Lennox undisputed Title resume - your thoughts

Descent to the top !
It's the wrong word but actually quite fitting. :yep

 

Lennox Lewis does seem to get a free pass on all the turning down offers and throwing away title belts ..... which is fine - boxing is a business after all ........ but it's strange that people then seem to parrot everything Lewis said about other fighters ducking him, as if that's the gospel truth and such huge injustice.
Now they even say he was always willing to fight all-comers and was avoided by everyone for years, etc. etc.
Lewis created a myth of being the massive outsider who had to work twice and hard for half as much - and people buy into that, for some reason.

 

Lewis baulked at the thought of fighting Ruiz. Classic!

 

Lewis announced retirement only after WBC set deadline to sign with Vitali or to be stripped. He was not officially stripped but he was forced to give up the title. He dropped his WBA title by refusing to fight Ruiz. He lost WBC/IBF to Rahman (and the regained only because of mandatory rematch clause). Then he dropped IBF title by refusing to face Byrd. If you look at it, he retired while holding only IBO title.

 

Ah glad someone caught that little submissive insertion. You need to do a little more of that in Tyson threads...

 

Because most people think punchers are bigger challenges and thats simply not the case.
Ruiz was sloppy and ugly, but he was giving every opponent hell. After the Tua fight and altering his style noone was blowing him out unless they had the speed of a Roy Jones Jr.
Ruiz bigger challenge? Perhaps for Lewis who was very good at knocking down big tall stationary guys. Same goes for Byrd. He might not have been the offensive threat, but he could make guys look stupid.

 

Where were you guys when my Ruiz Appreciation Thread was getting battered? Finally, some folks who understand the genius of Ruiz!

 

[url]http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/jv52200.htm[/url]

Ruiz kicked Lewis ass in sparring. Lewis did duck Ruiz.

 

Your right i am totally unaware of this happening! That is the first time in the 17 years since 1994 that i have heard this story. Source?
If it were to be true, then i will say that the Lewis of 1994 is a totally different fighter from the Lewis of 99-00, when Ruiz was his mandatory.
I can't believe that Lewis would fear Ruiz for one second. It's that simple.
What i can believe is that Lewis was possibly advised to avoid him because of the percieved poor spectacle the fight would be. Something that Lewis' backers wouldn't want straight after becoming undisputed champ.
Has for Ruiz grappling-hook style? I see it more has a detriment to Ruiz, than it would be for Lennox. Based purely on physical strength and size.
But the killer for Ruiz in this match-up would be Lewis' uppercut.

 

When you watch how Holyfield who was probably still a bit quicker than Lewis struggled with Ruiz there is definitely a chance Lewis could have had problems. That doesnt mean Lewis would lose, but I always felt guys like Grant had nothing really to offer Lewis in the way of a challenge. Lewis was a better version of them and had all the skills to easily beat them. With awkward annoying fighters like Ruiz and Byrd it would have been a problem. Again, not saying he would lose to either of them but people on this forum who just write them off because Grant was a bigger stronger guy dont really understand how stylistic challenges can be a nightmare for a fighter. Lets consider who Lewis fought who was even close to Ruiz or Byrd? Noone really. Now consider all the guys he fought who where somewhat similar to Grant. A good portion of his fights. Public perception of who was better was based more on who was more crowd pleasing to watch or who punched harder, but thats not always the telling factor in a matchup.
Emanuel Steward understood this, thats why he wanted Lewis to avoid them, and that why he thought Zeljko Mavrovic would be a tough challenge for Lewis too, because Mavrovic wasnt just going to stand in front of Lewis and let him pound away.

 

Yeah i understand this, has i pointed out in my post. Lewis may have been advised to avoid Ruiz because of the spectacle it probably would of been, and the poor match-up it could have been for Lewis. Manny nor Lennox wouldn't want that at the time he was making his biggest impression on the US. I don't see Ruiz beating Lewis in any way, but i do see him being awkward has he was against everyone he fought. Holyfield was indeed a little quicker, but he didn't have the physical strength of Lewis, as Ruiz would have found out in 2000. Also i wonder how much Lennox took out of Evander prior to his fights with Ruiz.
I don't see Byrd beating Lennox either, but i see him giving him a lot of problems and on the wrong night for Lewis he could win a decision. I remember Manny's trepidation towards the fight at the time, and understood it fully.
My problem with quarry's statements is that he seems to have an agenda against Lewis and it comes across like he want's people to think that Lewis himself feared these two men. Which is bollox.
If he gave balanced and valid points as you do then i would have no problem.