A top jab, a top chin, and a height advantage = tough to beat at HWY

Vitali fits the bill for the size department and jab so for his size advantage and solid chin he comes to mind

 

Lewis chin got away with it due to his superior boxing skills, defensive skills and ofcourse his size, height and reach. Like i said, someone who has gone down by one big shot to the face twice, won't be betting a dime on his chin.

The excuses that oh he had not trained properly, he didn't take the fight seriously, he was careless are rubbish. History is full of fighters who have taken big shots to the face in bad conditioning, some of these punches were punches they could not see coming but they still either stayed on their feat and even if they got knocked out, they quickly got back up in no time.

 

A few comments...

Lewis had a very good chin but he had a real problem with getting hit by clean shots at the wrong distance. He was lazy with his guard and not great at anticipating distance. Getting hit in the face is not just as simple as that. You get hit in the face in someone's wheelhouse rather than at the end of their punches or while you are moving with the punch are drastically different events. Lewis would hang in guys' wheelhouses with his guard down or on the ropes. It cost him twice but there were many times he just ate the shot and continued.

Further to that point, he faced the greatest collection of powerpunchers any heavyweight has faced, with Ali being the only guy being in the question with him.

 

Granted he faced a lot of power punchers but were they world class power punchers and boxers in terms of did they pace themselves well, did they have superior finishing skills, good at getting inside of a top class tall opponent, did they have good chins?

Also being hit in the face depends on where you get hit, i.e. nose, jaw, head. I believe the nose, jaw and chin are the most sensitive parts.

To be honest, the only real power puncher that really challenged Lewis was Bruno but Bruno dominated him with his jab before he gassed himself out and his **** chin failed him.

 

If they were all the above they would have been him.

It's also getting hit by the shot you don't see or anticipate. Lewis seemed a bit lazy or spacially off... he got too relaxed while still in range.

Ruddock, Grant and Briggs tried to take his head off...

 

His chin wasn't as good as Tyson's, but nobody gets to be the world heavyweight champion for any length of time with asubstandard chin. And if you watch the Vitali, Mercer, Tua, or Brigs fight, you can see him getting his squarely in the face so yes he could take a punch. Against Vitali in the 6th round, and against Briggs he was actually walking these guy down, and letting them hit him. Not the best strategy, but it's not the actions of someone who can't take a punch either.

 

Did the cut change the power Vitali had in his punches, cause if not, what are you babbling about?

Are you saying Vitali won most of the rounds without throwing and landing punches, if not, what are you babbling about?

Honestly Mendoza, I something think I'm discussing boxing with a child when I read your silly posts.

Say what you want about the Tua fight, (and yes Tua did hit him with some good left hooks early in the fight), Vitali definitely hit Lewis during that 6 round fight, maybe not as hard and Lewis hit him, but it certainly tested his chin.

 

Lewis got to the top because of his superior boxing skills. I have seen plenty of Lewis fights and i have not seen anyone put sustained pressure on him barring Vitali.

I doubt whether Lewis could take ruthless combinations to the face. One punch in most cases he took well. You must also remember he was such a tall, rangy fighter and had a decent inside game and his jab, weight, it was not easy to get inside him number 1, second even when you did, doing what one needs to do is not easy either.

I watched the Tua fight and i am sorry but Tua did nothing in that fight, Lewis was smart enough to be wary of his left hook and in most championship fights it is absurd to put all one's hopes in just one big punch.

That being said, because Lewis has lost twice in his career to single shots to the face, it is not unreasonable to claim it is possible to end a fight against him with one punch or with a sustained finishing job.

 

Danny Williams has faced both Vitali and Tyson. In the Tyson match Tyson was only effective for like the first 2 minutes in the first round before he did his knee while Vitali knocked Williams down 3 times. But Williams in interviews has claimed that he had never ever been hit as hard before in his career and life compared to how hard Tyson was hitting him in those first few minutes and that Vitali's punching power was nothing in comparison.

 

Well it appears that you've never watched the Mercer fight he put plenty of pressure on him.

 

Holmes schooled a 30 year old prime Mercer without getting a semblence of any cuts or injuries in return, honestly speaking a Prime Lewis should have done much better against a 36 year old past it Mercer.