I reckon Shavers's punch was harder. But Lewis couldn't see McCall counter right hand coming and it caught him straight in the face and I think in the nose if I'm not mistaken. But although wobbly, IMO Lewis was hurt more by Rahman's punch than McCall's. He got up after McCall hit him, but he was dizzy and McCall would of most likely finished him. There has always been a lot of debate regarding the cross/right counter vs the hook. IMO if we tested that on boxers, I reckon most would hit harder with a cross than a hook, however I reckon the hook can do more damage in the sense of taking out your opponent (if it lands on the right part of the chin of course), cause it will make the head snap like I mentioned.
Although I do give Shavers a chance to knockout Lewis (although not the chance Lewis has of knocking out Shavers), I do understand this ig. It is quite likely he would floor Lewis but not finish him, since he would always let a fellow go after he floored him. I just don't think Lewis could take anywhere near the kinds of punches Shavers, Rahman, and McCall could throw.
Lennox Lewis had a pretty strong chin at least in fights where he was focused. He took big shots from Ray Mercer, Holyfield Briggs and even David Tua caught him clean a couple of times with his hook. He stood up.
Yes, he took cumulative beatings from those guys, but not any single punches that would cause serious damage on their own.
Ask Tex Cobb his opinion LOL If anyone should know its him. He said" Every punch Earnie threw shook him to his heels " When he came back to the corner they said " Dont worry Tex he aint hurting ya" Tex said " Well you'd better watch that godamn ref then coz somebody is " lol
You may want to watch some of those fights again Will. War and nasty couldn't be further from the truth per Shavers 1, quite the opposite actually. Berbick was awkward but hardly nasty and it definitely wasn't a war. Personally i wouldn't even include Cooney as Holmes dragged im into deep water and drowned him quite convincingly for most. Perhaps the only minute Snipes won was the knockdown. But i agree "nasty" definitely fits there mate as Holmes was badly hurt at that time. A big part of the reason Lewis didn't have to get into as many wars as a guy like Holmes is because he hit so much harder and got so many guys out of there. They also had to show a degree of restraint as he hit so damn hard. Tyson was the same. He pole axed guys like Berbick, Spinks and Williams in the blink of an eye and had Smith so busy hugging he rarely punched. Lewis lost two fights and won 41. If he won 41 fights without too many "wars" that's a good thing.
Most of the talk is the dangers of Shavers but the real story is what Lewis brings to the table. Earnie wouldn't be hanging around as long as he did against Holmes and Ali and one can't do much damage once the fight is over. Lewis brings so much kryptonite into a Shavers match.
Ahhh, but good sir, you know in boxing, that nothing is ever that simple.. Where do you rate Mr McCall and Mr Rahman on your list?? Such is the unpredictable pattern of life in the squared ring.
Yes, but you have to go with the heavy favourite in a one-off bout. If they were to contest 100 bouts, I can't see Shavers winning 5.
