Lennox Lewis in Today's Heavyweight Division

I think Lennox's greatest asset wasn't his size, power or agility; I think he is a serious example of what can become of a fighter with the right tutelage. Without Manny Steward, he doesn't learn leverage, his jab was amateurish looking against Bruno. He didn't have that clinch mastered. And he also had a bad habit of leaning in/ over? negating his height advantage.


Lennox without Emanuel Steward IMO wouldn't have been that great in his era or any other. His losses to McCall & Rahman was proven he could lose focus. His fault he loss those 2 winnable fights.

Against today's? Without Stweard I think Fury schools him. His heart keeps him in with Ortiz & AJ. With Manny S? at his prime? Lennox all had the right attributes to be an all time in this era far easier than his own.

I based this on the lack of top HW's who think their punches way too much & result with a low punch output. Mercer, Holyfield, Tyson, Tua, Ibeabuchi, those guys forced punches , forced a fight. leaving no time to think. Fight or get blitzed.

Today's B rated fighters are as good as the 90's, but the top tier has to finish their career, for me to even consider ranking them among the best of Lenox's 20 year career.

 

Joshua used very poor strategy against povetkin. Crouching down with a wide stance leaning forward with his hands stuck to his head and barely jabbing or moving other than one bounce back and one bounce forward. He should fight tall, jab and move.

 

Watch and see why he is a level above all,

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Lewis, for all his flaws and struggles, demonstrated a significant offensive armory, which I couldn't say I've seen replicated by another heavyweight, since he retired. He also seemed to reserve his Sunday Best for his biggest perceived challenges and his biggest opponents. Even an 'Old, Fat and Going through the motions" Lewis brought out his guns blazing for the Young Gun Vitali.

I think the Heavyweights of today, you mention above, would bring out the best and meanest aspects of Lewis. That said, each of them, bar perhaps Fury, have the power to put Lewis on ***** street. But, they would have been quite likely to encounter a revved up Lewis and he would have been their worst nightmare.


Fury is a very good defensive spoiler, with well-executed, but limited-output offense. I think Lewis would apply a good deal more pressure than Fury faced against opponents, such as Chisora, Wlad and Wilder. I think a body attack would help break down Fury's defenses fairly rapidly. I also think Fury's tendency to tie-up opponents, in close, would work against him, where Lewis is concerned and he would lose any type of in-fighting. Fury could survive a few rounds, but he's getting stopped fairly swiftly, in my opinion.

Ortiz is often touted as a skilled technician, but he's not fought another skilled technician for comparison. He looks like he might have had the potential to make a good match with Lewis, but I couldn't back him, as his plodding performances against quite poor opposition, have not impressed me too much.

Wilder, is essentially telegraphed power. A Lewis that shortens the distance and makes it a rough in-fight takes Wilder out. I do not think it will be long before we see Wilder starched on the canvas.

I like Joshua, but I think Lewis takes the guy by surprise. I just don't think AJ is all that quick off the blocks and he's easy to read. I find your comments in response to @robert ungurean quite interesting. Joshua does show good balance, but then, he doesn't show a great deal of movement and, that which he does show, is not particularly varied. I'd be concerned about a relatively static boxer finding himself off balance.

His defensive form was breached at the end of round-1, by Povetkin, quite significantly, and his form taken out of shape again in round-2, by a Povetkin overhand right. Both punches were repeated several times, albeit with less success, throughout the fight. But, Povetkin isn't Lewis, whose overhand rights and left hooks would have greater range and be more damaging.

 

Bowe beats anyone around today.

 

I agree. Bowe handles any of the top fighters of this era. And, so does Lewis.

 

I don't see him as being like a god in today's era .He wasn't seen like that when fighting was he ?
He was the best of his time but on a few occasions he was torn to pieces by the press in the boxing world .When he lost to The Bull ,his fight with Bruno ,Close thing with Mercer .But time s gone past and we can now judge him on merit. I've got him right up in the top ten and not many I see beating him at his very best .
As for nowadays ,if he comes in prepared and focused ,he's koing Wilder and AJ ,But even then maybe getting tagged and rocked first .
Fury's a difficult one for him ,I'm sure of that due to his style that could give Lenny trouble .But he would beat him ,maybe a late ko from behind .

 

He'd beat the lot of them most likely. I don't think much of today's HW division.

Could he get clipped? Yeah, I guess its possible. But I would not put too much money on it.

 

Lewis would be cleaning up unless his ego got in the way. Joshua needs to fight a man who's in the top 5, and if he wants credit that opponent can't be 41 or 39 year old.

 

Of course, nothing is certain in Heavyweight Boxing. However, I tend to deal in and back likelihoods and, in these cases, Lewis looks like a fairly safe bet to me, every time. I think the reliance on the one-punch KO is always a long shot, even if one of the Boxers being matched is called Deontay Wilder. Lewis frequently attracts speculation on him being on the wrong end of one, but it's not an outcome I'd favor as likely.

I do understand where you're coming from, though. I am just not sure how the distinctions between the modern crop and the 90s crop can be exaggerated, at this point in time. The gap, at the moment, is obvious - because, we're comparing full and completed careers, with careers in the making. That said, with a bit of a short-term forecast, an example of where a career might turn up an interesting comparison, is when Ortiz retires. Does anyone think Ortiz will achieve a career record, which could be considered any better than that of, say, Tommy Morrison (whose own career was cut short)?

I think the belief in Ortiz really relies on a leap of faith and imagination. Is this any different from thinking an established Heavyweight Great, with an actual career behind him, might just be too much for Ortiz, whose best win is difficult to determine?

We might perceive something in each of Fury, Ortiz, Wilder, and Joshua that leads us to suspect they could be very competitive in the 90s and make a big impression - but, until we see how they develop and how effective they can be, against a reasonably consistent level of opposition, over time, in their own time, we'd be throwing darts at a board.

As for the perceived skills they display, I suspect you and I see things differently. That's OK, though. The proof will be in the results, in the end.

 

Reasonable post overall. But It amazes when someone calls Lewis 'Fat' in the Vitali fight. If this Lennox is fat:

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys...at&fit=max&s=02b51dfd4d595ad27fa19ce2514d0417

https://givemesport.azureedge.net/images/18/07/07/237c9a2bbbd6b6c93866c1d89eda2d1e/690.jpg

Than what can you say about Tyson Fury, Luis Ortiz, Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin in any of their fights? Cause they certainly carry more bodyfat than Lennox against Vitali.

I see athletic, muscular Lennox with no signs of being fat at all. Heaviest in his career, true. But far from fat.

 

Lewis is a favourite against every boxer in the division, but history tells us he loses to a couple of them as well.

But I do think he'd be an undisputed champion today.

 

I'm not sure what your point adds to the overall sentiment but, if it makes you feel better, just replace the figurative word "Fat" with "Career-Heaviest".