Where Do You Guys Rank Lennox Lewis?

Bottom line - Vitali had his chance and blew it. He wasn't good enough to get the job done.

 

IMO Lennox is a lock for top 5 ranked on

h2h/achievements/longevity/impact on overall sports (not just boxing)

His h2h and achievements rankings are very high. Longevity slightly above average (compared to other champions). Impact on overall sports on the lower end.

 

But Lewis has been in many more wars than Wlad, fought bigger punchers than Wlad has and had lost a lot of his motivation after finally beating Tyson. Chronologically Lewis might have been younger than Wlad is now when he walked but he was an older fighter and more worn down by 37 than Wlad is at 38.

 

Lewis had a close fight in a very small ring that could have gone either way with a prime-Ray Mercer. Mercer quit boxing in 1999 after a neck injury and contracting Hepatitus B, made a comeback in 2001 and had four fights against Bums and Journeymen when he was thrown in against Wlad. There is no doubt whatsoever about who fought the better version of Ray Mercer.

 

Lewis was most definitely an all time top 10 HW fighter, he would have probably gone down as the greatest of all time if it wasn't for his losses and that was down to Lewis taking his eye off the ball and not doing what an Ali or Louis would do, and take all your opposition as if they'd come to steal your woman of you. That was Lewis's biggest underachievement, his inability to stay fully focused against all the competition, but that aside I rate him in the top 5 HW of all time, above both Tyson and Holyfield.

 

Larry Holmes??
And although Tyson burnt out in 3/4 years, at his best he'd have smashed Lewis all over the shop.

 

#3rd all time. Behind Ali & Louis.

 

#3 HW of all time, behind Ali and Louis, H2H he's beats everyone except Ali

 

Good to see you damian mate, still here ey?

 

top five because he had all the tools, but not top three because he lacked that level of concentration and commitment at times that Louis, Holmes and Ali almost were never without.

 

I still post from time to time, you have a new account now?

 

When did he beat the best of the 80's and 90's fighters?

 

:good

 

It's all subjective of course, but I rate guys based on their skills, who they fought and when, what they accomplished, under what circumstances, and what I believe would have happened had they fought greats from other eras.

I personally can't put Lennox above those three guys.

What do you mean, when you say that those three guys didn't have to face a truly global field of competitors from a generation of bigger HW's?

Lennox only faced a handful of guys that were bigger than him, and only one of those guys was a very good/great fighter.

Tyson and Holyfield are up there with his biggest wins, and they were smaller and past their best.

 

He did speak of having another two or three fights though, before he fought Vitali.

But in his retirement statement, he said that he'd lost all motivation and desire.

So whatever you think of the outcome with Vitali, he struggled, and it obviously had a bearing on his decision.

Everybody wanted to see a rematch, and IMHO, Lennox didn't fancy one.

I also believe that had he have beaten Vitali without two much trouble, we would have seen him in the ring again.