Larry Holmes/Lennox Lewis Switch Eras

I honestly can't see Holmes losing to McCall in his prime, and in fact he damn near should have lifted McCall's title even in his mid forties. Shavers had enough power to put Lewis on ***** street, but couldn't take a shot and don't know if he had the right delivery system to land flush before he'd get destroyed. I would pick Holmes to beat just about anybody Lewis defeated with the possible exception of having to face a prime Vitali when in his late 30's the way that Lewis did.... Holmes would need his youth to beat Klitschko as his mobility and stamina would be key factors.. Lewis probably takes apart all of Larry's opponents as well, and probably doesnt' lose to Spinks even at age 35.

 

Supposing they switch opponents :
Holmes does not get stopped by mccall but then maybe he does since who really knows mccall's state of substance when he actually fought holmes and did not impress , but maybe rahman does (holmes + good right hand = holmes goes down) , but then shavers probably not tall enough 2 reach lewis as good as mccall & rahman reached him nor as good as he reached holmes so lewis probably stops shavers instead of getting stopped by him .
holmes gets stopped by tyson even if he fights 1990s tyson , gives holyfield a tough fight win or lose , loses 2 vitali no doubt , finds golota and ruddock much tougher than lewis did , not able 2 foul as much effectively vs grant so idk how that 1 would have went like , holmes does not hit hard , was weaker , smaller and less intimidating overall than lewis , so akinwande beats him instead of getting DQd 4 holding .
Since Lewis does not fight Page , Dokes , Coetzee , Thomas since Holmes didn't , he doesn't get stopped either and starches Cooney much quicker . Lewis stops Spinks but may b given hell by Williams & Witherspoon , especially Witherspoon . Lewis might foul Williams like he did Grant , it will b harder doing it 2 Witherspoon . Lewis beats Norton .
Lewis remains a champion until he faces peaking mike tyson , then he stands a better chance than holmes did , given absolute hell vs holyfield and probably loses since it's young holyfield vs somewhat old lewis instead of slightly old lewis vs old and shot holyfield who still gave him a tough fight , especially in their rematch .
so if Lewis gets by tyson he still loses 2 holyfield , then a younger tucker & Douglas may pose a problem , same with n up & coming 1 Oliver McCall who stops him since he actually did and in this scenario , Lewis is even older instead of evenly aged :happy .

 

If he was 23 years old in 1989, I can imagine Holmes might go undefeated up until 2003, aged 37 against Vitali, who might beat him.
There's no one on Lewis's resume before that who beats an under-37 year-old Holmes at the relevant stages. Maybe a few could run him close, even enough to dispute the decision, but I think there's a good chance Holmes gets through without tasting defeat.


Lewis, on the other hand, who knows ? He was Ko'd by McCall and by Rahman, so who knows who he might lose to in Holmes' career. He'd win the vast majority, but one or two are bound to knock him out before he gets to Spinks and Tyson. And if he goes on and on like Holmes did, into his 40s, he'd get KO'd some more.

 

I can't see Holmes having much difficulty with most of Lewis' opponents. Some might have slightly more success than they did against Lennox (Tua would only be a failure instead of an abject failure) others he would beat without some of the difficulties Lennox had. (Think Mercer and others like him.) Prime Holy and Tyson would be great matches against Holmes, but if he followed Lennox's schedule exactly, they would be too old to get the job done by that time. Vitali would also be interesting, although I think the much sharper punches of Holmes would prevail.

And no way do I think Holmes gets caught and dusted against McCall or Rahman.

If Lennox did get caught by Shavers, no way does he make it back. Part of that depends though on other factors, like does Lewis pull an early blowout on Shavers like he did on guys like Ruddock. Shavers was certainly KO'd a few timnes in early or mid rounds by guys with less power than Lennox.

Lennox is going to be more vulnerable to getting caught taking someone a touch too lightly being surprised by them, though.

I'd favor Holmes to have more success.

 

Holmes would likely go undefeated until he faces Vitali. Even then, if we grant him say Spinks 2 type shape, he may just pull that one out too.

I'd favour Lewis to beat everyone that Holmes beat together with the first Spinks fight, which he wouldn't lose like Holmes did.

That said, he'd probably get caught a few times and stopped along the journey. e.g Perhaps a Shavers, Witherspoon or Cooney would turn the trick.

Overall, I think Holmes is the better H2H guy largely due to chin.

Lewis with a solid chin would be hell to beat.

 

Great post, Wanderer. I tend to agree.

As far as Lennox taking a fighter a touch too lightly, I consider it a wild understatement in the case of Rahman. I was simply floored by Lewis' pompous arrogant behavior in the ring, particularly immediately prior to the KO. I doubled over in laughter when he got Stretched like a pair of pantyhose, then instantly felt a great deal of humiliation for him at the same time.

Could never forget Lampley going from being all...

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To

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From the original angle seeing Lewis' body, it looked as though he'd been Shot Dead on the spot.

 

I personally wouldn't bet on Shavers or Cooney to turn the trick on Lewis, but Witherspoon might succeed if Lewis does not encounter unexpected trouble sooner (Weaver and Smith are dangerous), especially with Lewis on the back of a winning streak rivaling that of Marciano's. He'd have two, tough victories over Michael Spinks unlike Holmes, but too many threats abound in him carrying on after that. I definitely see him falling to Tyson, Holyfield & Mercer if he should go the way of Holmes.

For Larry, the timing would be almost perfect. He could have problems with Briggs or McCall if he were having a dreadful night in his prime (he'd survive a knockdown against Rahman in his later years), but I pick him to go on to retire undefeated with maybe a somewhat forced decision win over a peaking Klitschko in his very last fight.

 

Lewis beats all of Larry's resumé. I can't see Shavers outboxing Lewis although he could always get lucky & land a right hand, I just don't see that happening. A young Mike Tyson would apply relentless pressure and win the early rounds but Lewis had the power to keep Mike honest and eventually he'd stop Mike late. Lewis beats Cooney earlier than Holmes did.

Hard to imagine a fighter with the limited skills of McCall getting through Larry's jab, it's possible though, just not likely. Same story really for Hasim Rahman, although Rahman has a better than average jab, Larry's is just that much better. The biggest question is whether or not Larry can beat Vitali Klitschko, especially later in his career the way Lennox was able to. Larry has that ATG jab but Vitali have a typical fighting style. I mean how do you hire sparring partners to practice for that awkward technique? If Larry went all out in the middle of the ring like Lennox did when he fought Vitali, Larry would get KTFO no doubt, but he's too smart for that. I think he'd try to stay behind the jab throwing the occasional quick right hand and maybe win a close points decision.

 

I doubt you expected Lewis to lose to McCall and Rahman either. Those men were on the same level as Shavers, Weaver, Snipes, Witherspoon, Bonecrusher Smith. In Holmes' first 48 fights over a 12 year period, Lewis is bound to get KO'd by at least one of them.

A 38 year old Lewis isn't beating a 21 year old Tyson.

 

V.good topic idea m8. :thumbsup

With Lenny Lewis And Lazza Holmes swapping opponents And using teh swapped timescales , And Lenny of 1989 going pro in 1973, And Lazza of 1973 going pro in 1989, i will give this a go!! (well maybe half now) :bbb

Lenny Lewis

Goes UNDEFEATED 50-0 from 1973-1986. :rasta
Includes - 2X KO1 VS Shavers, 2X KO1 VS Spinks, KO1 VS Truth Williams, And KO8 in mint WAR with Timmy Spoon.

Come jan of 1988 Old Lewis has been retired for 2 years And is 37 years old - so this is like teh Lewis who sliced-up VITLAY like a meat-grinder :ko, But with 2 years of ring-rust before teh fight instead of 1 year of rust. Tinkerbell Tyson is 21 years old And 100% PRIMED. This is a canny hard WAR for Old Lenny at this stage of his career And while he is rusty, BUT he trains super-hard for this fight like he did for fighting Tyson in 2002, cos Lewis respected Tyson a lot more then he did respect VITLAY. teh extra training cos Old Lenny is fighting Prime Tyson not Prime VITLAY, cancels out teh extra ring-rust to make this v.nearly exact same Lenny who TKO6 VITLAY. in conclusion - this a 70/30 kind of SLUGFEST-WAR in canny strong favor of Lewis, where someone is gonna get KTFO in teh 1st half of teh fight. :!:

41 year Old Lenny Lewis SHOULD decision Green Mercer in feb of 1992 in a close-ish WAR, cos this was a v.bad showing from Mercer who was not half teh fighter he later was in 1995 or 1996. ANCIENT Lenny then loses a Wide-ASS decision to PRIME Holyfield (who would be way too bloody fast for teh old man) later in 1992. :mj

@44 or so years old, Creekingly-Old Lenny probs loses a legit stoppage (unlike teh 1994 premature King-funded stoppage of real life) in teh middle-rounds to Prime MCcall in 1995.

OLD Lenny then goes on a undefeated streak for his last 9 fights And retires at v.nearly age 51 in 2002. He deffo does NOT lose to "Mr.Blobby" Brian "Beer And Dinky Donuts" Nielsen.

FINAL RECORD for Lenny Lewis going pro in 1973-2002 And following Holmes's exact schedule of fights is 73-2 compared to 69-6 which Lazza Holmes himself achieved. :hat



Foreman Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook!:smoke

 

Lewis had one of the most impressive offenses from rd 1-8, because Lennox never KO'd a man after that. I think Lewis handles everyone that Larry fought , however on a given night the guys that Larry avoided may have a small chance on a good night vs Lewis, they were alive fighters for one reason or another. I think Larry also handles all of Lewis's opponents, I think Larry has trouble with Vitali as Lewis did and Tyson style wise and they both loss to McCall but Lewis in his prime and with more impact.

As far as getting off the floor to win Holmes did and Lewis never did and as far as distance Holmes went 15 rds and was still strong in the end so he has the better proven stamina

 

Kind of covered that already, by saying that Shavers had enough power to put Lewis on ***** street, but its his ability to land on Lewis before Lennox gets to him that has me in doubt.

Covered that as well.. A 44 year old Holmes on the comeback trail boxed a prime McCall to a close 12 round verdict... I doubt that he'd have trouble with him at his peak.

Finally something I haven't talked about, and a reasonable question. I think the aged version of Lewis who barely got past Vitali Klitschko probably loses to a peaking Tyson.. How long it lasts, I cannot say.

You are aware that some of these fights actually occurred aren't you? Holmes defeated a prime mercer when he was 42 years old, and looked more impressive against him, then a peak Lewis did.... Holmes also fought a peak Holy to lose a decision, implying that perhaos he might have beaten him in his prime. Don't think Holmes loses to Ruddock, Tua or Golata...

 

Lewis did actually get up against McCall but was counted out in 3 seconds. Hence why he hardly ever faught in Britain again. (again fight stopped too early).

The shot taken by Rahman could have knocked out most heavyweights.