Lennox lewis haters: DO you give his resume credit?

**** the haters. Lewis is the best heavyweight of the past 25 years. Period. Suck it up naysayers, suck it up.

:smoke

 

Lennox was them man! I think he was matched very carefully though; as he fought names but never at their best.

 

Classic right time right place guy. He reigned when the division was supremely weak. Never fought the best in there primes as at the time he was a nobody. His career was safe but not definitive. He didnt have the hunger or the ferocity of a Holyfield or Tyson.

 

Yeah yeah and Tyson fought a real tough division. Tough like in the 70's.

 

It's exactly this sort of attitude that demonstrates how overrated Lewis is by some fans. Holyfield was the best heavyweight of the last 25 years. You never saw him getting starched in the early rounds by ordinary fighters in the heart of his career, and he actually beat two of the other top 4 fighters in the era, and faced 'em ALL when it mattered, not when they were shells of their former selves.

 

how do you work that out when lewis beat holyfield twice?

 

A 37 year old declined Evander Holyfield? And even then, he arguably won the second fight. Quite a few ringside journalists had him winning.

If a past-prime, aging Holyfield could nearly beat him, a prime version would have beaten him - and with that chin, probably by knockout.

Lewis didn't face the best fighters of his era until they had become very beatable.

 

i never imagine lewis has haters, whats there to hate about him. He's clearly top 10 HW

i don't agree though that he is the best. lets not forget about the other HWs but he's there with them on the top

 

That's not his fault. You talk about "prime Holyfield" but that version of the heavyweight Holyfield wasn't considered a great heavyweight until he beat Tyson the second time. If Lewis had beaten Holyfield in the early 1990's, it would be not be looked upon with the same regard as it is now, because Holyfield was not considered a great heavyweight at that time.

And who else could Lewis have fought? Tyson didn't want nothing of him. Rock Newman was petrified of a Lewis fight. Foreman always took the easiest option in his comeback.

Lewis was ducked because he had no marketability during these years. He called every one of them out and none chose to fight him at that time.

 

He had a very good resume. He fought Rudduck when he was regarded as the most dangerous man in the division. He fought Mercer who had in his previous fight given Holyfield a tough fight. He fought Golota who was favoured to beat him after retiring Bowe. Those who says he lacked hunger and desire are fooling themselves.

Tyson didn't want to fight him and paid Lewis to step aside so he could fight Seldon. Tyson was taking the easy road back after being released. McNelley, Buster Mathis Jr, Bruno, Seldon and then a supposedly shot Holyfield doesn't look like a fighter looking for the big dangerous fights, more like a fighter looking to take the easiest road back as possible. Tyson clearly wanted no part of Lewis in the 90's.

Holyfield said so himself in an interview that he didn't want to fight Lewis during the 90's. And Bowe dumped his title rather than fighting Lennox.

Those who criticise Lewis for not fighting the other 3 best heavyweights of the 90's in their primes need to realise Lewis was being avoided and it was only late in his career that Tyson and Holyfield wanted to fight Lewis. You can't blame him for fighting these fighters past their prime when they wanted no part of him during their best years.

 

I give Lennox Lewis credit, but I think Prime Tyson and Prime Holyfield both beat him. Great fighter though.

 

Lennox Lewis is one of the greatest HWs ever!! In general I think he's highly underrated.....
I can't help but imagine how he felt calling the Klitchko-Ibragimov borefest......I was hoping he'd get in there and hand both of those clowns a beatdown, as I'm sure he was probably thinking the same thing

 

I disagree.

He is widely considered one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time, and a lot of people even think he defeats the people above him H2H. Can't get much more credit than that.

 

I take it then your not old enough to remember how DEEP the 90`s heavyweights were? Tyson didnt just clean house in the 80`s he DOMINATED ALL his opposition. Lewis was a strapping 6ft 5 and 240lbs he fought like a man half his size. His personality endeared him to no one. And he got starched on 2 occasions by journeymen. Irrespective of the rematches no ATG heavy in the top 10 ever got starched with 1 punch by journeymen.