Nobody is arguing that Usyk has a better resume. Although that list of "title holders" is mostly former title holders and old men, barely any reigning champs, excluding the ones who got there by chinning him. Some of those guys were title holders before Tyson! Weaver held a title before Ali retired! Usyk doesn't need to one punch Lennox (although you never know, McCall had a 50% knockout rate and chinned him) as his boxing skills are vastly superior, and he's a southpaw. Lennox was outboxed by Mercer, and was being outboxed by Bruno prior to the stoppage. Watch Lennox vs Mercer or Lennox vs Bruno and tell me honestly that you think he would beat prime Usyk.
Watch prime Usyk barely beat Briedis and get back to me. What a joke. This guy beats Joshua and all of a sudden he's GREATER than Lewis? Does Andy Ruiz beat Lewis, too? Is Andy Ruiz GREATER than Lewis?
Based on what? Usyk beating an already mentally broken Joshua? I think you may have missed my deeper point. That being your dislike of Lewis shades your thinking as much as a fanboy does just in the opposite direction.
Nothing controversial about Lewis hitting Vitali with a legal right hand, and cutting his face to smithereens winning a legitimate TKO. What's controversial about the Golota win ? yes i've heard the stories about Golota prior to the fight. But what has that got to do with Lewis ? he went out there and done his job and steamrolled Golota, there isn't anything controversial about that win. "Old man Holyfield" who was the WBA and IBF world champion, and had been champion for 3 years with some of his best performances over Tyson, Moorer 2. Actually 2 judges had the Bruno/Lewis fight dead level, the punchstats were also even before Lewis's rally in 7th round. The fight was competitive and close, and Lewis didn't need to outbox Bruno he flat out stopped him.
Yes, those Ali/Holmes era boxers stood no chance against the great Lennox Lewis. Mike Weaver, Tony Tucker and Fireman Jim Flynn better think twice before fighting him again, especially now that Weaver is legally a senior citizen
You know who else was the unified and IBF champion shortly before that? 45 year old George Foreman. He got robbed blind at age 47 by another one of Lennox Lewis' greatest prime wins, Shannon Briggs. Yes, Golota was poisoned, but Lennox did his job, I see nothing wrong with this.
TONY TUCKER? How was Tony Tucker an Ali-era heavyweight? He turned pro around the time Ali was fighting Berbick. Does that make him ALI ERA? When Lewis fought Tucker, Tucker was 34 years old, 48-1, a former heavyweight champion and the #1 contender. Seriously, get your head out of your ass. When Usyk fights a 48-1 former heavyweight champion, let me know. The journeyman nephews of heavyweight champions don't count. You're bashing Lewis for fighting Tucker. Usyk fought CHAZZ Witherspoon, for Christ's sake. Usyk definitely is greater than Lewis at beating the RELATIVES of famous heavyweights.
Lets be real regarding Big George after his win over Moorer, he hand picked alot of opponents to keep hold of his belt Savarese, Schulz, Grimsley, are not exactly real stand out fighters from that era. I think they personally gifted Briggs the win, because Foreman probably would never unify vs Lewis. People like to throw around "Holyfield was shot and old" vs Lewis. And whilst i agree he wasn't at his peak, but you have to take into account Holyfield was the champion for 3 years. And during this period had some of his best performances over Tyson and Moorer 2.
I was referring to Weaver as the Ali era heavyweight, not Tucker. I am surprised Tucker was only 34, though. I thought he would be at least 57.
LL had a lot of HW fights to pick the bones out of - there's gonna be some off-night performances. Usyk has FOUR (well three and an exhibition bout) HW fights to mull over, and his prime was at CW. So Lewis' record is made up of 'mostly former title holders and old men'? Well, 50% of Usyk's HW record is made up of journeymen. It's easy to repackage résumés to promote a narrative. 'Outboxed' is a lazy word - break down exactly how Mercer was outboxing him? Or do you mean it was a close fight which some people think Mercer won? True, Bruno was winning the battle of the jabs, so I'll concede 'outboxing' in that case - but he was stopped so it's immaterial. And why would watching two of LL's less impressive performances accurately inform us about anything? Surely it would be better to look at his two fights with a former CW in Holyfield? Especially considering people hold up Usyk and Holyfield as the best two CWs historically. The point about southpaws is valid, and the basis of the strongest case to be made in favour of Usyk winning this one...
There's a lot I disagree with you on here. 1. During Lennox's career, all of Usyk's opponents would have been HWs, as the cruiser limit was at 190. Therefore we can analyze Usyk's cruiser weight career. (In reality, most of those guys were 210-215 anyway, weight cutting is very different in the 21st century) 2. Mercer won at least 5 rounds and was unfortunate to lose the decision, especially as I had him winning 7. He was generally outskilling Lennox and showing Lennox's poor defense vs jabs. Did you know Mercer landed the majority of the jabs he threw? 3. His weaker performances show his weaknesses rather than his strengths. Ie, what is Lennox weak to? Against Mercer and Bruno, he was weak to the jab. 4. Holyfield is nothing like Usyk. Usyk is taller and prefers to fight on the outside until he can catch his opponent at an angle and begin throwing his combos, complete with much superior headwork.