Before I start I want to say that Lewis as a boxer is one of the most well rounded Heavyweights of all time... This thread is mainly about his achievements. His achievements against the 3 biggest fighters of his era didn't particularly count for much as Tyson was way past his prime when Lewis fought him, Holyfield was also past his prime and the Bowe fight never materialised... He also fought a future champion of the next era (Vitali) which he was losing to before the fight was stopped. Lewis has a good resume but the fighters that were the elites of that time were either past their prime or unavailable to fight.
Been saying this for years. Lennox Lewis is the only top HW ATG to have been taken out in the early rounds, not once but TWICE, against second-tier fighters like McCall and Rahman. He's not even the top rated HW of his era, let alone top five like some say. Fought Holyfield and Tyson when they were WAY past their best. Never fought Bowe either. Borderline top ten at best. Holyfield CERTAINLY, and arguably Tyson, should be ranked higher.
He can be reproached for not having the chin of McCall or Alis footwork and for his tendence to handle his opponents more than attack and finish them early. For the rest hes got all. Top ten for sure.
He got Holyfield and Tyson in the ring when he could, and it doesn't matter that he "was losing" against Vitali. He won. Plus he beat a lot of hard-punchbag young guys like Mason, Golota, Tua, Grant, Bruno, Briggs, Ruddock. Rahmen, McCall, Mercer, Morrison, etc. He also scared Bowe into throwing a belt in the trash rather than going through with an agreed fight. First tier ATG. POST SCRIPT: The ages of Tyson and Holyfield are already factored into public perceptions of his greatness. Their ages are not a secret or anything.
The version of Mike Tyson that Lennox Lewis fought had absolutely nothing left. That win doesn't really count much at all. Why did the fight take so long to happen? I don't know the answer to that unfortunately. As for Lennox Lewis and his victory over Vitali Klitschko... that is exactly what it was, a victory. Lennox busted his face up and the fight was stopped because of that. Clean, hard punching ruined the face of Klitschko and left his eye looking like a dogs dinner. What reputable referee or ring doctor would let that fight go on? None whatsoever. That was a great victory for Lennox Lewis. Nevertheless, Lennox Lewis is still an ATG and a legend in the game!
I know your views before you even post. Because we all know what they are based on. What a boxers face looks like after a fight does not tell the full story of the fight you fool. If I was to list the amount of times the victor looked worse than the loser facially in boxing I'd be here a long time. .It goes without saying that some fighters mark up worse than others. If that cut had been caused by a a headbutt that would have been a legimitate victory for Vitali because he was winning the fight. Vitali Klitschko was clearly the dominant , better fighter, ahead on all three judges scorecards 58-56. And the fight was stopped on a CUT!. That's no legitimate victory for Lewis. And Lewis bitched out of a rematch. And yes he is overrated
No doubt the 2 most recognisable names on his resume in Holyfield and Tyson were past their best. But he could only fight those who were willing to fight him. Bowe threw the belt in the trash rather than fight him. Tyson paid step aside money to delay the fight and then vacated the WBC belt so he didn't have to face him, though obviously that was King's doing. Holyfield himself said he benefited from Bowe and Tyson avoiding Lewis as he got those fights instead and built his legacy on those wins, while Lewis was denied these opportunities. Holyfield too delayed the fight over money. He could of fought Lewis a year earlier but he changed his purse demands, so again Lewis denied fighting a slightly younger Holyfield. So it was never a case of Lewis not wanting the fights. He was a great champion and since his retirement more people have realised that and his standing in general has improved over time.
His achievements are probably overrated, so I can't undertsand people who rank him among top 3 greatest heavyweights of all time. I mean, Holyfield was past his prime, Tyson was shot and he was losing to Vitali on points before stopping him on cuts and Vitali isn't ranked among top 15 greatest heavyweights anyway. But Lewis: 1) had longevity; 2) was extremely dominant against some not great but good and very good heavyweights like Golota, Tua, Ruddock, Morrison, Briggs etc. Yes, he was KO'ed by McCall and Rahman, but in the rematches he dominated them. These two losses, of course, hurt his legacy, but I think it's better to have a lot of good wins and few setbacks than one or to losses to a great boxer and awful resume in wins column. We can compare guys like Hasim Rahman and Zeljko Mavrovic. Rahman had a lot of crushing defeats, some of them were absulutely brutal (Maskaev, Lewis). He was upset by the huge underdogs (Maskaev) and old fighters (Holyfield) and had a lot of losses in his career. However, he also KO'ed Lewis, stopped Sanders, beat some decent top 20 fighters like Barrett and Meehan. Mavrovic had just 1 loss to a great fighter, points loss, and he even was remotedly cometetive in that fight. But his best win was Julius Francis. And Rahman, despite having a lot of crushing defeats, is ranked much higher than Mavrovic by everybody. Because he has much better resume in wins column. So losses, of course, hurt but if you have a lot of good wins they doesn't hurt your standings that much.
Lewis does tend to get overrated imo. He peaked late, and was in his prime for his bouts with Holyfield and Tyson. Tyson was shot, and Holyfield was clearly past his best and was running hot and cold by the time they fought. He also was a super heavy before the division fully caught up to him having a big advantage when he fought. Having said all that, he had elite power and good finishing skills. Some of his fights were strange but through no fault of his own. MCCall, and Golota come to mind. Top 10 yes. But 3rd best as some mention no, didn’t dominate long enough for me.
