I think if you were able to put every heavyweight champ on a lie detector with truth serum and ask them to name the one guy they’d least like to fight (presuming they were all able to see a catalogue of all the other heavyweights, so guys from the past would be familiar with him), Lennox and George Foreman probably get the most votes. What that means, I don’t know. It’s speculative, but he’s a H2H matchup nightmare even though he did have that Achilles heel for right hands.
The greatest British champion for sure, I think he is just a little overrated, but not as much as Holmes, and he has grown on me over time, if I made a top list right now I would probably put him right before or after Liston
Over-rated, to say the least. & that in no way precludes him from greatness, but man, do people go overboard. Looking at what’s come since him, maybe that’s understandable.
I would say Jimmy Wilde was a greater British champ, as was Bob Fitzsimmons if you count him as British. I don't even think Lennox was the best post-war British champ since I believe that honour should go to Ken Buchanan, though I am biased and rate him higher than most. Agree about him being overrated though, still top 10 or maybe just outside it but not top 5 imo.
I know that many people will not agree, but I got to know his career and his fights very well and I know that today Lewis is very overrated. He wasn't as good as people think. In his best period, he couldn't convincingly defeat Ray Mercer or the rematch with Evander Holyfield, he also had huge problems with Vitali Klitschko and it must be admitted that it was more about his luck than his skills. Defeats to McCall and Rahman also tarnish his legacy. The better you know his career, the lower you will classify him, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a great player. But is it the best in the UK? HW thinks so, although AJ and Fury are still fighting so it's not certain. Lewis managed his career brilliantly and today he has the best PR of all known former champions.
