If this forum were around in 2000-2001 everyone would Lewis after his KO loss to Rahman

Not exactly.

I have a lot of sympathy for people who say that Lewis's chin was better than sometimes given credit for.

He took some hellacious shots.

However the fact remains, that he is the only top ten all time heavyweight, who got taken out by single punches, as opposed to a sustained beatdown.

At least the only one who did anywhere close to his prime.

He is not the head to head GOAT on this consideration alone.

 

But Lewis ultimately defeated every man he ever faced and retired as Champ.

H2H GOAT also considers the BEST version and the losses to McCall and Rahman certainly did not represent the best versions of Lewis - a fact Lennox proved in the rematches.

 

Being better than McCall and Rahman doesn't prove you're a great boxer... Especially not McCall being pulled out of a rehab clinic too soon. Quick defeats in your prime against fighters like Rahman and McCall prove that you are vulnerable to punches, that you have flaws that better fighters could also exploit. And there were many better than McCall and Rahman.

 

That is true.

Being better than either Rahman or McCall doesn’t prove you’re a great boxer -

However, a properly focused and conditioned Lewis did prove that he was better in the rematches - as opposed to the poorly focused and poorly conditioned versions of himself that lost in the first fights - losses that he reversed - and the way he dominated and ultimately flattened Rahman the second time around was absolutely the stuff of an ATG, imo.

**** happens even to ATGs, even against competition of lesser quality, but it’s how they come back, particularly from the trauma of a brutal KO loss, that can stamp them as great also.

 

ok, the rematch with Rahman is, in my opinion, Lewis' best evening and the fact that he did it right after the defeat is even more valuable. Of course, you know my opinion about Lewis, but I can appreciate what is worth appreciating.

 

Lewis was not in his prime during the McCall fight.

 

If this forum was around in 1936, someone somewhere on it would say ‘This Sonny Liston kid is 30 years old if he’s a day. That’s no teenager!’

 

well, normally I would answer that Oliver was not in top form in the rematch with Lewis, but since I know you, your next answer to me will be - you don't know boxing, you don't know English, you don't know anything at all, you are prejudiced against Lenoxxik, he was a great champion and he didn't run away from Byrd, Ruiz, Klitschko, it was explained to you 100 times... ufff, I'm closing the entire discussion with one post, good evening, no reception

 

Nice way to show you actually can't stay on the topic, lol. And yes, of course Oliver wasn't in good shape in the rematch. Doesn't change anything in my post.

 

It could be argued that Briggs was the most powerful (at least with the right hand), and Lewis weathered some of his worse. Bowe knocked him hard in the amateurs and he came back. I can't include Tua, as he didn't have much luck with his left.

 

People were hating on Lewis long after this loss and intimating he had a glass jaw for some years. Even RA The Rugged Man's somewhat noteworthy "boxing freestyle" noted that "Lennox Lewis had a glass chin" and that was like in 2010 or something.

I disagree and have Lennox as my #2 or 3 depending on the day, he was awesome. I definitely came to appreciate him after the wave of hate fell out. He has 2 KO losses but he came back and got a better KO against one and had the the other in a breakdown. His legacy taking a huge upturn was divisive until pretty recently in my mind--not to say people didn't always feel he was a top fighter, but people used to argue in good faith, on here, that Rocky Marciano or Dempsey would have had a chance to land a bomb against him.

 

I respect opinions about Lennox Lewis, but I don't respect the lack of arguments for ranking him so highly. The rematch he took with Rahman is impressive, but wouldn't it have been even more impressive if he hadn't lost the first fight with him? meanwhile, the fact that he lost the first fight makes the second one more appreciated, even though it's still just Hashim Rahman. I always ask Lennox fans about his greatest successes. A few fights that prove his greatness. Something that makes us value him as much as Frazier, but Frazier never lost to someone like McCall and won against someone like Ali. No one has defeated Foreman with one punch in the second round, no one has defeated McCall, and Foreman has devastating victories over Norton and Frazier. So what does this Lennox have more? Is 37-year-old Holy after an equal and boring fight something better than the way Liston crushed Cleve Williams and Floyd Patterson? or what Tyson did to Holmes and Spinks? I don't want to hate Lennox, I just want to know this logic because I watched Lewis fights with Mercer, Bruno, Briggs, Holy, McCall II, Akinwande and I know that after years they look better. that they looked like when we had them fresh in our minds. I have returned to Lewis's career many times and have never found as much success as he is credited with today

 

My $.02

He beat everyone he ever stepped in the ring with, head to head he has an insane amount of dimensions, I can't think of someone he should have fought who he didn't, his resume is on par with other greats when you consider the inconsistent competition levels of ATG list colleagues such as Louis and Holmes. He doesn't have the losses that Foreman/Holyfield have.

He ate Briggs' punches for breakfast, he dominated Tua, he beat Holyfield when Holyfield was considered to be the best and still had the titles, he got in the ring twice with men who had knocked him out and he did it back to them except worse. He has exceptional technique, big power, and grit. Lennox is great and his resume/in-ring performances are aging very well imo. I respect the contrary opinion, but I don't agree

 

I find Lewis, & especially his KO of Rahman, pretty heavily over-rated. That win wouldn’t count for much at all had it been done right the first time.

 

Arguably he should’ve met Klitschko & Byrd. I don’t hold them strongly against him, but the case can be made. His losses are extremely few, but also incredibly damaging to his rep, so on balance I do think he’s top 10 all-time, but when people start talking #3 or 4, c’mon.