Can the Calzaghe arguing - Peak Tyson v Peak Lewis H2H - every1 must have an opinion!

Did "Prime" Mike ever fight anyone close in skill to Lennox Lewis?

 

no but did lennox lewis fight anyone as vicious as a prime mike tyson ?

 

forgot about strange henry . a ferocious beast and no mistake .

 

None. Mike was mentally fragile and Evander had an Iron Chin.

Mike would fold.

 

No, but you referred specifically to the jab.

 

the way i see it tyson started getting sloppy right after the spinks fight. if tyson hadn't got to him mentally who knows what the outcome would of differed. D'Amato had just passed away a few weeks before the fight, but had he been around alittle longer who knows if tyson might of improved alot better. after the spinks fight he'd hardly to any of the head movement he used to do to take the jabs off and i will go far as to say he's one of the best inside fighters of all time. despite his height when D'Amato was around mike even had a very powerful jab. he was the complete package. later he just got sloppy and fell in love with his power too much and just became big headed. before his personal troubles he was a passionate pupil of the game and could tell everything about Dempsey, Ali, etc., but in reality he was trying to mimic all of his idols and put them together in one package and he succeeded, at least for a short time. had he put his head on straight and been mentally stronger he might of been the best of all time. there was a rumor of lewis sparring with tyson. i don't know if it was pre or post D'amato that's what i'd like to know.

 

In Tyson's prime the most ineffective punch to use against him was the jab because of his amazing head movement, which he'd use to weave in and out of it and make his way inside. The constant back and forth motion also put him in perfect positition to build up momentum to unleash his vicious hooks. People need to get past this myth about Tyson being vulnerable to the jab. It was the one punch in particular he was designed to beat, which is why it's pretty simple to distinguish a peak Tyson with a past peak Tyson. Regardless of how cliche it is to say, Tyson was never the same after King took over and Rooney and his original team fell apart. He became a head-hunter whose main objective was to get the knockout by any means neccessary. His defense became second tier and his offense became far less economical in its approach. That was not the case with a younger Tyson.

I don't see Lennox's slow, plodding jab or movement giving Tyson any issues, I see his inside work tying up and frustrating Mike at times though. Still, Lennox would be playing with fire every time this were to take place, and I doubt he could hold up for an entire fight with Mike in his chest. I'll take Mike by mid to late rounds KO after landing something big. Up to that point I don't think the fight would be particularly entertaining, what with Lewis attempting to use clutching tactics and the majority of the work being done in spots. I feel Tyson's power would make the difference eventually in close though.

 

Yes, there were others who took Mike the distance and they were nowhere near an Evander Holyfield.