is lennox lewis one of the greats?

He's among the top 5 heavyweights to come along since Ali left the sport 30 - 35 years ago.

I'd rate Holmes above him.
I'd probably rate Holyfield above him.
Tyson above him perhaps.
Wladimir Klitschko might be on the verge of overtaking him.

 

yes, lennox is an atg at heavy. good resume and defeated all opponents he faced as a pro, plus winner of olympic gold. he's a tough matchup for anyone.

 

I disrespectfully disagree

 

Id rank Holmes and Holyfield higher
Tyson And Lewis are level

Wlad Klit sucks and would never overtake Lewis
Lennoxs Resume and H2H better than Wlad

 

Which bit do you disagree with ?

 

without the question lennox 1 gr8st heavy of all time

 

I think Wlad has a similar resume and career trajectory.

 

For me he has risen to be a top 5 heavy. I think that at his best he'd be hell for pretty much anyone, in my mind the only truly great SHW there ever was. He showed vulnerability in his losses but never has any fighter received as much flack for such losses like Lewis did in my opinion... I would have liked to see him against better versions of Tyson and Holyfield and Bowe period(not lennox's fault)....

Out of the 80's-90's generation that some here really love, he's one of my favorites. I'd have loved to see him with a guy like Blackburn.

 

I agree with the Holmes part, but i have him exactly 1 space below him. And in a tier with Holmes and Marciano, separated from the guys below him.

Tyson's resume doesn't match his, neither does Holyfield's, both are clealy inferior.

And Wlad's is lightyears behind. I thought i'd only ever see bodhi try and argue this

 

It's funny, when I started posting on these forums about 8 years ago, very few people here ranked Lewis that high at all.
Now, this is like some Lewis-worshipping cult, and even mentioning that Wladimir might be close to him gets ridiculed.
I predict within 5 or 6 years you all be saying how great Wlad is, and I'll be saying you overrate him too !

 

I don't buy that at all.
The best wins Lewis has ? A fading Holyfield .... and .... Ruddock ? ..... Mercer ? ...... Vitali ? .... Golota ? ..... what am I missing ?
These are the same type of opponents Tyson and Holyfield were beating.

 

I do think Lewis' resume is lacking in diversity though: he fought a lot of pretty monotonous dudes IMO. A lot of strong guys who probably hit pretty hard, but I don't think a lot of them were particularly skilled or had developed styles... I think his resume mostly consists of sluggers and solidly schooled boxer punchers... Where are the defensive specialists and good boxers? Where are the smaller quality crowding guys? Lots of questions there for me about how Lewis would deal with those types.

He was just so comparatively dominant though that it's hard to dismiss him. You're right, i hope i don't start thinking about Wlad the same way . I think there's still a gap between Lewis' comp and losses and Wlad's though.

 

Tysons 2 best wins were Holmes and Spinks. One was an ATG a couple of years removed from his prime and the other an undefeated LHW. Tyson demolished them both.

Holyfields resume is head and shoulders above Lewis. In fact an OLD Holyfield gave a Prime Lewis 2 tough fights. Holyfield also Has Foreman, Holmes, Bowe, Tyson (a better version than Lennox) and others

Lennox has an old washed up Tyson and 2 struggles with Holyfield (a former CW)

Last time i counted Tyson and Lewis have the same number of title defences. Both have alot of mutual opponents and a lot of Lennoxes best wins were Tyson leftovers like Tucker, Bruno, Biggs, Ruddock....

In fact a lot of Bowes best wins were Tyson leftovers too Ferguson, Tubbs, Biggs..

Tyson wasnt put to sleep with one punch....TWICE unlike Lennox.
Although Lennox did finish his career on a high, unlike Tyson.

Thats why Holyfield ranks higher and Lewis/Tyson are equal

 

I think a prime Holybro would have recreated what McCall did as well.