1999 Ike Ibeabuchi vs. 1991 Ray Mercer

He looked tired and breathing heavily for most of the fight though. He probably would have thrown more leather had he been in better shape, and nick some of the rounds he failed to win.

 

-Not his most impressive from a strategic point of view, but a great example of his than underrated toughness and prose. I personally think the more mature Lewis of the Tua and Holyfield fights could have won by a wider margin on the cards.

-Because I had no idea you meant 95/96.

_No way Holyfield fight should have gone to him. Especially with the 10/8 round.

 

He threw 39 more punches against Holyfield. Thats about four more punches per round. The Lewis fight as I said was in a small ring and grappling with a 250 pound man was probably pretty tiring for Ray. It would be interesting to get his take on it though.

 

One thing for sure is that nobody's getting KOed in this fight.

 

Well, he didn't throw enough punches against Holyfield either - he lost.
But I can't fault his fitness there.
He looked a bit fat against Lewis. It tend to think carrying less fat would have benefitted him, whatever was tiring him out.
It's just a simplistic observation on my part, though.

 

One thing for sure it was a hell of a fight. I was there that night in the Garden. Best place to see a fight.

 

:good
What was your impression when the final bell rang ?
Did you feel at the time that Lewis had done enough ?

 

The fight was very close and I felt Lewis, if anything really showed he could gut out a tough fight win or lose and he probably deserved the razor decision. I wasnt a fan of Lewis at that time, but he really impressed me that night. I kind of lost a little respect for him after I flew home and reviewed the fight on tape and listened to the corner commentary, because Lewis was complaining like a ***** to Steward about Ray kicking his ass. He finally responded midfight and fought back like he should have.

The crowd didnt think Lewis won. They booed him from the decision all the way back to his dressing room.