If Lewis had lost Mercer fight in 1996?

While I disagree with you on this one, Zak, I DO think that Mercer had been more or less abandoned as a contender. Mercer would have only have needed to fight a little bit harder in two of the later rounds to change the fight on my card.

As for the bribery "accusation", it wasn't just that: it was a clear public self-incrimination!

 

Raymond Mercer was an under achieving heavyweight with wildly erratic performances. Mercer was at his best vs Lewis. A hard fight broke out between the two. I thought Lewis edged it out, 6 rounds to 4, but after the final bell sounded one who saw Lewis' hand being raised in victory knew he was in a fight. Outside of the Kltischko match, this is the only fight I can recall where Lewis sported a swollen face.

Looking back this was an important fight for Lewis. He proved he wasn't crystal chinned or combat shy vs a dangerous opponent. Lewis simply wanted in more in the late rounds. He broke Mercer’s will, and took control of the fight in the later rounds.
If Lewis had drawn or lost by decision, I think he would still become champion. However, had Mercer scored a stoppage inside the distance it might have ruined Lewis ' confidence in the ring which was one of his best assets.

 

Lewis' face was swollen badly, worst of his career including the Klitschko fight.
I think Mercer did well because of various reasons:

-Lewis wanted a knockout to have an impressive win and force Tyson in the ring with him. He went all out with big punches and combinations during the first 5 rounds, but for the first time in his career he had a guy in front of him who he genuinly couldn't hurt. This costed him several early rounds. He made the same mistake during the mid-rounds of the second Holyfield fight.
Lewis going toe to toe with Mercer was playing all into Mercers hands.

-The fight was over only 10 rounds. This definitly favored Mercer as he usually tired down the stretch, i think he won only one of the last four rounds. If it was a 12 rounds fight it would probably have been less close

-Mercer was really "on" that night. To be fair, so was Lewis. He fought a dumb fight but did put together beautiful combinations and took Mercers best shots without going down or being in serious trouble.

 

Mercer was furious after the fight, not just because he thought he'd won but he knew he hadn't beeen able to do enough in the last few rounds. The exact same thing happened to him in the Holyfield fight, which cost him a knockdown in the 8th (that arguably turned the tide of the fight) and then his coasting in the 10th.

When he had his next fight, against Witherspoon that year, it's noticible how Mercer paces himself a lot more. So while Witherspoon gets early rounds in the bank, it's Mercer that is able to rally for the win.

Mercer's blood infection came at a terrible time for him. He'd looked so good since coming back from the Ferguson and Wilson disasters, his jab in particular turning into a tremendous weapon, and then all that got scuppered. By the time he came back properly he wasn't the same guy.

 

Holyfield recovered from his blip with Moorer, I don't see why Lewis wouldn't have done the same.

 

it was a close one..

LL thought that he had lost...

He would have still acheived greatness

 

Now this is a very interesting question.
I believe ATGs like Lewis have a certain mentality, there are 2 choices after a defeat, to either dwell on it and let doubt set in about your ability, or you can look at it from the outside, like objectively at your mistakes and have confidence that you can correct them, this is what the elites do and this is what Lewis showed he could do after the McCall and Rahman losses, the McCall one more so because that was inexperience that caused him to lose, whereas against Rahman, it was switching off.
As for Mercer, he’d probably fight Mike Tyson or if he didn’t get that fight and Holyfield got it which is what happened, then he fights Holyfield, either way, there’s a high chance he loses whichever one he gets, Holyfield would outbox him. Against Tyson, it would likely get out of the first half of the fight because Mercer was durable, and in that case, that could get very interesting if he starts putting it on Tyson in mid-late rounds, he’s bigger, more durable and is underrated at range, if he uses that jab to start busting him up mid-late, which it would likely get to, and occasionally getting on the inside, outmuscling him and getting some punches off, I could see Mercer beating him, I’m not picking him, but it’s certainly more possible than most think.

 

Lewis is maximally motivated and prepared in the rematches.
Mercer would be in for a nasty surprise this time.

 

It is hard to imagine a split decision loss literally ending his career LOL. I don’t see much changing personally, if he lost. It is interesting seeing the wild variation in peoples’ cards, though. Think I had it a draw once. I remember during the fight, one of the commentators said at a certain point he had Mercer in front by one point, & his co-commentator said, “I have Lewis up by three.”

An awkward pause, followed by, “Well, now we know what our preferences are.”