Lewis took Vitali's punches without going down, which superheavyweight who could punch did Frazier survive? Neither Ramos,Bonavena,or Quarry, were in the same league as Lewis for power.
It is a rational opinion. I doubt many could argue Against it with any real strength. Quarry and Bonavena were as dangerous as Rahman and McCall. Why not?
Frazier would be the sizable underdog, lets not make out Lewis only has a punchers chance. There's every chance Lewis takes a better shot than Frazier and he certainly hits harder. Size? I'm talking size backed up by ability. Until recent history huge men that could fight were a rarity to say the least. Lewis is a different kettle of fish. Frazier never beat peak Ali and Ali came back and won the next two. Lewis is a terrible matchup for the likes of Frazier and Marciano.
Typical Chok taking the unfavored fighter at his worst (in fantasy matches LOL) and fixating on it. Don't dare mention Foreman - Frazier tho
noones mentioned vitali yet? his sly plan of letting lennox rip his face off would have won him the fight if the ref hadnt cheated him out of a win by stopping the fight before halftime.
I don't assume Frazier would not be an underdog, but that's relative to a lot of things isn't it. Do you assume experts after Frazier beat Ali could imagine Frazier losing to somebody like Lewis? It is only the Foreman result that could possibly give you an inkling that Lewis might do well. Had Frazier retired after Ali you would be laughed at for picking Lennox. why is there every chance Lewis takes a better shot? We saw Lewis get hit on the choppers. We saw the result of it versus McCall and Rahman, Sharkey moments in other fights too. We certainly NEVER saw Lewis get off the floor did we? Why does Frazier have to necessarily hit less hard than Lewis to lose to Lewis? Frazier only has to hit as hard as McCall or Rahman to beat Lewis. Lewis is a product of his environment. He benefited from advances in sports science that were abundant during his career that might not necessarily have been available in Fraziers time. Regardless Lewis was great. He the had ability of a great heavyweight, I certainly would not disagree with you there but when I think of the pace Lewis needed to fight at and compare that to Fraziers tempo and the ratio of power shots he produced I think he would be a Lennox Lewis's worst nightmare. Frazier beat a greater Ali than anybody else did. So much so it effectively finished Fraziers career. He never won an important fight again. Any ATG puncher is a terrible match up for Lewis too.
I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. As a reference point, I certainly don't rate the 1996 Mercer as better than Bonavena and Quarry.
We are talking now - both careers are long gone and we have all of the parts to assess. The above means absolutely zilch. Lewis took plenty of big shots from big punchers. He fought a far bigger array of punchers than Frazier. It would be interesting seeing Joe against the likes of Tua, Rudduck, Holyfield, Briggs, Tyson, Golota, Vitali and the like. The versions Lewis fought would be fine. He's fought a ridiculous amount of punchers. Evander Holyfield says this - "Lennox Lewis had a great chin". Always rememebr too - fantasy fights involve the best version of each fighter. Again, always remember fantasy fights involve the best versions of the fighters. You also have you words mixed up. Also, i didn't say anything about having to hit less hard or harder to win or lose or whatever you are actually trying to say. Joe fought one ATG puncher. Ask McVey what happened. Lewis is an ATG puncher. 1. So you are insinuating Lewis may be better than Frazier but if so it's because of sports science? 2. Rudduck and others forced Lewis out of his pace when he was still prone to bomb hard and early. How did that go? Lewis would be fine. He would lean on Frazier and clinch when he had to and he would bomb him with uppercuts coming in. Bad scenario for Joe. He still didn't beat the greatest Ali. Fraziers a great fighter, he fought brilliantly that night but still took loads of punishment himself. Enough you say to finish his days at a truly top fighter. Imagine if Ali had Lewis' power. Not one bit. He fought more huge punchers than probably anyone in history, and beat them most every time. Again i remind you fantasy fights have them at their greatest. Lewis isn't coming in complacent against Smokin' Joe FRazier.
it means zilch that Frazier has the greatest win probably of all time? Lewis took punches from McCall and Rahman. We saw what that did to him. Usually Lewis did not let the big punchers hit him because he jumped on Ruddock and Grant before they hit him. I would like to know What they hit him with? Morrison never did knockout good fighters anyway so it was unsurprising he could not get off at all against Lewis at all. I would like to know if he actually hit Lewis. Klitschko did hit him but Lewis hung on to him like Vitali was his Girlfriend. I would not say that was a proud moment. Lewis had the kind of chin that McCall and Rahman could find. It was as good enough chin to withstand power below Mcall and Rahman. He certainly is not withstanding greater power than this. you said There's every chance Lewis takes a better shot than Frazier. Why? Frazier always got up. How many ATG punches from ATG punchers did Lewis get hit with? Did Tua land anything on him? I am insinuating Lewis fought at a different time to Frazier when size was taken a lot more seriously. Extra Functional weight became more possible to achieve. It is debatable if this is the be all and end all among the greatest of all time in history. One thing is certain fighters from earlier eras were unable to achieve this extra size in such a functional way. Clinching is illegal. Lewis has to avoid blows to grab him. Blows even Ali could not avoid. imagine Lewis getting hit as many times by Ali? George Chuvalo said that Frazier had the best defence of any fighter he fought. he fought them. Did they hit him? Frazier would hit him. If Frazier hit Ali so many times each round for 15 rounds he won't miss Lewis. So Lewis only lost because he was complacent? Did Frazier only lose to Foreman because he was complacent? Take away the Foreman loss Joe still has a great career. And so does Lewis if you take away double the complacent losses. I think Foreman was a more dangerous puncher than McCall and Rahman.