and speed would eat him up. Tyson would knock him out no later than the 6th round.
All the best
the predator

 

Iron Mike Tyson in his prime was a ferocious force of nature , there is no way on Earth Lennox Lewis could live with a Tyson aged 22-25

 

Only if you were there to be hit.

Tyson only fought effectively coming forward, he relied on the same single rhythm to work his way into close quarters, essentially used the same basic gameplan in every single fight he had, and he was poor at making adjustments or coming from behind in fights.

All in all, that makes him one-dimensional.

No we don't, any more than we know that Lewis wouldn't be. And between the two, Tyson is the only one who has quit or dogged it in tough fights, so if we're going to assume anyone here would be intimidated, why should it be Lewis?

How many of Tyson's opponents were anywhere near the class of Lennox?

Besides, Buster Douglas executed that very gameplan just fine, and he wasn't remotely on the level of Lewis, nor was his chin any better.

 

My answer would be if Lewis fights the same type of fight as he did historically he wins, in possibly the same length of time as well. I appreciate that the 88 Tyson was faster than the 02 version, better head movement, better combinations and an all-round more dangerous fighter but I don't think that would be enough to offset Lewis's physical advantages. Here's why I think Lewis would beat any version of Tyson:

1) Prime Tyson could be somewhat neutralized by a tall fighter with a good jab. I'm thinking Tony Tucker as the obvious example but there are others too. Lewis's jab has been somewhat maligned and it's not quite of the Holmes quality. Nonetheless it is a good jab and he demonstrated in the Tua fight just how effective variable use of the jab can be in controlling a dangerous opponent.

2) Tyson's style, be it prime or not, is perfectly suited for Lewis. If the Lewis jab keeps Tyson on the outside, great. if Tyson slips the jab, which he would do a lot in a prime to prime match-up, Lewis can either fire the right uppercut or tie him up close and lean on him, which is kinda what he did in their actual fight. Most importantly, Lewis will not allow Tyson to either push him back or work on the inside too much.

3) Prime Tyson beat most of his opponents before they had even entered the ring. Spinks, Bruno are the obvious examples. Although he was slightly faded, James Douglas demonstrated how a positive mental attitude would pay dividends and Lewis would not be intimidated by any version of Tyson. IMO this is a big factor.

4) Lewis is one of the deadliest combination punchers in heavyweight history. OK, Louis was/is the standard here but Lewis isn't too far behind and he likely punches measurably harder. Tyson had a very good chin and the only way to crack it is to throw combinations or wear him down. Frank Bruno, in pure power terms one of the hardest hitting heavyweights of the past 30 years, wobbled Tyson but couldn't floor him. Had Frank connected with combinations he'd have floored Tyson.

5) The version of Tyson that Lewis actually fought was obviously a worse puncher than the prime version, but probably a harder single shot puncher. Lewis has already felt the weight of Tyson's hooks. In the first 2 rounds of their fight Lewis was hit with single shots that would have wobbled the likes of Bruno and floored some others. Before the Lewis fight no-one was standing up to Tyson, the NC fights included.

I think Lewis's combination of size, power, confidence and athleticism would always be too much for any version of Tyson. A good big 'un beats a good little 'un, as they say.

 

Lennox Lewis, in his prime and when focused would beat Tyson, his jab
would be the problem, and as soon as Tyson would to get on the inside he'd feel the uppercut or be tied up, he'd frustrate Tyson and beat him up, Tyson though would be very dangerous and im sure would have his moments, especially early on,

 

If trash like McCall can drop Lewis, Tyson would eliminate anything that made Lewis look reasonable. Tyson constantly knocked out giants. Just remember the inability of larger men to hit Tyson effictively in the late 80s. Prime4Prime, its Tyson all the way.... ok, for about 5 rounds. Lewis had too much femininity in his persona.

Prior to the issues that surrounded Tyson on the verge of the Douglas fight, Mike was devasting all comers. Had he been well grounded with stability in his life, anything would have been possible for Tyson.

 

I think Lewis was the better fighter, and just as good of a puncher. In addition, Lewis was a top clincher and seemed to have better stamina and smarts. I will go with Lewis, who for my money iced better fighters faster than Tyson did. No way Lewis under estimates Tyson.

Tyson showed signs of weakness vs Bruno, and was beaten by good boxers later in Douglas and Holyfield.