Joe Louis -vs- Lennox Lewis:

The poll couldnt be closer. 35-35

 

damn , i mistakenly voted louis by pts , meaning lewis by pts.
the least probable option here btw , is louis on points.
so somewhere in the middle between louis KO and a lewis KO , both probable , lies the very realistic option of lewis by points which was my intention.

 

Lennox' overhand right would get the job done within 8 rounds.

 

I think one thing that people aren't considering is that Joe Louis is way more dangerous than any opponent Lennox has ever faced - in fact, Joe Louis is probably the deadliest combination puncher and finisher in the history of boxing.

I think the main problem here for Lennox is that Joe Louis has that deadly offensive arsenal, power and accurate combination punching. Lewis was not especially evasive and I see him being severely troubled before the fight is over. In the battle of the chins, Louis has a bit of an edge too in that he could be knocked down but was not easy to knock out (once in his early career/prime, by 10 rounds of accumulation punching), whereas Lewis has been one-shotted on two occasions and has never faced as dangerous a puncher as Louis.

I'm also not convinced that Lewis would win on points either, I don't see him as having superior boxing skills to Joe nor the better jab. Lewis also had dangerous technical flaws (as exposed in the McCall and Rahman I fights) whereas Louis had his main one fixed after Schmeling I i.e. before he became champion. You don't want to have glaring defensive flaws when you are in the ring against Joe Louis.

Some other factors - Joe Louis was more battle-tested in critical situations like knockdown recovery, and coming from behind to win. He was always well conditioned and properly trained, whereas Lewis sometimes came in overweight and didn't take some opponents seriously. Joe's championship run is longer, unbroken despite missing prime years for WWII, and has more title defences than Lennox's.

Surprising as it may seem, my impression is that Lewis might actually have to rely on having a "puncher's chance" (which he definitely has) to win this fight. If you read some of the posts by Lewis supporters in this matchup, that's basically what they say too - they talk of his "size advantage" or "big right hand". Not that he'd have the better skills or be more likely to score a KO. For these reasons, I'd favour Louis maybe 2:1 to win this fight.

 

Bad luck mate.

So your vote shall stand FOREVER!

 

Looking at the score cardr-

I think that history might just be sliping towards the superheavyweight orthodoxy.

The era of Janitor and the like might just be closing down.

Not without a fight of course.

 

For me this is one of the easier match ups for Louis - Louis by KNOCKOUT - too much target for Louis to hit - see Carnera, Buddy Bear II, Abe Simon II and parralel with Rahman I (and to a certain extent Shannon Briggs) for my thinking on this

 

Lewis was troubled by good jabbers. Louis has everything, included a solid jab. Louis will to be careful and smart to fall for anything. Lewis won't KO him, and the later rounds favor Louis. Thus, I favor Louis. More complete, more intangibles.

 

Joe Louis was great, Lewis was not. JOe Louis out of shape or in shape does not lose to Rahman or McCall.

Joe Louis beat guys from 1930's, 1940's, and some top contenders from early 1950's, and was only ko'd twice, those coming about 15 years apart. Louis ko'd big guys also.

 

Come on janitor, it's not like they're picking Cooney or John Tate over Louis. As McGrain said, Lennox is very capable and quite a lot bigger. I'm actually going with the poll on this one, in that i think it's a 50/50 fight, which i very much doubt goes the distance.

 

It's hard to even imagine someone thinking Lewis wasn't great. How GD stringent are your criteria for being great? Gold medalist, linear champion twice, hall-of-famer, defeated everyone he ever faced...what did Lennox need to do, build a time machine and travel back in time to beat everyone Louis beat with one arm tied around his back? Jesus...

 

I find it highly unlikely a man Joe Louis' size can assert himself in a fight with Lennox Lewis. I think he'd be bullied and ultimately stopped in a one sided fight

41-4-41-3 now :yep

 

In fact Joe Louis was troubled more by jabs. Small men couldn't miss Louis with their jab. If the key punch in this contest is the jab, Joe is in trouble as Lennox is taller and longer, and IMO, has the better feet to keep the ideal range.