Joe Louis vs Lennox Lewis

Completely the opposite, mate. Louis was FINISHED by a big right but had taken multiple shots earlier. Lewis was one shotted by a huge right , not worn down. The outcome of the Louis-Lewis fight might be debatable, but those are facts!

And as for Louis lacking power...............

 

If a guy hits hard enough to smash somebodys spine with a single punch, then it is probably going to hurt when he hits you, even if you happen to weigh more than 230lbs.

 

He hurt men of more than 230lbs as well. They may not have been as good as Lewis, but they were still big men. The one thing you can't level at Louis is that he lacked power. Also, how big to you have to be to hurt a heavyweight? How much did Cooper weigh when he floored Clay? Or Frazier when he dropped Ali in their first fight?

 

Timing is power. Joe Louis was so sharp and he would think several moves ahead. Orchestrating the move for Lewis to make for him to counter. Joe would not miss Lennox. He would time him. Beat him to the punch. Too much target.

 

Yes, Lewis was stopped twice (McCall and Rahman). He also beat those two guys in rematches. Other than that, how many times did Lewis go down? The answer is zero!

Sure, he was rocked but did not go down vs. guys like Bruno, Akinwande (some feel he did go down in this fight), Briggs, Holyfield, and Klitschko.

His wins over Mercer and Holyfield were close but I wouldn't call either one a gift. His draw vs. Holyfield should have been a win. His last fight was not his best performance but he did pull off a TKO win over V. Klitschko.

What else can you say about Lewis? He clearly beat the shlt out of everybody else he fought.

He beat Ocasio, Mason, Weaver, McCrory, Biggs, Billups, Ruddock, Tucker, Bruno, Phillip Jackson, Morrison, Mercer, McCall, Akinwande, Golota, Briggs, Mavrovic, Holyfield, Grant, Botha, Tua, Rahman, Tyson, and V. Klitschko among others.

41-2-1 (32) overall and 15-2-1 (10) in HW world title bouts. 6'5" with an 84" reach and solid at 240 Lbs.

This isn't Max or Buddy Baer. This isn't Primo Carnera. We are talking about a great fighter named Lennox Lewis. He was more than just big.

 

Louis was great but he was rocked and he was even down vs. some pretty shltty fighters. Sure, he won those fights, but it wasn't pretty. He was stopped once before he won the HW title (Max Schmeling, who was under 200 Lbs), and once years later (Marciano). He avenged the first loss, was way past prime in his last loss. He was also decisioned while past prime (Ezzard Charles).

Lewis was stopped twice. Neither man is considered great, but both were very big and very strong Heavyweights with excellent power.

 

Though I wouldn't pick it to happen, Louis definitely had the power to stop Lewis. But just basing this on power is somewhat immaterial. Power alone just isn't that special. From everything I have heard, Bert Cooper was the hardest puncher of the late 80's/early 90's… So what?

What is much more important is how these fighters set up their power shots, how they moved themselves and their opponents, got in range, countered and finished. Both guys were excellent finishers. For me it comes down to who starts the ball rolling better. I still think Lewis, cautious as he was, achieves this first.

 

It's a tough pick. Lewis was KTFO twice and rocked by others but in the end he was only down in those 2 losses, both losses were avenged.

Louis was only stopped twice as well and once was in his last pro fight. He was down a good bit though. To his credit he got up and went on to win most of the time. He avenged the first loss. He dropped a decision in 1950 vs. Ezzard Charles.

Lewis is at least 3" taller, about 40 Lbs. heavier, and has an 8" longer reach. Lewis was more than just big. He was a good boxer, he used his size well, had a very good jab that could dictate the fight, and great power. Those really big guys Louis fought sucked compared to Lewis.

On the other hand, who did Lewis face that was like Louis? Nobody really, but he did beat some very good fighters. He stopped Ruddock, outboxed Tucker (dropping him twice), stopped Bruno, stopped Morrison, went toe to toe with Mercer and won by decision. He stopped giants like Golota, Briggs, and Grant. He outboxed another giant in Akinwande before the 5th round DQ for excessive holding. He outboxed a past prime Holyfield and stopped a past prime Tyson. He went toe to toe with Vitali Klitschko while out of shape (his last pro fight) and won by 6th round TKO (cuts).

He was stopped by McCall in '94. He beat McCall in '97. He improved a great deal after the first fight with McCall. He was stopped by Rahman during his prime, however he was out of shape for the fight. Lewis stopped Rahman with ease in their rematch.

Lousi did a lot of things great. Would he be able to do these things vs. Lewis though? I do think Lewis would be able to do his usual vs. Louis and that would be the difference.

I'll go with Lewis.

 

Lewis would use his jab to keep Louis off him, he would just hit and move but eventually Joe Louis would catch up with Lennox and KO him.

 

Man, I am not breaking my oath which is not to compare men across the sands of time. But this is just too much. If you were talking about Larry Holmes and he himself badmouthing Rocky for that record defending one heavyweight title, that's one thing. But comparing Lewis, Lennox Lewis who I saw boxing in the Olympics for Canada and debuting for the UK on Sky Sports against some journey men like something like Calvin Jones and then Gary Mason, Jean Chanet and Derek Williams to become British, European and Commonwealth HW Champion and fighting american guys like Levi Billups the full 10 rounds... With Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, from Harlem, NY, Champion of the World from 1937-1949, a guy who devastated an entire division, marked a whole decade, demolished champs like Carnera, Baer, Braddock, Schmelling, Conn, champs/chumps like Sharkey, Jersey Joe Walcott and you have to compare Him to BUMS like LENNOX. Let's get real here, I don't care what that fatso Foreman has to say about who is the GOAT, he never faced Lennox, he lost to Evander and to Tommy Morrisson and to Shannon Briggs... His Glory day was when he wiped out guys like Smokin Joe and Kenny Norton but he was humiliated by Ali in Zaire. Probably Lennox is ranked above Foreman all time rankings but he is clearly under the number one HW Joe Louis.

 

In legacy? Yes. I have Joe Louis at #2 and Lennox Lewis at #5. But head to head match ups and legacies established in totally separate eras are two completely different animals.

 

FOOL.

Lewis go on a bum of the month tour did he? When he was stopped did he lay flat on his face like Louis, or was he trying to get up? Did he get hit by a 240 lb guy, or did he get KTFO by a less than 200 lb guy?