Lewis won BOTH fights in '99............. No question............ Holy had only one or two good rds in the lousy rematch....... Overall, Lewis scored more points and walked away with BOTH fights........ The initial "Draw" was utterly bogus.......... Holy and his homies NEED to STOP whining about 1999........... Lewis was the better man...... MR.BILL:good
Actually more to the point is that out of the two fights, 24 rounds in total, I believe Lewis won about 17 of them. 9 in the first fight and 8 in the second. Agruments could make that Lewis won less rounds, but not may less. The big contriversy in the first fight wasn't that he won a lot more rounds than he did in the second, it was that he won them more convincingly and was denied the win.
A few comedy answers I guess...though for example, Doug Krikorian of the Long Beach Press Telegram had Holyfield a 117-114 winner (!), and Ron Borges (never won to give up on an old saw) said all three judges should be hauled up on charges for giving Lewis the win. The same Ron that had Lewis winning the first fight on "a razor-thin 115-114 decision". Bear that in mind when people say stuff like "several of the ringside press had Holyfield winning"...we're not talking solid-gold reliability either, just because they're journos.
Lewis definately deserved both decisions but the second bout was closer and less decisive ... neither were dominant performances given Lewis size and age advantages ...
Well I disagree. I thought the first fight was a dominating performance. And I'm not sure what size has to do with anything..they're both heavyweights. And since Holyfield's a true warrior with a chin of granite, winning rounds is about all anyone can hope for. And Lewis won around 9 rounds in the first fight and by most accounts either 7-8 in the second. Absent a KO, this is indeed a dominating performance against a legend, known for his guts and ability to take a punch. I think you under appreciated Holyfield by making the remarks that you do.
I happen to be very fond of Evander. It's just that I felt Lennox should have been able to dominate a 37 year old Evander. This Holyfield was nine years older that the one who flattened Douglas ... I thought Lennox fought fights dominated by a jab against a fighter much smaller who was way past his best. Lennoz was far closer to his prime. I say the Evander of 1991 would beat a prime Lewis.