Holyfield (Bowe 2) vs. Lennox Lewis (Holyfield fights)

We have yet to see a fighter that against a bad style for them and on an off night couldn’t be beaten. Lewis after E Stewart brought him to another level combined with his natural talent and sheer size was unmatched as a heavyweight.

 

Under Steward Lewis was a top 10 heavy of all time, but 'unmatched'? While with Steward Lewis got knocked out by Rahman, got outboxed by Mercer and given a gift decision, scraped by past-it Holyfield by the slightest of margins in the rematch, got beaten up by late-notice Vitali but pulled it back to win (on a cut), took longer to beat old Tyson than Danny Williams and the other guy who beat Tyson soon after whose name I can't even remember, plodded to a decision against unproven Mavrovic in which he (Lewis) got badly wobbled a few times, beat on Oliver McCall who was having a breakdown and shouldn't have been in the ring, and got put on the canvas by a terrified Akinwade who disqualified himself. Lewis had some great wins, like the knockouts of Golota and Grant, and soundly outboxing Tua. But I don't get this idea about where Steward-era Lewis was some unbeatable monster. He fought who he had to fight to be the best heavyweight in the late 90s early 00s but h2h he was often lacking.

 

Be careful, an objective and honest assessment of this guy is considered hate. You're definitely a Tyson fan who can't accept that his idol lost to Lennox.

P.S. The guy whose name you forgot is McBride. I had to check too.

 

There's no case for Mercer winning the fight. The most you can give him is a draw. Danny fought Tyson 2 years after Lewis already massacred him. This version of Mike was even worse. Also, nobody is unbeatable. Almost every ATG lost at some point. Including Lewis.

 

I watched the Mercer fight twice, years apart, scored it exactly the same both times: first six rounds for Mercer, last four for Lewis. I honestly don’t see any other way to score it. Maybe at a push you could have it a draw but Lewis didn’t win six rounds.

 

I had it 5-5

 

You could score 2nd and 5th for Lewis.

Overall Lewis outlanded Mercer in punches landed and power punches landed. He outlanded him in 6 rounds. There was no controversy there.

 

I think younger Holyfield could definitely stop him. I think he would have in a rematch.

 

Bowe actually threw more punches in the 2nd fight than he did in the 1st fight against Holyfield.

So whilst Bowe did gain weight in the rematch it didn't effect his punch output.

Holyfield was also heavier in the rematch and adopted a different tactic by not standing and trading with Bowe.

I still think Bowe was very good in the rematch vs Holyfield. Maybe not quite 100 percent on amazing night he had in their 1st fight. But Holyfield being heavier and using a different strategy is also a big reason Bowe didn't look quite as good either.

Holyfield was also very lackluster against Lewis in their 1st meeting and in considerably worse form than he was against Bowe in their 2nd fight.

I've seen people in this thread claim Lewis wasn't quite as good in the rematch vs Holyfield.

But I'd say the difference in form between Lewis against Holyfield in fights 1 & 2. In comparison to Holyfield's form against Lewis compared to his sharpness and energy levels to Bowe 2 is night/day difference.

 

I think Bowe being just very slightly diminished in Holyfield 2, relative to Holyfield 1, is fair, DP.

Who do you think was the better fighter, Lewis from Holyfield 1, or the Bowe who essentially had an even fight in the 2nd Holyfield contest?

 

It's different styles.

Lewis is a better technical boxer than Bowe and is better at boxing at range with the jab.

But Bowe has insane workrate for a big man and he can actually live with the smaller Holyfield in a high workrate kind of fight down the stretch which makes him hard to beat also.

Lewis was notably very tired in the 2nd half of the fight vs Holyfield in their rematch, that you can't help but feel if Holyfield had the same energy levels he had 6 or 7 years ago. That Holyfield may of been able to nick a decision in what was already a very competitive fight anyway.

All in all I'm not saying Lewis couldn't win a close decision vs a prime Holyfield. But I think he's going to have alot more problems dealing with a fresher sharper Holyfield down the stretch.

It would have to be a specific version of Holyfield though the Holyfield prior to the 2nd Bowe fight is probably a bit too small and too gung ho. The Holyfield of the 2nd Bowe fight who bulked up and had the perfect tactics vs a bigger man would have the best chance of outpointing Lewis.

 

I agree its fair to say Bowe had better stamina and was technically better at fighting on the inside, whilst Lewis was much better at range and was both more powerful and physically stronger.

I also agree Holyfield's speed and work rate had diminished a little by the time he faced Lewis, though I think he was physically stronger and more durable than ever. His neck was not only noticeably bigger, but proportionate to his waist, was in body building territory and one of the biggest I've seen.

I think it can get forgotten just how one sided Lewis vs Holyfield 1 was. There were several rounds where it resembled (in terms of dominance) a carefully matched, prospect early in his career, against a journeyman skilled only at fighting to survive vs talented prospects they have no hope of being competitive with.

I'd confidently pick the Lewis of Holyfield 1 to beat any version of Evander.

 

I think Holyfield underperformed in the first fight, and Lewis deteriorated in the second.
I'd never seen Holyfield so lacking in energy until the Toney fight. From the third round on, he did absolutely nothing, and the fight began to resemble a light sparring session between a professional who didn't want to overwhelm a novice amateur.
Commentators focused more on Evander's poor form than Lewis's excellent form. There was widespread disappointment, and I don't think anyone expected they were watching a top-three heavyweight fighter in the best fight of his career.

Holyfield himself attributed his performance to calf cramps. It sounds like an excuse, but the second fight vindicated it, as time wasn't on Evander's side, as evidenced by the subsequent fight with Ruiz, which he should have lost just like he did with Lennox. Despite this, he performed much better in the rematch, especially since...
...Holyfield had never fought this type of boxer before his first fight with Lewis. He'd never faced a top outfighter of his caliber, and certainly not in his recent comeback fights. Mercer, Bowe, Moorer, Tyson, and Bean were completely different fighters than Lennox. That's why Holy might have felt uncomfortable fighting Lewis, but he did his homework in the rematch.

 

It couldn't have been any closer. Holyfield lost by one point; some believe he didn't lose. Being closer would have meant victory