Holyfield was a more consistent fighter. He operated on a high level all the time, when he was in against somebody you knew it would be a FIGHT. Lewis was better at his best. He also turned in some crappy performances. COULD Holyfield beat Lewis? Yes I believe so. Where we disagree is on the probabilities. I feel Lewis has to have a bad night to lose against Holy.
Tbh I don't know if I'd call Briggs a bad performance, he got clipped at the end of the first then pretty much dominated. Mercer was a fight that was very close, I think Mercer caused more of those issues than Lewis tho. Bruno was an underdeveloped Lewis, it wasn't the finished product. The Lewis with Manny was obviously much better.
Maybe or maybe Bruno just had the right style to cause Lewis a heap of trouble no matter whenever they met? Some matchups are just like that.
But Lewis was stopped by McCall in 1994, losing his belt, then regaining it, then got kayoed by Hasim Rahman, in 2001, then regained it. Good fighter, but his chin has failed him before, Foreman hits harder. Lennox is a bigger version of Floyd Patterson, in that respect.
But Holyfield was severely rocked by Bert Cooper, pummelled by Bowe and stopped, outboxed and sent to hospital by Moorer, beaten twice by Lewis, lost to Byrd, got stopped by Toney, lost to Donald, lost to Ibragimov, lost to Valuev ... jfc, he even lost to John Ruiz If you're comparing Lewis to Holyfield, Holyfield is a better version of Eric Crumble.
I don’t think foreman could keep taking lewis right hands throughout a fight however good his chin was. I can’t see old George landing much
The voice of sanity. Foreman might land his jab fairly often, and it was a nasty punch. But Lewis would do most of the punishing, that I am completely certain of.
I agree with your posts, but getting clean kayoed makes me wonder if Lewis did have a jaw made of chandelier, Oliver McCall, Hasim Rahman are not in the caliber of Riddick Bowe and Bert Cooper, as far as punching power goes. Rahman seized the moment, McCall,as well, but both exposed a weakness, so did Vitali, before he was stopped on cuts. Klitchko rocked Lewis several times. Lewis was good, but his chain did have a weak link.
