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

Douglas was very gifted technically and physically. He moved and punched very well for a big man. Mentally is where he wasnt gifted.

 

fair point fella..but given that this whole thread should be based on evidence combined with a gut instinct as to what COULD have happened, il go with my gut haha...

because if i agree with your point for the sake of argument i actually dont think that tyson would have to dig deep down to that dark place you suggest he could never have come back from when fighting a prime lewis whilst in his own inimitable prime..sure he would have had to take some big shots, sure he would have had to fight, as he had to in many of his victorys, and yes, i think it would have been a close fight but i dont think lewis brings enough to the table to make tyson quit, mentally or physically and i think tysons attributes are enough for him to chop lewis down...

im blind tyson fanboy, and i dont think that he was unbeatable, or even close to it, i just think that the best ever version of tyson beats the best ever version of lewis cos styles make fights...but im more than open and willing enough to be convinced otherwise..it just hasnt hapended yet

 

Not be picky, but I would disagree with this post too. A fighter can replace confidence with doubt when he knows hes not properly prepared for a fight or not conducting himself in a professional manner. I say this because Tyson was very aware of this in the early stages of his career and then carried out the very same behavior he stated in numerous interviews that would derail a prizefighter.
I think those doubts do actually come out, when as you said, the soul meets concrete. There is something very real about the mental preparation and mindset of a fighter, especially one as mentally unstable as Tyson was. He needed a guy like Cus and later Rooney to dicate to him how to conduct himself.
A guy like Lennox Lewis didnt need that, he was mentally very strong, but he needed to seek technical advice to turn the corner. In a way these two fighters reached a similar roadblock in their respective careers, and while Lewis chose the path to better himself, Tyson went the other way.

 

@McGrain: I strongly disagree that Tyson would get "discouraged", quite honestly he would rather die than lose this Peak-for-Peak Superfight. I can't say the same thing about Lennox, although i'm in no way suggesting he would get "discouraged" either. I see Tyson dragging Lewis into a brutal battle, after hurting him & tiring him with debilitating bombs to the body in the early rounds, but Tyson is not like the others who would crumble cheaply (e.g. Grant, Briggs), instead he would bring hell; a firestorm of nuclear bombs for as long as it takes to win, whether it be 6 or 12 rounds.

I wouldn't even say shot-to-**** zombie Tyson was "discouraged" in '02, it's just that he was exhausted from the 2nd round onwards, yet he still bravely tried to win, as impossible as that was in such a disgusting mismatch, which shouldn't have been sanctioned after how fat & absolutely disgracefully-shot Tyson was against Nielsen a year earlier.

Argue against the relevance of the Ruddock fights, if you are so inclinced, however i think the rematch is more than suitable to challenge such a nonsense claim Mike would get "discouraged". It was a brutal slugest war for 12 rounds, it which Tyson had to take monsterous bombs every round (from a fighter with more raw power than himself), trade viscious lowblows, be grappled onto the backfoot by the bigger, stronger man & suffer from a perforated eardrum & 3 broken ribs (more serious injuries than the fractured eye socket Lennox gave him in '02). When did Lewis show warrior spirit & mental fortitude of that level? Yet the warrior had iron will back then & was not discouraged, far from it, as Pacheo aptly put it:

"Well he's a warrior from the old school; Tyson looks like a fighter from the '30s or the '40s, he takes a beating & then he keeps coming in."

Using the tainted versions from the Douglas, Holyfield & Lewis fights to question his mental strength seems odd. Quite simply they were the "better fighters on those nights", yet Tyson soldiered on, completelely exhausted for many rounds against each, while being battered with everything & the kitchen sink & going down on his shield like a true warrior.

You may mention his bitching about 'butts against Holyfield, but prison left Tyson a mental wreck. Imagine yourself in his position, rotting in prison for 3 & a half years, for a crime you didn't commit, being treated like **** (& having feces thrown at you quite literally!), watching the Heavyweight titles being passed around like they were in a game of "pass the parcel", eating only tinned sardines for fear of being poisoned. He entered prison a warrior, & left as a crazed bully surrounded by a squad of violent & dangerous thugs. His nervous nawing of many pairs of gloves until they were unusable during training after prison was evidence of the insecure headcase he'd become, with the next step being his shameful biting of Holy in the rematch.

 

mike tyson would drop lewis in the first round for the kayo:yep:think

 

depends on the mental condition at the time...could go either way

 

Well said, plus he was truly inspired that night, by the recent death of his mother, whom he had promised to beat Tyson before her passing & dedicated the fight to her. So not only did that make him less mentally vulnerable as he was in other fights, but the lethargic, sleepwalking "one big headhunting bomb" Tyson he fought didn't bring the pressure needed to break his will. Except of course he almost did in round 8, the only round were he looked awake, when he floored Douglas for 13 seconds with an uppercut, & Buster looked like he wanted to quit, lying in the same position as he was when Holy floored him, very groggy & questioning himself.

He was for his size, remember your topic about the best fighters H2H above 225lbs?
How many others of such a size were more physically & technically gifted than the absolute Peak Douglas of Tokyo? :think

 

You may misunderstand me, read the part after that:

"Quite simply they were the "better fighters on those nights", yet Tyson soldiered on, completelely exhausted for many rounds against each, while being battered with everything & the kitchen sink & going down on his shield like a true warrior."

 

Good point.