Lewis vs Holyfield II: who really won?

Lewis didn't quite get his strategy right in either fight.

He kept it long in their first fight, where Holyfield simply couldn't compete, but when he got to the point that his dominance was so utter that he could have fought more aggressively and put away a weakened Holyfield, he was too cautious and let Evander off the hook, allowing him to go the distance.

Unless you were around at the time, you may not realise that Lewis being over cautious was criticised just as much as the dreadful judges decisions. Not just by the media and fans, but by Steward too. All that had Lewis believing that he was so physically superior he could trade with Evander and simply overwhelm him. That played into Holyfield's hands in their 2nd bout, as he put in his last great/near great performance and actually had the better of the middle third of the bout. Thankfully for Lewis, he didn't let his ego get the better of him, and had the sense to adjust to long range, cautious boxing in the final third of the fight, winning enough of those rounds to take a deserved decision.

When Lennox kept it long, Holyfield had no answer. He couldn't overcome Lewis's height and reach advantages at long range and Lennox hit too hard for Evander to walk through his shots in order to get into range. When Lewis elected to trade at mid range with a fresh Holyfield, Evander's shorter arms and greater skillset at that range gave him the advantage.

 

Decent analysis.

I couldn’t quite grasp how some people seen Lewis as a cautious fighter. When you look at his career while champion he was actually a bit of gambler at the best of times with the Ruddock, Golota, Briggs and Grant fights the real standouts of him letting his hands go and taking risks.

Against Holyfield in their first fight, cautious. Should have opened more. And not his fault Mavrovic had a good chin in his points win over him. The Mercer fight was a great slugest over 10. No hiding from Lewis that night. Against Tua he boxed more than he punched, but still let his hands go in patches to test Tua’s chin. And had Tua noticeably hurt at the start of the 10th. Rahman rematch, no complaints as he was assertive that night. Tyson fight, no complains apart from Lewis could have opened up slightly earlier. And Vitali, a decent showing considering being overweight meant his technique had eroded to go with it. Sluggish technically but just bit down and fought fire with fire.