Is Lennox Lewis the most skilled "giant" in boxing history?

Sure, he was.

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Lewis' qualities you are referring to have nothing to do with technical skills.
Bowe often impressed commentators with how well he could throw punches (Merchant once described him as the most well schooled big heavyweight) and their variety.

Again, Bowe's sometimes leaky defence had more to do with his mentality, taking one to give one better and asserting his dominance.

I think it was @Ice8Cold who once shared a conversation he had with one of Bowe's and Lewis' former sparring partners, saying that Bowe (contrary to Lewis) liked to take punches to show his toughness (in an Ali-like fashion).

Of course, that approach is suicidal in the long term and I agree with you that Lewis had the (far) better attitude about that.

 

Skill and technique are different things. Bowe for the most part had better "technique". He had better punching mechanics in pretty much every punch (maybe not with the straight right) and better upper-body movement. But Lewis was undeniably more skilled. He used his jab more consistently and moved smarter in the ring than Bowe, hence why he got hit less. He was far more defensively responsible, and knew when and how to make the necessary changes and adjustments while Bowe for the most part just played along. Bowe looked prettier, but Lewis was by far the more effective of the two.

 

Lewis dumped not one , but every belt he ever won. It's ok when he does it.

Larry dumped his belt to avoid doing business with Don King. It's ok when he does it.

Vitali avoided rematching Chris Byrd to avoid Don King. It's ok when he does it.

 

There is no denying that Bowe was mentally deficient. I will not argue that. And he was not helped by his lunatic trainer.

But also he was prone to give up his physical advantages, a tactical error the proceeded along the path of an utter lack of strategy. On the converse we had a Manny trained Lewis who stuck to the plan, imposed his physicality, even on fellow giants, and beat every man he faced.

Again, this is not figure skating. I do not grade on form but on results.

 

I think Wlad Klitschko is more skilled.

He had a more refined gameplan and gave his opponents less of a chance. Almost everything he did was better drilled and honed than Lewis. Lewis to me was more of the junkyard dog, ready to throw down if there was a threat and willing to give the other guy chances just so long as he got his own chance to land his bombs.

If Wlad fought Tyson you know damn well he'd have run all night and been happy to pepper him with the jab and use him as a washingline up close. He'd have given Tyson as close to zero chances to exchange as humanly possible. Lewis gave Tyson a lot of gaps to land his own stuff, because he was going out there to knock Tyson out, not "just get the win."

 

Some folks are saying Fury. I'd say Fury is a good call, BUT ... but I don't think that he did his own talents justice. I think Fury habitually under-trains and does not reach the peak of razor-like prefection that prime Wlad did. More natural talent? Yeah, Fury oozes talent from his pores, which is why he doesn't feel the need to train like a spartan. Skill is a combination of talent AND hard work.

 

Wlad and Bowe are.

 

Wlad is for sure more consistent but even the Fury from Usyk I makes any other superheavyweight look like lumbering fools as far as skills go. Guy is ridiculous.

 

Emmanuel Steward actually said Wlad is more talented than Lewis but he lacked Lewis mental strength so Lewis was still his greatest fighter or something along those lines.

 

I have no problem in somebody saying that Lewis is better than Wlad as a total package. I just think Wlad had more skills.

 

So did most of his opponents.

Wlad is the epitome of being fantastic at a specialized gameplan but mediocre at having an all-round skillset. Problem is, that specialized gameplan dominated heavyweight for a decade and made the rest look like bums. I'd argue that having and implementing an unbeatable gameplan is the definition of being more skilled.

 

I think not being good in one area is fine if you can nullify your opponent from exploiting it and impose your own strengths into the fight. Wlad doesn't have an inside game but he doesn't even need to have one, his distance control and clinching prevents anyone from getting the fight there. It is once again his skill that makes his lack of inside game completely unnoticed and un-exploited.

Also Vitali can't carry Wlad's jockscrap as far as skills go.