Lewis as 9th best HW ever?

........

 

Yep, top 5 for me. probably wouldn't argue with a bit lower but 9 is too low IMHO.

 

Bert Sugar disagrees..lol

 

Berts full of **** on a lot of subjects....;O)

 

i believe it was 17 or 18..damn! I think the bowe showdown would have altered things around..Chicken Bowe-LL

 

edit

 

Few issues I have:

Struggling so much with Bruno and Mercer, possibly even lost the Mercer fight
The best Heavyweights he fought were past their best: Holyfield, Tyson, and never met Bowe although he wasn't to blame
Two of the worst losses in Heavyweight history
For much of his career he was far from a complete fighter

The good:

On his night he was very destructive and matches up well with anyone
A very good list of 'second tier' wins, and most dispatched impressively
Power, size, and a good range of punches
Quite adaptable, changed his tactics against Mercer and I think he was starting to gain the upper hand against Vitali
Avenged all his losses
Longevity

I have him in the lower end of the top 10 right now, sometimes I have him a place outside. Normally I have top 7 or 8 then the next 5 are quite interchangeable. He's in that 5.

 

Who above him Scott?

I have Ali, Louis certainly and Holmes then maybe Foreman but after that he's very much in the running to be near to top of the following group IMHO.

 

Ali
Louis
Johnson
Holmes
Marciano
Foreman
Jeffries
Dempsey
Then I'd pick between Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson, Frazier and Liston.

But honestly it's so subjective and depends on what criteria you use, wouldn't object to him being in 5th. I don't think he should break the top 4 though.

 

Thats nothing like my list. Both Johnson and Marciano further down and Jeffries not in there.

 

Sparked by 2 journeymen.... he doesn't make the 10.

 

Your list is wrong then

Johnson didn't have the best run to the title, but dominant once he got there. Possibly the best defensive Heavyweight, very highly rated by experts of the time.

Marciano, obviously the unbeaten record looks good, but faced great opposition too. Granted most weren't Heavyweight or were old, but they were on great runs of form. One of the best swarmers and dominant for that period.

Why no Jeffries? Outstanding list of wins, and unbeaten until his ill advised comeback. You can criticise his style, but it was adjusted to the times, and a great athlete.

All about the balance between longevity, style and opposition I guess.

 

You leave my list alone....;O)

Johnson suffers on my list for the same reason as Marciano, quality of opposition during their title reigns.

True Johnson was dominant but it was an uninspired bunch he defended against. Marcianos was better but I do take into account most of them were either natural light heavyweights, old or both.

Jeffries gets edged out, just, because I think there are men with better skills and title reigns. I try and start at #1 and work back and if a fighter doesn't get in, he doesn't get in.