Ocasio, Weaver, Tucker, Tyson, Ruddock, Holyfield... Seems like his record was a who's who of 80's fighters, kind of like Lennox was seperate from the 80's "could of been" generation and had to run them all through to truly seperate himself from them. Eh?
I wouldn't say so. If anyone was an 80's clean up man, it's Tyson. In 1990, there was literally no one left to fight except for Holyfield (who was seen as a blown up cruiserweight with no chance against Tyson), Douglas (not a big player) and perhaps a washed up Witherspoon. Tubbs, Spinks, Holmes, Williams, Biggs, Bruno, Berbick, Thomas and Tucker all had to bow. Lewis' opponents are from all era's. The ones you mentioned were from the 80's, guys like Morrison, Tua, McCall, Akinwande are typical 90's, but he also beat some future (2000's) champions, like Vitali Klitschko, Rahman and Briggs.
Hmm. I consider Tyson more of an 80's fighter, personally. He peaked in the 90's, really. Lennow, completely different story there.
Lennox really rose to promenance in the 90's , his finer years coming between his first loss and the Tyson fight... His greatest wins IMO were .. The destruction of Gary Mason which sygnified his arrival on the British scene proper , his win over Ruddock in the so called (fight for the right) to contest for the title. The win over Morrison , then the rematch victory against Rahman.. Lewis never ducked a soul and often took on men who were actually picked by shrewd members of the press to beat him.. Like Golota, Grant and Ruddock. Lewis was never that popular especially with the US fight folks , but laterly he grabbed their imagination when he was publically ripped off at the Garden by Holyfield.. In hindsight i think almost all of those who watched his whole rise miss him and would be all in unison in acknowledging him as one of the best heavyweights ever.. any thoughts.? God Bless..
I don't believe Lewis was at his very best around the Ruddock fight or even during the mid-90's. He did disptach Ruddock in a ruthless fashion, and was probably nibbler due to his lightness when it came to weight. But his overall arsenal wasn't complete until he fought Holyfield and beyond. Steward corrected his balance, improved his left hook, and also stepped up the level of competition some might argue. Lewis got much heavier as the years ticked by into his mid-late 30's, but was more seasoned and his variety of punches improved. Left hook, ring generalship, and more was multi dimensional. Controlled.
When you're a pro boxer for 14 years, you kinda cover a lot of ground, y'know? 80s, 90s, 2000-era boxers, champs of the past present and future. Lewis fought them all due to his longevity, if anything it was the 90s HWs that he had the bulk of his big-name wins against, not the 80s. Might as well say Holmes was a 1960s clean up man for taking out Ali.
