Thank you man, glad to see you still post as well. :thumbsup I'm sure you know that I used to hate Lewis A LOT before as well, my first posts when I registered here were all anti-Lewis but I started to respect him as well, especially the stuff he's doing now. Classy guy overrall and he deserves all the credit in the world for his accomplishments, definitely the last of the legends for a LONG time.
It seemed that everyone was picking Tua to beat Lewis! I picked Lewis because I knew he was a great heavyweight.
Very good post man :good Well, I think Golota was mentally ruined and never cure from that. Additionally I think that Golota quit in Grant bout to not take another coma-induced beating from Lewis. He gifted this opportunity to Grant. :yep But this my mad IMO. :hey Yeah. Thats right. I very respect Holy for the all 3 bouts, but I think, that if Bowe get courage to take Lewis call, than Riddick will be knocked out by Lennox. Knoked out through his holes to right crosses that he bring from amateurs and cemented at pro. :yep Not still, but ever was :smoke
I notice you didn't actually attempt to prove him wrong.... :yep Larry's record in the last 20 years: Butterbean Mike Weaver Bonecrusher Smith Maurice Harris Brian Nielsen (LOSS) Anthony Willis Quinn Navarre Curtis Shepard Ed Donaldson Oliver McCall (LOSS) Jesse Ferguson Garing Lane Jose Ribalta Paul Poirier Ken Lakusta Rocky Pepeli Bigfoot Martin Evander Holyfield (LOSS) Ray Mercer Jamie Howe Art Card Michael Greer Tyson's record in the last 20 years: Kevin McBride (LOSS) Danny Williams (LOSS) Clifford Etienne Lennox Lewis (LOSS) Brian Nielsen Andrew Golota (NC) Lou Savarese Julius Francis Orlin Norris (NC) Francois Botha Evander Holyfield (LOSS) Evander Holyfield (LOSS) Bruce Seldon Frank Bruno Buster Mathis Jr Peter McNeeley Donovan Ruddock Donovan Ruddock Alex Stewart Henry Tillman James Douglas (LOSS) Carl Williams Frank Bruno Michael Spinks Tony Tubbs Larry Holmes Eddie Gonzalez Tim Anderson Mike Tyson (LOSS) Lennox's record is better than both of these.
Lewis beat more punchers than any HW champion in history with the exception of Ali. I also thought he should've been allowed to continue against McCall. If you look at similar or worse scenario's around the time: Golota was wobbling around the ring much longer after his first KD against Lewis, yet allowed to continue. Holyfield was given a full 16 seconds to recover before he was allowed to continue against Bowe (3rd fight), after laying motionless on the canvas much longer than Lewis. Holmes was in worse condition than Lewis against Sniper and Shavers, also allowed to continue. The list goes on. I'm glad it happened though, because Lewis improved tons when he Steward trained him after that loss.
Lewis shouldn't have danced the tango with the referee. Maybe he should have tried walking around the ring like Holmes always did, but from what I saw I wouldn't fancy his chances of walking around in a correct manner. I cant really second guess the referee's decision from what I saw. I've only seen the angle from behind Lewis and it appeared as if he was lurching into the referee on spaghetti legs, with the referee pulling on Lewis's gloves and Lewis almost falling onto him. That's how it appears, and maybe the referee had a close-up of a wobbly-eyed scrambled-looking Lewis. Is there a camera angle showing Lewis's facial reaction ? I mean, the way I see it, if we are gonna allow referee's stoppages then we must allow some degree of discretion and I think the Lewis-McCall fight falls within it.
I'm sure I've seen a front-angle view of that stoppage. Lewis clearly had his hands up to show thr ref that he could defend himself. If, as you say, the ref pulled his gloves causing Lennox to stumble then that should not have happened. that's a mistake on the ref's part. I think it was a very harsh stoppage compared to other situations we have all seen, especially in title fights. But I won't say it was wrong. It was a fair stoppage, just harsh.
No, I think he's supposed to press on Lewis's gloves to test if the fighter is steady. Some ref's ask a question, some ask the fighter to step forward, some ask the fighter to stand still, some grip the gloves while wiping them to see if the fighter is steady. I dont see how the ref can be faulted. He didn't cause Lewis to stumble, Lewis was on unsteady legs even after the ref waved it all off. Seriously, I'm sure some of Lewis's opponents have been waved off in the same type of condition. I think what irks people about this stoppage is that it was only ONE knockdown. I dont think people can really fail to see that Lewis was almost falling over, and on spaghetti legs, he looked in distress. I think the referee made his decision to protect Lewis, to be fair, and it wasn't an unreasonable one, IMO. These issues were so much simpler in the days of Dempsey and Willard though.
I told you guys. Evander "Real Deal Holyfield!! He actually beat two of the other top guys in the era when they were at or near their best, and was never blasted out in a couple of rounds by second raters. When you add that to the fact that the rest of his record is AT LEAST the equal of Lewis's, it's a no-brainer, my man!!
If he pulled on Lennox's gloves while he had his guard up then he DID cause the stumble. What happened after the stoppage is irrelevant. I have already agreed that it was a reasonable stoppage. I can't think of any of Lennox's opponents who were waved off in that condition, but I guess it could have happened. Maybe in earlier fights when the opponent was clearly overmatched and there was nothing at stake. But this was a World Title fight. Whatever, I already said the stoppage was fair. But you can't deny it WAS harsh for a world title fight and we have seen many more let go than we have seen stopped in similar stituations.
I think Oliver McCall hitting Lewis upside the head a few moments earlier was a major factor. Referee was a pipsqueak, big mother****er like Lewis aint supposed to be pulled around by a little dude like that. Yeah, every case is different. I also defend the Mike Tyson-Carl Williams stoppage after one knockdown. Williams didn't look right.
I was there and saw it There is no bigger Lennox fan than me BUT the McCall stoppage was warranted. Lennox will argue this but he was out on his feet his eyes were glassy good stoppage by referee