I know it seems a ludicrous question on face value but I'm looking for more nuanced answers than "he walks him down" I think both men pose problems for each other.
There's nothing ludicrous about it. H2H Fury is a nightmare for anyone because he's so unique in his size and his movement. Still only coming into his prime as well. Fury gets up from heavy knockdowns and at his best he's impossible to beat on points. Serious question; how do you beat Tyson Fury?
He wouldn’t IMO. Fury is an all time great who could beat anyone in the world. I’d say prime Mike Tyson is the worst possible style for him.
Lewis had an epic jab. Would be a close fight. Would be one where Fury barely throws and I think Lewis would land more than Wlad could. I wouldn’t be confident either way but I’d probably bet on Lewis if I had to pick...close points. Not sure Fury would get away with his pot shotting against Lennox.
One of Lewis’ underrated traits was his ability to make things ugly when he needed to. He was also extremely patient. I don’t think Fury is impossible to out-point and indeed I believe there is a good chance of that being how Lewis would beat Fury if he doesn’t catch him with something devastating early. Fury’s punch output and accuracy against better opponents isn’t fantastic and against someone as savvy and well-rounded as Lewis, I think that would be key. He frustrates Lewis with his brilliant movement at times, but ultimately gets methodically taken apart and loses a somewhat competitive but clear decision, with his low punch output being a problem against someone who routinely landed in the hundreds rather than the tens.
I think Emmanuel Steward earns his money and makes a huge difference in this one, just like he did in Bowe v Holyfield II
By KO'ing him mid rds, Lewis was much more than a one dimensional puncher like Wilder who came within a whisker of doing it.
Lewis’s jab is far superior to fury’s! Watch the replays back and fury’s jab is like a back hand slap, I’m surprised he’s not getting told off for it
Which version of Lewis? The half-arsed version who turns up not in good shape probably leaves the door open for Fury to snatch a decision. A fullly focused LL is Top 3-5 ATG HW for me. Think he wins the battle of the jabs and will continue to land lots of huge overhand rights which he was very good at, and what Fury is still very open to when he drops his left. LL wouldnt be as gunshy as Wlad and would take it to the trenches to land it.
Prime Lewis is a weapon. Speed, power, variety, ramrod jab. He had an awesome inside game too, those hooks and uppercuts were something else. I don't think Tyson gets away with his rope-of-dope stuff. Tyson boxes well early, slightly edges the battle of the jabs due to his elusiveness. But Lewis catches him during the fight, at least once, and he was a brutal finisher.
On the rare occasions Lewis fought taller opponents, he generally adapted well. While it was a horrible fight to watch, he completely neutralised Akinwande's usually effective jab and grab style and outmuscled him up close. He quickly timed Michael Grant's rushes and destroyed him in a couple of rounds. Vitali bucks the trend somewhat as Lewis clearly had problems dealing with his range, and struggled to get his footwork together. If you're drawing positives though, he prevailed against probably the best 6'7''+ heavyweight in history, and again dragged the taller man into the trenches and found a way to win. Lewis was physically very strong, and while he wasn't always an effective in-fighter he was more than capable of bending the rules and roughing the other guy up when he needed to. His money shot (overhand right) is also the punch that Fury has been most vulnerable to. Fury would struggle to hurt Lewis, which would give Lewis freedom to march forward and close the distance. On the plus side for Fury, he is a stylistic nightmare for most heavyweights, and is able to win rounds while minimising exchanges. The rounds could tick by without much happening while Lewis finds a way to figure him out. He also has exceptional recovery, and is very composed when hurt. He's not going to fold mentally like Akinwande did for example. It may well turn out something like the Klitschko fight, where Lewis has a lot of problems early on and has to switch to meathead mode to disrupt Fury's rhythm. Unlike Wlad, Lewis would let his punches go and turn it into a dog-fight, and start getting to Fury by the mid-way point. Fury would probably last the distance (maybe with a knockdown or two), but Lewis does enough down the stretch to get the decision.
I think Lewis is overrated. He was great against big slow guys who stood in front of him and he was good enough to use his size and IQ to beat the smaller ones like Holyfield (who was past his best by over 5 years anyway). But Fury is neither slow and static or smaller. Lewis would have real problems dealing with Fury. If Ray Mercer can give a prime Lewis hell and even Zelkjo Mavrovic gave him a run for his money ...... Fury's probably going to befuddle him to a large extent. Lewis is still at this point the more proven of the two, so I'd figure it a 50-50 at this point.
