Is Mike Tyson greater than Lennox Lewis on the all time greatest heavyweight ranking?

It’s a fair question. Lewis had a late peak which enabled him to exit more gracefully and in better standing. However I always felt Tyson was more dominating at his best. Tyson collected all three belts and then dominated the previous dominant champ and then crushed the lineal champ in 1. He was pretty special. Post prison Tyson was a sham and a ghost.

 

You could argue it either way to be honest.

 

For me he is, yeah. I have Tyson around number 9 and Lewis just outside top 10.

 

They are about even but Lewis gets credit for beating his conquerors in rematches and also for beating Tyson himself.

 

Lewis beating Tyson to me is about as impressive as Marciano beating Joe Louis. It would have meant a lot at a different time but didn't mean that much when it happened.

 

And Tyson was way more washed in comparison to Louis..........they put him on meds to reduce the risk of him bailing out of the fight, he was gone beyond gone..........I disagree with Teddy Atlas with about everything except one Quote " That man dont wanna fight anymore "

 

I personally rate Lewis 3-4 alongside of Holmes and Tyson 7-9 alongside Frazier and Holyfield. I wouldn’t argue strenuously haveing either guy above the other even though I currently rate Lewis Higher (currently I am revising my ratings and system).

I would pick prime Tyson to beat Lewis but H2H hypotheticals don’t factor into my rankings.

 

No, he isn't. He had a unique reign of phenomenal terror and beat some good competition, along the way, but it came to an abrupt halt, after a relatively brief period. Some people rank him highly on the basis of that first stage of his career, which is fair enough, to an extent. But, so is tempering his rating, due to what followed his loss to Douglas.

 

I have a hard time placing Lewis above Tyson because like it or not, Lewis was knocked out twice,,,,, in his prime, once can be seen as a fluke . But it happened to him twice. Sure he got revenge, but looking at the competition that ko-ed him should that had happened at all? Tyson's prime was pretty much a trail of udder destruction, and some were better fighters than the ones that Ko-ed Lewis. Head to Head, I'd pick Tyson to Ko Lewis Within 8rds prime vs prime.

 

Lewis would beat Tyson 99 times out of a hundred. The wrong style for Tyson and a HARD right hand.
However, on that 100th fight, Lewis gets lazy and Tyson waxes him. Lewis wins on the rematch though as always.

 

I've got Lewis at 3 and Tyson at 10 .But I've got 1988 Tyson beating Lewis of 1992.

 

Tyson to me is higher. He was smaller fighting bigger guys, Lennox outweighed most and was just bigger so he had the advantage. I put Mike top 5 or near it, and Lennox near top 10

 

Mostly this.



My List:

1 Ali
2 Louis
3 Lewis, Foreman

5 Marciano, Holmes

6 Tyson, Frazier, Liston



10 Wlad


(Based about 2/3 on resume and 1/3 on how they looked in the ring)

Tyson's notable wins:

Berbick
Spinks
Tucker
Thomas
Ruddock


Lewis' notable wins:

Klitschko
Holyfield
Tua
Morrison
Briggs



I see Lewis as having the better resume overall with no unavenged defeats. I would also slightly favour Lewis over Tyson, both at their best.

Tyson was undoubtedly more exciting in his heyday, but Lennox was more tested and passed the tests to a greater degree.

 

Lewis comfortably ahead for me. I have Lewis #3 and Tyson somewhere between #7 - #10. The differences between 3 and 10 aren't vast tho.