Could Lewis Have Being A Dominant Force In the 1970s?

Thank You @Fergy
How the 70s would react to Lewis (Golota Fight)?

 

Lewis would dominate not many fighters in that era could deal with his combination of size and skill.

 

He beats everyone, he may lose a fight or 2, but I’d expect him to beat everyone in that era and prove to be the best.

 

Loses to Holmes his jab is too good for Lewis, loses to a good version of Ali say Norton 2 performance in which Ali had constant movement for all 12 rounds.

I think Lewis would be a favourite against everyone else but Lewis got 1 shotted a few times and he sometimes had performances where he was lazy. So it's not a certainty that Lewis would necessarily run the gauntlet against every other fighter either.

 

You can't use a single performance on an entire era because that's not realistic scenario. No fighter is going to be peak form for an entire decade and Lewis certainly wasn't in his actual career.

Lewis could take fighters too lightly and he sometimes had lackluster performances where he wasn't firing on all cylinders. He also got 1 shotted twice by fighters that weren't upper echelon Heavyweights either.

Lewis would do well in this era but in realistic scenario I highly doubt he goes undefeated.

 

He would have won the championship at some time

 

Ali got hit so much in the 70s. I mean when I go back and some his fights in that period he amount was a bit shocking to me no wonder why he was so effected so bad in life. He relied a lot on his chin and physical strength/abilities which were amazing to get through.

That being said I don't think Lewis is unbeatable as people say in hypothetical matches.

 

I would favor him over everyone who fought in that decade but if he went by his 90's/00's script he would lose at least once, probably to a Lyle level opponent, when he was wasn't 100% focused.

 

That's why I picked solely the Ali of Norton 2 he was reminiscent of his 1960s version with the constant movement. That version of Ali could beat Lewis who I think had too much speed, movement, stamina.

I don't think Lewis ever really fought a speedster or a slickster that I can recall.

Yes Lewis is very good H2H but he may get a tad overrated at times where people think Lewis is close to unbeatable.

He basically fought to a draw vs Mercer and was out jabbed by the smaller Mercer.

Was behind on points vs Bruno and befuddled with his jab.

Just about scraped by a 37 year old Holyfield in their 2nd fight.

Got 1 shotted by McCall, Rahman.

So as I said unrealistic IMO to think he goes undefeated.

 

He's not going to go undefeated, and he might have a particularly ugly defeat at the fists of Foreman. But he emerges as one of the best.

 

IMHO, no one can go through the 70s (as well as the 90s) without defeat.
In the 70s, they lost "zero": Ali, Frazier, Foreman... probably Lewis too.

 

Maybe not undefeated but I don't think any fighter in the 70s can beat him if he fights serious and focused which he usually did in big fights. And if someone does upset he would 100% avenge it and win any series he's in.

 

From what I remember in Norton 2 Ali had max focus and won the fight but Norton was still able to close the gap a lot. I think it was like a 7-5 Ali type fight. But yeah I think in 1970-1974 Ali still looked pretty dangerous he still had the motivation to prove himself.

I agree you mostly with Lewis on the hypothetical matchups. No one is really unbeatable anyway to be fair.

 

Well Norton had a poison style for boxers I think Alis performance vs Norton 2 was an impressive one I think he looked sharp, fast, and had constant movement.

I still think Lewis would still have a great difficulty vs an early 70s version he's never met anyone with Ali's type of speed or movement.

Whilst Lewis did face a variety of styles I think there is a lack of notable wins vs speedsters or slicksters on his resume that we can't conclusively say how Lewis does vs those stylistic challenges.

 

I had it 7-5 Norton personally close fight though