Who rates higher as a all time heavyweight Larry Holmes or Lennox Lewis?

My take as well. And not that it applies to the pros but Lewis did win a gold medal in the Olympics

 

I say Lewis, both have dominated the category for years, Holmes has better numbers in terms of victories with the world title on the line but Lennox has defeated better opponents than those defeated by Holmes (Holyfield and Klitschko mainly).

 

It just occurred to me that both men were tragically misnamed.

"Larry Lewis" and "Lennox Holmes" both sound much more cohesive.

 

My top 3 all time Heavyweight list is currently:
1. Joe Louis
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Lennox Lewis
So, it is Lennox for me.

 

GREAT analysis--best I've seen on this thread!

I wonder if Lewis could've taken the kind of shot Holmes did against Earnie Shavers and be able to bounce back. Honestly, I'm not so sure.

Holmes had great technical skills AND a stout chin--which is why I also will give him the edge over Lennox.

 

I honestly don't think Holmes was all that much tougher than Lewis. In fact Lewis might be the tougher of the two, Holmes got swatted down like a fly by a right hand from Snipes and got rocked out of his mind by Witherspoon. Lewis took clean shots by Tua and Tyson at times without flinching and had wars with guys like Mercer and Vitali where his chin held up.

Lewis' issue is he is pretty much done if he gets hurt even once. Holmes can get his head punched off and his body would still keep fighting.

 

Lewis waded through the greatest collection of power-punching (roided?) heavyweights ever assembled on one resume. His tall man fundamentals were solid, his strength and pop were exceptional, his heart was full tilt. He knew how to negative fight and he knew when to open up and go for broke. Very occasionally he could be his own worst enemy, losing focus, getting too complacent. But in the end he beat every man he faced. And he faced an incredibly dangerous lot.

For me he sneaks just in from of Holmes.

 

I am good thanks Mike,hope all is well with you

 

You forgot how Lewis was one shotted by McCall and Rahman, huh? Forgot how he was "rocked out of his mind" by Briggs? Holmes, besides Snipes and Shavers, took a lot of shots from hard punchers too and stayed afloat. He took a lot of clean right hands from McCall that killed Lewis and didn't go down. I would say they had a similar level of toughness, with Holmes winning by a hair.

 

Yeah, because he got hurt and couldn't recover. Holmes would also get hurt but he would recover.

Lewis didn't get as rocked as Holmes was against Witherspoon, and Shannon hits a lot harder than Tim.

So did Lewis against pretty arguably harder punchers.

He never really got caught as clean and McCall gave Holmes the most facial damage in his career, he got horrific cuts and got bruised up pretty bad.

I do agree that it's similar, for me Lewis has a slight edge in pure toughness but Holmes' recovery makes him about 20 times harder to put down.

 

I rank Holmes higher.
Holmes had one of the longest reign of the history and showed formidable consistancy.
He was competitive with the best even during his forties.
Lewis may have better "names" in his resume but context is important and he rarely beat a great fighter in his prime.
It's also worth noting that Holmes had a greater variety of opponents (punchers, technicians, awkward and pressure fighters).

 

This is a fantastic post, DMT!

 

Wait-...you think I'm a troll?

 

Holmes was more consistent and took the game as highly professionally as anyone ever.

Lennox beats him head to head 9 out of 10 IMO

 

Holmes got off the Deck against Shavers and Snipes to win both fights. Lewis couldn't get off the mat to beat McCall or Rahman. Not too mention 19 title defenses to 9. The Answer here is the Easton Assassin.