Poll: Widow maker says lennox lewis's reign wasn't that impressive.

Now apply that same glass half-full logic to any other heavyweight in history and watch them look like crap.
Care to name one of your favourite fighters so we can take the same stick to them?

No offense, but one of my pet hates is that mealy-mouthed approach to looking at fighters' resumes. All it does is make everyone look bad as everyone becomes unworthy of merit by association, knocking people down to make others look good but ultimately just knocking everyone down.

Considering that for his entire career he was without Don King, the most powerful guy in heavyweight boxing for most of the 90s and early 2000s, that Lewis was able to get the fights he did and win the titles he did is particularly notable. He was swimming 'up-stream' for so much of the way, and the utter vilification he got in some quarters after a single loss was sad.

 

Lewis had an impressive title reign, but he really did not cement his legacy until he beat a slightly past his prime Holyfield, and a shot Mike Tyson. I wish these matches were made 3-4 years earlier then they were.

 

I agree ^. Lewis would have been better served had he defeated a closer-to-prime Holyfield and Tyson, and had Rock Newman went to therapy about the nightmares he was clearly suffering from about Bowe fighting Lewis. But then Lewis's resume would have been a shoe-in for the best of all time among the HWs.

It is nothing short of obvious that Lewis' had an impressive list of conquests -even if some posters inflate it. Those who dismiss it are more guilty of ignorance than those who inflate it.

 

atsch Please start following an other sport because you're ****ing clueless.

 

Have to agree with ChrisP. This post is utter rubbish. If you have nothing better to contribute with you should stop posting here.

 

It was an impressive reign, of course it was. Widow Maker is sadly just a biased Wlad fanboy.

 

Lewis' reign wasn't sublime, but it was far from poor. He fought many very good fighters and beat every opponent he stepped into the ring with. He revenged two defeats, convincingly, and retired at the very top.

He's among the top tier heavyweight champions who ever lived IMO.

 

I'm not sure what else Lewis could have done during his reign, which may I remind you lasted for 11 years at the top. 11 years! That's a damn long time to be fighting for world titles.

Aside from not losing in the first place and not fighting Tyson and Holyfield in their primes, which he had limited opportunity to do, he fought almost everyone he could. It's not his fault that Bowe (for whatever reasons) ducked him. It's not his fault that his own prime came a few years after those of his main challengers. Does anyone honestly think that the Lewis legacy would have been much better for fighting Moorer and old man Foreman?

I have to say sauhund II that you're clearly a Lewis hater and talking out of 'yer ****ing arse pal', as we say in Scotland.

 

bril;liant quote there it sums it up exactly

 

Actually, Dempsey brings up a good point of when do you accord the status of actual champion. Personally, I'm now of the opinion that the Briggs is a good point of demarcation-since that accords him the status of linear champion-and if that's the case, then LL's first reign consists of..Mavrovic (a tough, awkward undefeated fighter who likely would have been a solid contender for a while hand he not fallen ill), the two Holyfield fights, Grant, Botha, and Tua. Six defences, and four of those are against fighters that many experts at the time considered to have a leigitimate chance of beating him. Not bad at all.

The second reign after the two Rahman fights consists of Vitali and Tyson, and even though there might be mitigating cirumstances to both, it's still pretty impressive that two of the best names appear in the final two fights of Lewis' career, when he too was past his prime.

So, all in all, a pretty impressive pair of reigns.

 

You and the other Lemmie lovers who floss with his pubic hair. Must have hit a nerve with the Lemmie brigade who always come out in full force to protect their hero.

Fact: he has not ONE undefeated, fresh , dangerous and skilled fighter IN HIS PRIME on his record. PERIOD. Ali, Holmes, Tyson, Bowe and some more have. Deal with it. LOL, I am sure you are going to pull the Grant card.......

Fact: despite all the Lewis fanatic revisionists the man could not sell a fight unless he fought some old washed up names. He had almost zero draw. I wonder why ? Those corny chess commercials must not have worked too well.......

Fact: off ESB and you ask the average Joe Blow" Hey what do you think of Lennox Lewis ?" the answer will be "Lennox who ? Ask them if they know who Foreman/Ali/Tyson is and you get the right answer.

Last but not least, you are so well informed in the sweet science with all your "expert" knowledge and truly elitist experience but how in the world did you "clue" ,lol ,yourself in that the extremely limited Peter would beat VK..........by KO ?

 

You sound like someone in a mental institution. Hint: if you call everyone else crazy, chances are YOU are the one who's crazy.

Another case of revisionist history...... Golota had just thrashed Bowe twice, who was seen as the best heavyweight on the planet behind Tyson .. he was in his prime and clearly a dangerous fighter; most picked the Pole to win. The result? Lewis KO1.

Vitali Klitschko is another that certainly qualifies. He was at his peak while Lewis was 37, yet the man still won.

David Tua was ranked in the top rankings for years and seen as the next Tyson. He lost to Ibeabuchi, but most had Tua winning that one and even if it was a loss, it probably added to his reputation. Lewis shut him out over 12 and hardly lost a round in doing so.

Donavan Ruddock had just gone the distance with Tyson and shook him up a few times (the first stoppage was bull****). Ruddock was expected to win. Lewis blew him out in 2.

Gary Mason had 34 KO's out of 37 fights, was undefeated and in the ring rankings. Lewis messed up his eye so badly that he had to retire.

Akinwande was undefeated and in his prime. Lewis made him go into a shell and beat him. Another high risk/low reward fight.

Mavrovic, too, was undefeated, had an iron chin and a nice winning streak. Lewis won nearly every round.

And yes, Grant was a dangerous fighter in his prime as well, with pretty much even odds going in. Lewis KO2.


So there you have it.... a pretty impressive list if you ask me.


Now list how many prime fighters Tyson defeated. Ruddock, Tucker, Williams and Thomas and Golota? Holmes? Cooney and ehh, Shavers? Unless fighters are in their prime after 14 pro fights, that's pretty much it. Ali? Liston was old, near his 40's if you believe some of the people here, he lost to a prime Frazier but beat him when the latter declined badly, Foreman was in his prime, Shavers was, Leon Spinks was lol, and Norton was though he lost as much to him as he won, if we forgot that abomination of a third fight. Mildenberger was in his prime, Chuvalo was (the first time), and Quarry.

Yeah, Lewis vs Tyson was only the highest grossing boxing match up that point and arguably the biggest hyped and anticipated fight during this decade.


As for "he could not sell a fight unless he fought some old washed up names" ... i guess this is just another demonstration of the fact that your comprehension level is of the level of a 9 year old autistic kid.

But wait, you're absolutely right. :good No one wanted to see Lewis-Bowe and because they couldn't sell that fight, Lewis had to fight Tucker instead, and Bowe made his dreamfight with 19-8 Fergusson.

And since when is popularity a measure for greatness?

If you ask the average German who Holyfield is, they have no idea, if you ask them who Klitschko, Lewis or Maske is, they will certainly know. Does that mean those guys are better than Holyfield?

And this is related to Lewis.... how?

 

This is still the best resume of any active HW fighter at this time.

 

lewis' resume & career are great,also he'd destroy wlad at any time in his career

 

Widowmaker sometimes makes preposterous remarks on these forums. His remark about Lennox Lewis is an example. Except for a couple of very flukey losses (which he easily reversed), Lewis was constantly the world's best heavyweight from 1992 to 2003. He easily qualifies as an all-time great champion. He was superb.