Lennox Lewis; Greatest Heavyweight of all time?

Lewis outboxes Foreman and stops him late. He loses a narrow decision to Holmes. He'd knock Norton out.

 

I've also heard Foreman say that Lewis is the greatest, and I don't agree as well. I do believe Lennox Lewis right now is the greatest of the heavyweight big men in the history of the sport. He's certainly way ahead of Willard, Baer and Carnera.

 

1. Joe Louis - Joe Louis was a natural instinctive boxer.
2. Lennox Lewis - Lewis was an intelligent boxer who studies the sport and found the best style to dominate the division
3. Muhammad Ali - a flair boxer who developed styles and set trends, but at times he was sloppy.

But to be honest i wouldn't mind changing the top 3 i change my mind very often who is no 1-3 but this is my top 3.

 

You can make a good case for Lewis being no1 Hw of all time, especially H2H where he benefits from nutrition, supplements, fight videos, modern training

If we go off resume/achievement alone, there is still a case:

1. Took on the biggest/strongest set of contenders in history - this is unarguable
2. Took on the biggest punchers in HW history - Tyson, Tua, McCall, Klitschko, Rudduck, Morrison, Bruno
3. Beat the next top HW in Klitschko at 37
4. Beat every man he faced
5. Beat top5 rated fighters year on year from '91-03
6. Greats like Holyfield and Tyson, aged or not, no one else beat both these men
7. 1 of the most avoided HWs in history, ducked by Bowe, Tyson, Holyfield, Moorer and Foreman
8. Reclaimed the HW title past his prime
9. Following wins put in context:

Mason when he was top5 and undefeated
Rudduck when he was top3
Bruno when he was top5
Mercer when he was top10
Morrison when he was top10
McCall redemption
Akiwande when he was WBO belt holder
Golota when he was considered no1 after retiring Bowe
Briggs when he was
Holyfield when he was considered no1
Grant when he was considered the new mesiah
Tua when he was top5 and considered the new Tyson
Tyson when he was top3
Vitali when he was top2 and prime

 

Impressive achievements, no doubt, but it still isn't in the league of Ali and Louis.

Your'e right that he was in the era of the strongest and most powerful HWs, but I wouldn't make to much out of this since Lewis had access to the same nutrition, supplements and training methods that made the fighters in that era so big and strong. And you could spin it differently and say that the HWs in his era had the worst stamina and workrate of any era. They were also comparatively slow in general.

 

The biggest, strongest Heavyweight fighters were clearly in the Seventies. Earnie Shavers, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle,Oscar Bonavena,George Chuvalo. Ali faced them all & was not stopped once.

 

I have Ali as 1, I just think a strong case can be made for Lenny

 

These fighters were nowhere near the size and strength of Vitali, Grant, Rudduck, Golota, Bruno

Ali and Lennox both fought massive punchers ofcourse

 

Yes I think only Ali tops this reign personally though, perhaps Joe Louis

Lennox got beaten when he let his guard down and wasn't focused, the rematches proved that. The Rahman loss was AT ALTITUDE past his prime - ever been to high altitude? Its hard enough going for a jog let alone fighting. Lennox flew in at the last miniute, Rahman prepared at altitude for months. The McCall loss was pre technical prime at the hands of a don King ref and 1 of the biggest punchers in HW history (YES!!!), and Lewis may have survived but he took McCall for granted anyway and the rest of his career shows that

In terms of Rahman/McCall not being top200 H2H, I'd say that underrates them both, history will remember them more fondly

So all that aside, H2H Lenny stacks up well, firstly he's obviously the biggest strongest great, he has 1 of the best jabs, he is 1 of the most athletic, hes 1 of the biggest punchers, and hes 1 of the best technically

 

1. In terms of length of dominance against the best at the top and proving themself best in the era? Perhaps Johnson too but his title reign was weak, Holmes opposition was weak, the rest weren't fighting enough of the top men or proving themselves the best for long enough

2. OK but What about Louis's contentious decisions? What about Ali's losses to Frazier and Norton, that some may argue weren't truly elite? What about Ali's arguable gifts? Dempsey's losses, Holmes disputable wins and his destruction against Tyson. Every champ has their indiscretions and poorer performances

3. He was past his physical prime and the altitude clearly did him in, he may aswell have been 50

4. A. McCall beat 5champions and 2 ATG top10ers, was he that bad? He's 2-1 against ATGs, better than Frazier
B. Lennox Lewis had an iron chin :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4SQmxIP5Bk

5. We'll never know about the H2H, I rate him highly and prime for prime few stand a chance

 

His final fight is actually becoming more impressive with time as Vitali's comeback continues.