Lewis is the more rounded boxer, with a broader and more practiced armory. He also liked to go at the bigger targets and waste little time. Wlad isn't controlling Lewis, at any point, in any shape or form. He is going to have to get the better of Lewis in a firefight, which I can't see happening. Lewis W KO3 (or sooner).
Lennox by early KO. I think Lewis will come out aggressively.He is too strong mentally for Wlad and he is tougher with the better chin.
Rahman II version KOes Wlad imo Tua version who handles the fight wins for decision. A raging Lewis is unstoppable (see with Bruno, Morrison, Rahman II, Briggs and others ).
Wlad by KO in an unpopular view on this forum. Wlad had straighter punches, and better footwork than Lewis. Lewis was susceptible to right hands Wlad’s best punch, (Rahman, McCall, and even in wins like Bruno where he got tagged repeatedly) while Wlad was more susceptible to left hooks not Lewis’s best punch. Wlad also excelled against large men 6’5 and fought more of them in his career. Lewis couldn’t figure out the range against Vitali albeit past prime when they fought. Wlad hits him with the shots his brother did the fights over quickly. Wlad made double the number of title defenses Lewis did and performed better against common opponents as well. Although that is a little misleading as Rahman, Mercer were older when Wlad dominated them. Style wise I see this as a bad matchup for Lewis. Most people prefer Lewis because he was more exciting and fought during a popular era but based on attributes this is not an optimal opponent for him. Wlad’s prime and pre prime losses were to Purrity a granite chinned aggressive fighter where Wlad gassed out. To Sanders a southpaw nobody wanted to fight that was extremely aggressive and a super aggressive Brewster where Wlad again gassed out. Lewis’s doesn’t fit that mold he doesn’t have the chin or stamina to fight like those guys did. Wlad knocks Lewis out in a high tension chess match around the 5th round.
This. The guy who fought Rahman 1 would get stopped. The guy who fought Rahman 2 would at least decision Wlad.
Lewis by KO. Wlads jab and grab when in doubt wouldn't work when Lewis could bring in the uppercut. Lewis had more offensive weapons, hit harder for me. He just had a bit more dog in him. They are very evenly matched but i'd favor Lewis just based on a better list of victims.
A KO is always possible, but the least likley result in favor of Wlad. Lewis was only stopped by genuine haymakers and both were punches he didn't anticipate/see coming. Against McCall, he got up to continue, but was denied by the referee. The second loss was a Hail Mary shot against a undertrained, unprepared and complacent Lewis, that would have flattened almost any heavyweight in history. I don't think there's a significant difference between either of these facets. I would actually disagree that Wlad has better footwork. But, either way, what about speed and accuracy? Lewis was notably faster than Wlad and had a great strike rate against a better quality of opponent. Lewis was only ever caught by one fight-ending straight right, in a match he wasn't prepared for. Wlad wound up his right and, to some extent, sent a telegraph before he threw it, which his more sluggish opposition were unable to act on to avoid it landing. A prime and properly prepared Lewis would be expecting the right from Wlad and he's unlikely to be caught by it. The Lewis left is underrated. See the very same match you cite (Bruno), as well as Morrison. It carried more than enough venom to end Wlad. Lewis also used his left with versatility and it was integral to Lewis setting up and landing his right hand punches. See above. It's unlikely Wlad hits a prime Lewis with those kinds of shots and, to be honest, I'm not sure they end the fight, even if he does. This is irrelevant to who would win a head-to-head. Bringing up common opponents is, quite frankly, scraping the barrel for talking points. Even then, Lewis/Rahman II looks much better than Wlad/Rahman. You're not providing any technical reasoning here - just some mild critique of the people preferring Lewis. Ironically, it's the dynamism of Lewis (who was initially criticized for being risk averse, until Wlad came along to demonstrate what being risk averse really meant) that would cause Wlad all sorts of problems. Just about any fighter that went at Wlad had him in some kind of trouble or beat him. In what way is Wlad a bad style match-up for Lewis? Purrity was not rated Sanders was not rated (Wlad was the only ranked fighter he ever beat) Brewster was not rated No chess match required. Wlad folds under pressure, which Lewis would bring in ways Wlad never saw in his 'long' career. His spiked anxiety levels, when under attack, are unparalleled in Heavyweight Boxing history. Lewis KO (inside 3 rounds)
Come on, Lewis is much more skilled than these. Wlad lost to more skilled big men in Joshua, Fury and Sanders.However, Lewis did well against big men by beating Vitali, Akinwande and Grant. I find it very strange you see an edge for Wlad there
