Which version of Lewis was the absolute peak iyo? Early 90s (Vs Ruddock, Tucker) Late 90s ( vs Golta, Briggs) 2000s ( Tua, Tyson)
I think it was between 1997 and 2001. Lennox himself claims that the second fight with Rahman was his peak
He had one hell of a run from the mid 90's up to the Rahman loss in 2001. The only question marks were the Mercer fight which was a great fight that I still think he edged even though there are some that thought he lost and the first Holyfield fight which he easily should have won. He destroyed Morrison, Grant, Golota and Briggs and dominated Tua and McCall.
Difficult to gauge, because Lewis's physical and technical prowess each progressed at different rates. I would say his physical peak was evident in the mid-point of the '90s from Morrison to Briggs. Overlapping this was a continued progression of his abilities which, I think 'Venn-diagrams' into a period of combined effectiveness, running from Holyfield (I) to Rahman (II).
I agree with the others about 1997-2001 but the surgical destruction of Ruddock was terrific. Easily a top 3 performance. Early 1990's Lewis is a little underrated. Very good speed of hand and foot for his size. Had a good war with Gary Mason where he boxed well at the start. I think his sloppiness during 1993/1994 had more to do with overconfidence than a lack of ability. The Rahman fight was interesting because he combined his youth explosiveness with the technical improvements he made over the years.
Lennox was doing great in that time frame. Revenge over McCall and winning the undisputed title from Holyfield.
Botha and Tua were his most surgical performances, Botha was a fringe contender and Tua was a short plodder but still fast and dangerous. Nobody took Botha out that quickly, not Klitschko, not Tyson not even Takam who fought a shot version 12 years after Lewis Lewis looked at the peak of his powers in the Rahman rematch but he had to be, he was knocked out the first time and was already 35. There's no way his reflexes were as good as they were a few years prior. Lewis wasn't really getting better past 2000 and truthfully Lewis was probably in his physical prime against Golota. He was younger, fitter and had been under Steward for a couple years already
I don’t know if it was his absolute peak but the Morrison bout was the most terrifying I’ve seen Lennox be.
That smilin and costant doin emojis in the middle of the fight to psychologically torture the pure Tommy was simply perfect.
From 97 to 01. McCall and Akinwande were extremely weird fights (not Lennox's fault), so we'll probably start with Golota. Golota - great performance Briggs - good performance, bad start but nice finish Mavrovic - decent performance, probably underestimated unknown challnger Holyfield 1 - great performance Holyfield 2 - very good performance Grant - great performance Botha - great performance Tua - very good performance Rahman 1 - decent performance before the KO loss, clearly underestimated his opponent Rahman 2 - great performance
