What do you think is the real reason that Lewis never fought a southpaw?

Probably not, but I do think he could make him look foolish for a few rounds.

 

he would of dealt with them. a very right handed fighter who uses his distance and length would of been trouble for all the southpaws of his era.

byrd sanders and moorer would of been good scalps but i doubt any of them could of realy troubled him.

 

Lewis was a pro dealing with big tall guys, but he hadnt proved himself against really awkward guys. I wanted to see how he dealt with the likes of Byrd and Ruiz, because at that time, they offered some interesting stylistic challenges for Lewis. Its not like they would knock Lewis out, but he could find himself reaching and making mistakes that could change the course of a fight. I wanted to see Lewis fight Ruiz and Byrd for those reasons.

 

Not Somebody. Me. And yes, Wlad has willing faced and dominated frustrating slicksters and southpaws like Byrd and the Jeff Mayweather trained Sultan.

If Lewis beat any noteworthy spoiling southpaws and fast slicksters...let me know. If not, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this statement. Now I think Lennox could beat Byrd but it wouldn't be easy, a very good test for him that certainly wouldn't have hurt his legacy.

I just find it silly that people try to use Wlad's achievements to prop up Lewis' legacy. Lennox didn't get in the ring and dominate Byrd twice, Wlad did. You don't see anybody claiming Wlad doesn't have to prove himself more against punchers because Lewis knocked out Tyson do you?

 

Again,that is some convoluted logic there.
Thomas hearns fought TWO southpaws in his career. (and lost to one,a certain m.hagler!) This does not really mean somehow hearns is vulnerable or unproven against this type of fighter. Thats theoretical bull**** for guys who want to detract from a PROVEN bona fide ATG like lewis. And at the same time big up a guy (wlad.) who unfortunately (or maybe fortunately.) is fighting in a **** era of heavyweights.
Rather than detract from lewis who fought and beat every top ranked man he fought over a whole decade,and defeated some very excellent fighters of all styles,why dont you make a case for the klits?
I will tell you why its hard,wlad and vitali dont have the opponents out there to put them in the lewis league. And thats ignoring the fact that vitali lost to an old out of shape lewis,and the possibility that the klits would be just contendors in the talent packed lewis era....

 

Its true that Lewis didnt have a long list of southpaws to choose from, but there was some talk of Lewis not being so hot on facing them. That probably came from his experiences in the gym.

 

Since when is Ruiz awkward? Since when is his jab/defense better than Vitali's for instance? Or even Akiwande for that matter?

As for the Byrd/Ruiz fights, lets think what the public wanted, Grant/Tyson/Vitali or Byrd/Ruiz........hmmmmmmmmmmm

Its funny how posters make alliances to hate on particular fighters :yep

 

I'm a big Lewis fan and rate him highly as well, I didn't mind him as an announcer either but this is a valid question. I don't have any idea if he went out of his way not to face southpaws so I see him not facing any as more of a curiosity than some sort of avoidance. Lewis' resume is one of the absolute best in heavyweight history. He fought a large roster of good fighters over a course of years so I don't really see him as avoiding anyone. But the 90s was a decade with a lot of good heavyweights and Lewis couldn't face all of them. Maybe he could have faced one here or ther or maybe circumsntances weren't right. Maybe fighters being lefthanded played a part in his choices as to who or who he fought and maybe not. At the end of the day its an ok topic for conversation but thats about it.

I think Byrd would have been a tough fight for him but Lewis wins. Wlad has better handspeed so he was better equipped to deal with someone like Byrd than Lewis was so I don't think Lewis walks through him like Wlad did. I think Byrd had too little appeal for Lewis to face, he was nearing the end of his career and was looking for big money fights with Tyson. If Byrd would have came along a few years prior than maybe he and Lewis fight but he made his mark toward the end of Lewis' career.

Moorer and Lewis would have been a big fight in the mid 90's but I don't recall too much talk being made over this one. It would have made sense but I have little doubt Lewis stops Moorer. I have no idea but if anyone wouldn't have wanted this fight I would have expected it to be Moorers side instead of Lewis. I see this as one of the fights that just didn't happen from fighters being tied up in different situations more than anything.

Sanders just wasn't in the talks at the time Lewis was around. Maybe if he would have beat Rahman he may have gotten a shot since Rahman fought Lewis after beating Sanders. Then when Sanders upset Wlad was around the same time Lewis retired. There just wasn't a big demand for this fight. Sanders would have been scary early for Lewis but I don't think he ever would have beaten Lewis. Lennox was too smart to get caught early when Sanders was at his most dangerous. Lewis would have probably stopped Sanders late or atleast won a comfortable decision.

I don't see Lewis as not having faces a southpaw, especially one of the three mentioned, as hurting his career. But, if he would have beaten one of them it would have certainly improved his standing. Byrd and Moorer would have been quality wins for Lewis, especially if he would have fought them at the right times. Sanders would have been a decent win as well, his standing isn't on par with Byrd and Moorer but you can't deny Sanders was a dangerous guy and beating him would have added to Lewis' legacy as well.

 

It's a matter of statistics. There was only one world-class southpaw heavyweight for most of the 1990s (Moorer) while Sanders and Byrd were either struggling up the ranks or unsellable. Only Moorer was a credible opponent through most of Lewis's career and for a variety of secular reasons that never happened.

Since Lewis retired, there have been a greater number of top 10 southpaws. This is partly because former-Soviet and Cuban boxers, who weren't systematically discouraged from fighting southpaw, have started coming into the mix. Gomez, Ibragimov and Chagaev were raised in a very different boxing culture. Also, Sanders finally managed to get into contender status in 2003, just as Lewis's career was winding down.

It's a bit like asking why Lewis didn't face any swarmers: there weren't any world class boxers with that style in the 1990s, so it's not surprising that it didn't happen.

Incidentally, Lewis did face a switch-hitter, but it was only Greg Gorrell. He didn't have any problems, but that might have just been the fact that it was Greg Gorrell-

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEIuNBN6Oao[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5VHDGM3Xs[/ame]

 

:huh

-Not sure what you are going on about. Its not as if Chris Byrd was some invisible boogeyman people are making up, he was the deserving number one contender to Lewis' title.

-Who gives a **** about Vitali, he has no bearing on this thread.

 

Fact-checked.

 

Really?

They would both have been absolute boring as **** jab, clinch, clinch, clich with lewis taking the vast majority of the rounds

unless he landed something huge and knocked them out

im ****ing glad he fought other fighter instead to be honest

 

Check your facts:

Tyson was his WBC #1
Byrd was IBF #1 and Ring #2
Wlad was Ring #1 though not an official mandatory.

-Byrd defeated Tua in an eliminator to earn his ranking in 2001.

-Tyson was the WBC number one because he was Tyson and he's back!!! Fair enough.

-Lewis defeated WBC#1 Tyson in 2002.

-With Byrd as his only mandatory and officially remaining number one contender...Lewis takes time off and trashes his IBF belt, declaring his intention to face Kirk Johnson and rematch Mike Tyson.

 

Yes I agree I am in the minority but as you probably know Ive maintained this for a long time just for stylistic interests. If Ruiz wasnt awkward PP what the hell sport have you been watching? That herky jerky jab and grab holding style made him hard to hit just ask Evander Holyfield. Lewis was no speed demon, he would have struggled.
Vitali is awkward but not in the same way that Byrd and Ruiz were. Vitali is awkward in the way that hes harder to reach by shorter guys. Lewis took away all of that in five rounds. Lewis would not have been able to approach a fight with Ruiz and Byrd the same way he did with Vitali.