lennox lewis best win

choose from Holyfield 1 and vitali

 

1) Holyfield II (although in a fair world, it would be Holyfield I)
2) Klitschko
3) Ruddock
4) Rahman II
5) Golota or Tua or Tyson, interchangeable


...why the **** isn't Ruddock a poll option? That is Lewis' clear best after Holyfield and Klitschko...most certainly well above Grant, Briggs and Mercer and IMO comfortably above Rahman, Golota, Tua and Tyson as well.

 

1.Holyfield
2.Vitali
3.Ruddock
4.Mercer
5.Golota

 

Fair list. :good

On mine only the first three are solid, everything below that can be shuffled around with justifiable arguments.

 

My take:

1. Holyfield I (established him as the top heavyweight of the era)
2. Vitally Klitschko (beat the heir to his throne, past his prime)
3. Ruddock (nobody should have been able to do that to Ruddock)
4. Tua (You have to rate the clinics alongside the demolitions)
5. Golotta (a destruction of a very dangerous contender)

 

Thing is, Lennox has a pretty amazing best 10-15 or so when you think about it. Every one from number four down has reasons you can knock it down a peg with a very critical eye but also reasons to support it being very good:

Rahman II was among the most epic revenge stories in HW boxing history, even though Rahman himself was limited and not considered a strong titlist - bonus points for method of execution; Grant was unbeaten and super hyped although in hindsight he was a dud and was coming off a nice little run from Gonzo through Golota, knocking out 5 of 6 and shutting out the one tough ******* he couldn't in Savarese...dominating and dropping him twice - again bonus points for brutality; Tua was still quite feared and had only ever lost with a modicum of controversy to Ibeabuchi - bonus points for virtual shutout even though it was a stylistic gimme for Lennox; Tyson he met a bit too late for it to be really competitive but it was still the biggest HW event in a lifetime and bonus point for knocking Tyson out cold unlike Douglas and Holyfield who scored TKOs; Golota had never been legitimately defeated and was generally accepted as having proved himself the better man in the Bowe rivalry despite technically having two DQ losses...so to savage him via KO1 was quite impressive despite him already demonstrably being a headcase; etc.


Then add in Mercer (good win despite the asterisk some claim it has :roll, McCall II (good win despite the mental breakdown and the fact that Lewis had no business losing McCall I in the first place), Mavrovic (good win despite Mavrovic not having stepped up much or hung around to do much else afterward), Akinwande (was shaping up to be a good win over an unbeaten champion despite the unsatisfying result), Morrison (good win despite Morrison's chin), and then stuff like dangerous but fragile Bruno, talented former champ Tucker, one-dimensional but powerful Briggs, brave little former cruiser titlist McCrory, always game Botha, underrated Mason....all of them mere afterthoughts on Lewis' resume but many world titlists have paved their way on such fodder, so all things being relative even his tertiary victories are if not good then at least decent.

What a ****ing career.

 

Sorry to nitpick an othwise good post but that bolded part is frankly bollocks. He was a lot more out of it when Douglas dropped him, against Lewis I think he could have beaten the count if he'd wanted to continue (admittedly not that it would have made much difference as Lewis would put him straight back down again).

 

How is beating ex-CW Holyfield and struggling with him for 24 rounds Lewis' best achievement? What has Holyfield done after losing to Lewis? Nothing.

Clearly beating a prime Vitali to pieces was Lewis best display of power, will and grit. This is his best achievement because Vitali went on to become the #1 Heavyweight after losing to Lewis. Heck Vitali has been unbeaten after losing to Lewis. Holyfield went on a decline to eventually become a journeyman after fighting Lewis.

 

This is atrocious logic.

 

I disagree. Douglas rung his bell, yes, but Tyson was attempting to get up and had the presence of mind to jam his gum shield back in (albeit backwards).

Against Lewis, he was flat on his back asleep for a moment before rolling over and making it as far as one knee lifted eleven seconds after getting dumped.

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KO punch lands - 6.5 seconds into the video.
Full-body contact with the floor - 8 seconds into the video.
Tyson rolls offf his back - 16.5 seconds in. (8 after hitting the floor)
Cotton waves it off - 18.5 seconds in, just as Tyson plants his right foot with his left knee and butt still down and posture slumped.


Sorry, but I characterize Lewis' as more of a clean knockout than Douglas' although the latter was certainly a legitimate stoppage (unless you ask the 'long count' boo-birds)

 

How is his holyfield victory(s) number 1,holyfield was very past prime and shouldn't have been too competitive with lewis, imo his best victory in the vitali fight

 

Foolish. Absolutely foolish.

Holyfield had spent the last three years in the p4p top 10 (Ring #9 in 1996, #5 in 1997 and #3 in 1998..)

He was a reigning unified champion.

He didn't really do much in '98, Vaughn Bean, ho-hum (although it doesn't quite merit being totally scoffed at. Bean wasn't a memorable defense but put up a solid effort and had fought well not long before against Moorer) - but in just the year before had twice beaten Tyson and gotten revenge on Moorer.

"Shouldn't have been competitive"? Come on, now. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

Holyfield had belts, but was he really the baddest man on the planet at the time? No, not even close. Few gave him a chance against Lewis and Lewis struggling for a total of 24 rounds with an ex-CW doesn't speak in favor of picking these as his best wins.

And what has Holyfield done after losing to Lewis? What does that tell us of the skill level the 1999 Holyfield still possessed?

 

To me it looks like he quit and then thought "well I may as well make a show of trying to get up". I thought that watching it live and I think him later quitting against Williams and then McBride somewhat reinforces my opinion.