LENNOX LEWIS: Could he be the greatest heavyweight in history H2H?

I'm happy to see that the there are more votes for the YES answer. The bias towards the old-timers doesn't cloud the judgment of most ESB'ers.

While it is tough to say he actually was the best h2h, he very well could be, there's no denying that. A true modern great.

 

it's either tyson or lewis for me.

 

Style wise, I think Tyson is a nightmare for him. Obviously Tyson is a notoriously fast starter and Louis was susceptible to being caught early...many staunch Louis supporters insist that the knockdowns he suffered do not signal a weak chin and I'm inclined to agree given how long it took Schmeling to stop him after catching him repeatedly but if Tyson did put him down, it is my belief that he would either be knocked down multiple times in quick succession which of course is hard to come back from even if you are allowed to go on, or he might not beat the count on one of those occasions....Tyson was a ruthless finisher of course.

As for Lewis, that's a tough question to answer due to the fact that he never encountered a big man with anything like the ability of a Lennox Lewis. I think I might need to rewatch footage of both guys again (it's been a while) and try to come sort of logical conclusion....

I think you picked out two guys who I think Louis would have utter hell with but for very different reasons. That being said, I still think Louis takes down more other ATG's than Lennox which is why I rank him number 2. Tyson is my favourite all time HW but there are so many question marks against him despite the obviously great prime with the main one being whether he ever had the mental fortitude to compete with the very best, whether he could back if ever behind on points...past his prime these questions were answered in the negative of course.

What do you think? I detect that you may not rate Joe Louis as highly as many others...

 

I think Lennox beats Tyson easily to be honest prime vs prime H2H - not as easily as he actually did do when Tyson was a shell and Lennox slightly over the hill.

I could see Lennox beating Ali - but could also see Ali beating Lennox. Lewis was very methodical and wouldn't chase Ali so much - he was most vulnerable when forced to go looking for someone. I think that guys coming forward were meat and drink - keep them at the end of his long jab, frustrate them, smother their work and unleash the right hand/uppercut to finish them.

 

Id would pick lewis and holmes over Louis for sure i also think tyson struggles with holyfield when ever they fight

 

In H2H, a pre war Ali is the only one where it is a tossup...

 

Agree fully with the 1st part of this post, but I am of the view that Ali is a 65-35 favourite over Lewis.

Lewis could be outjabbed and I'm not sure how he would deal with a 3 dimensional fighter in Ali with all the physical attributes he had namely speed: the guy could fight going backwards, side to side and if need be, coming forward.

 

Yes, he probably is the H2H champion...

BUT...

Frank Bruno troubled him with a jab, for a few rounds. Granted it was a cold, raining night which Lennox was supposedly had the flu for

but...

Larry Holmes had an excellent jab...he has got to be up there on Head to heads also, above Tyson even because of his fighting style, longevity and tools at his disposable, like his motor mouth and kicking ability when jumping off cars.

 

Fair enough, it's a dillema for sure and one that I myself have had alot of thought over. It's less of an issue for the lower weights obviously, but it all becomes a bit speculative when it comes to the heavies: the obvious retort for fans of the old time fighters is 'well just think how good they would have been today if they had modern day training methods'.

It all becomes a bit messy. When talking about this, I think we should just stick to what we know and compare the footage of the fighters.

For me, the best era's for HW's, and I know many will disagree, were the 70s and the 90s. Louis though, was a phenom and I do see him beating many latter day fighters...but I do understand totally where you are coming from.

It just gets on my goat a bit when you see people overestimating the size and training factors...I once seen a poster exclaimings that Corrie Sanders (the one who beat Wlad) would have taken down Joe Louis in the early rounds in a similar vein to Wlad :nut

 

It could be said that Lennox had the perfect tactics to beat Bruno.......

Weather the inevitable storm......
Take a few shots......
Wait for Bruno to gas......
End it!

Bruno was beating Lewis but underestimated the ability of Lewis with his LEFT hand. It seemed everyone knew to watch for the right, but it was probably the first time Lewis won a fight with the lead left hook.

His jab wasn't as much of a factor at that stage that it would later become under Manny Steward - still often used and excellent, but not the 'go to' punch.