............Lennox Lewis cannot be considered an all-time great; all-time greats do not get knocked out by people named Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. True or false?
Lennox seemed to have a lot going for him. I don't think he could lick someone like Bowe but he was a respectable champion for a long while. I think he just let his guard down a couple times against a couple of non threatening fighters.
Avenged every loss in good time. Faced a good list of opponents, and a great list of punchers. Morrison, Tyson, Tua, and Klitschko can all bang.
False, but I do think the fact that those things both happened to him in his prime is a strong indication that he does not belong in the top five in the heavyweight division (where many have him these days).
Lewis is not an all-time great, but there are IMO only three Heavyweights good enough for that level. Lewis was a brilliant fighter and although the first McCall and Rahman fights does not help his resume, the redemption in the rematches does.
False. If anything, the losses enhance rather than detract from his legacy. Let me explain. I know L by KO 2 and L by KO 5 doesn't look too good, but he lost both fights on the basis of one punch. He wasn't dominated round after round, he wasn't cut up, hurt or bleeding. He wasn't being outfought, outboxed or outfoxed. Basically, at the time of the knockout, he wasn't 2nd best in there. I've lately become really tired of the constant Lennox worshipping on the site, but at the end of the day you have to give him his due. On the flip side, you have to give McCall and Rahman their due for knocking him out.
False. Because it completely ignores all the other stuff he did that almost no other heavyweights in history managed to do.
False. Many all time greats were stopped by lesser punchers. Two KO losses at heavyweight in 40+ fight is not bad. Compare and contrast that number to other ATG's. In addition, Lewis fought in a quality era, and pretty much fought everyone. His record in title defenses is right up there with the best of them. Lewis also beat every man he faced as a professional. If Lewis is not an ATG, then the bar is set pretty high.
False. If Lennox Lewis had been knocked out by Joe Grim he could still be considered an all time great if the rest of his record justified it.
Peak Williams would always have given peak Tyson very serious problems though, you must admit? Tyson is so small by comparison, and he's a poof.
I would add that if we are comparing Lewis to other all time greats then we have to regard the McCall loss as a product of the era he fought in. A few other all time great heavyweights could have picked up TKO losses if you exported those values.