Joe Louis vs Lennox Lewis

OK, Louis’s chin seems to be seen as a key issue one way or the other.

However good or bad you conclude that it was, he was definitely willing to put it in harms way, and he was prepared to eat power shots from big punchers to implement his plans.

Perhaps surprisingly, Louis listed the first Abe Simon fight as one of his hardest fights. We often look at this fight as a domination on Louis’s part, but he saw it differently. Unlike most of his opponents Simon just wouldn’t go down, and Louis had to eat a lot of power shots over 13 rounds from the murderous punching Simon, in order to sustain his assault. He didn’t have to do this against Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Charlie Retzlaff or Tony Galento, because he got them out of there quickly. Louis’s willingness to dice with punchers should not be questioned.

In terms of what it took to knock Louis out, and the number of punchers that were given the chance to do it, we would have to conclude that his chin was pretty good.

 

-When asked how Louis would approach Lewis. I gave my opinion that it would be similar to Holyfield in the rematch, educated pressure behind the jab..which really wasn't even Evander's normal style anyway, it was a new gameplan he developed that gave him more of a chance after he failed to sucker Lewis into a brawl in the first match.

-I don't see Lewis gunning for a knockout against Louis either. That would be foolish against such a quick compact counter puncher. Lewis was not foolish.

 

Yeah, Louis' durabiliy is getting sold short here.

He also had fast recovery abilities in the instances he was really buzzed or dropped.

 

Thought on Louis's balance? From reading and watching videos I felt
it was exceptional, and everything about his posture etc was for a technical
reason. However a while back someone posted a quote that Jack Johnson said
Louis had poor balance, and Johnson saw many flaws to exploit. Dont recall
whether this was Pre Schmeling 2 or not. But Lewis is bound to make a mistake, and
lets not forget for his size, Joe was a boss in the clinches. Also correct me if Im wrong
but didn't Louis feint right before one of the knockdowns in Buddy Baer 2?

 

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That isn't a feint though... People keep saying Louis was one of the best feinters ever.. and I disagree completely... If he was so good at feinting there should be 10 KO's to show where he used that right before.

 

A feint is making an opponent think that you are going to do one thing, when you are actualy going to do another.

It dosn't just involve pretending to throw a punch.

 

Stepping backwards isn't a feint my friend... if it was... people would be counting 1000 feints a fight by each fighter... we don't do that because that isn't a feint.

 

Throwing a punch isn't always a feint, but it can be if you do it to create a false impression.

 

So in exactly which fight did Louis ever have a guy jabbing him with the SPEED, ACCURACY, and POWER of L.L.'s?:roll::roll:

 

Lewis's jab was not that fast, or accurate imo.

 

I wasn't suggesting that his chin was weak. I just don't think that its as sturdy as guy's like Holyfield, Mercer or Tua, which isn't an insult at all, given those guys had unusually solid beards.. You don't get through 70 or so pro fights with a weak chin, and only get stopped twice. But Lennox in my opinion had the right set of tools to either score a knockout or out box him to a decision. Not saying for sure that it would happen, but its certainly possible.

 

And on the flip when as Lewis faced somebody with the speed, accuracy and power of Joe Louis? Surely, they don't believe a 38 year old Holyfield or the ghost of Mike Tyson was better in that regard.

And your right, Lewis had a strong effective jab, but I don't think I would describe it as fast or accurate in the traditional sense. It sounds like Foxy is describing Larry Holmes.

 

-I think Holyfield was a more defensive minded boxer but not sold on him being more durable than Louis for reasons I've broke down.

-And I think Louis has the right set of tools to take Lewis apart. I see little chance of a Lewis knockout as he would be looking to box such a dangerous counter puncher. But Louis is no Tua, Mercer or an old Holyfield, if Lewis makes any mistake, bites on something, he's going to pay, and if he gets hurt, he's going to get finished.

 

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