Good point. Lewis landed a gigantic uppercut on Vitali after some clinches from both sides, and Vitali can tie Lewis up much easier than Ali because he is two inches taller instead of shorter.
This is probably a very realistic assesment of the situation, and frankly I agree. Although I would give the edge to Ali in this matchup, Lewis would pose a great threat to Muhammad no matter what phase of his career he was in. Ali would certainly have to be at his peak, and giving the best performance of his career just to pull off a close decision. The time for him to do this would have been during the late 60's, and not after his career had been divided by a near 4 year layoff.
Very interesting matchup to say the least. The bottom line is that neither fighter ever faced anyone quite like each other. Lewis never fought a man with Ali's speed and reflexes not to mention chin and durability and Ali never fought a man with Lewis' size and solid boxing skills not to mention power. Ali's best fighting weight was around 215lbs while Lewis' was around 240 lbs. That's a considerable weight pull in Lewis' favor. Ali would be wise to avoid clinching with Lennox who had a powerful uppercut and was probably stronger than Ali but Lewis would be wise to not expend alot of energy chasing Ali all around the ring and tiring himself out and setting himself up for a quick counter right hand that sets up a fight ending flurry by Ali (think of Foreman and Lyle). I see this fight as a chess match rather than a brawl with Ali keeping on his toes and sending in fast accurate shots and then getting the hell out of there before Lewis can land his bombs. It would'nt be easy for Ali because he would be fighting a very big skilled man with a good jab. I can see Lewis rocking Ali a few times with his right hand and hook but not being quick enough to follow up. I pick Ali by decision with his movement and hand speed being the deciding factor(s) but I would'nt be shocked if Lennox won either. Tough one to call in my opinion.
well, I guess if Ali vs. Lewis is a close one, with many people picking Ali to actually lose, then can there be a doubt that Lennox Lewis is top five ATG? Man and I remember all those "the heavyweights from this era suck" conversations years ago when Lennox was champ.
I think it depends on how you define an ATG. For example if you were to rate Lewis on a head to head basis he'd be pretty high, perhap top 5, but if you took into account his career accomplishments, he might be considerably lower, and if you blended the two you might get some kind of mid-point. So Wlad for example might be a top 10 for h2h, but perhaps a top 20, if that, for career accomplishments. So the answer is yes, Wlad can be far behind, if you focus on career accomplishments and longivity at the top., but if you're focus is only h2h he's probably near the top 10
That doesn't mean much. In every single era, most people say "these heavyweights aren't worth anything". Marciano was a sloppy, slow puncher, Patterson had a glass chin, Liston didn't have many challenges, Clay was fragile and ran, etc etc etc. It's natural to long back to the "old days". I expect Lewis to hit the top5 in most lists as the next 10 years go by.
I don't think he's all that far off even now. A fair number of posters have him there, and certainly most have them in their top 10. My guess is that if you did a poll, about 80% of the posters would have them in their top 10 and about 1/3 to a 1/2 of those would have him in their top 5. At the very least he deserved more respect when he was fighting. Some found him boring but most of the time he found a way to win, and sometimes it was in devasting fashion.
Good Post,I too go with Ali but not an easy fight Ali would have to be at his best,his speed would be the decider,imo.
Thats what I meant Chris ,Lennox's raing as an ATG,I dont think the 2 losses are relevant here really.
this is post number 7 but everyone is all hyped up and no one seems to want to read...this answer alone should close the thread Let me add by saying this is Prime Lewis against Faded Evander And I think Lewis is Top 10 ATG Heavies...
Except for the chin part, you could pretty much say the same thing about Roy Jones and Chris Byrd, but I don't think either of them would beat Lewis.