Lennox Lewis is the greatest heavyweight of all time

He was scared to fight Vitali after the whopping he recieved the 1st time so no he's not the greatest

 

Oh, LL got it bad!!! To see his name mentioned as an ATG today...I have to laugh at how each generation poo-poos on the successor. Just imagine the possibility of Wilder in 20-30 years being the new litmus test LMAO!

I'm on the fence with that one. As I got ragged on another thread for saying fighters have fear, they just deal with it.

In this case, I saw it as a man who understood his time had come and gone. Was it the 2nd round? When Lampley said we were watching a fighter get old in front of our eyes.
He got outjabbed, but boy did he throw bombs that busted that man's face wide open. He had to! Reflexes gone. Outjabbed. No legs.

I'm sure Vitali would've loved the chance to say he beat the 38 year old guy in a rematch.

Some great quotes:
Manny Steward: it was probably Lewis's worst performance since he became a world
heavyweight champion

Lewis: "Yes, I gambled in taking Klitschko at such short notice. Kirk Johnson was supposed to be my tune-up fight for him. (HBO) & the Staples Center site hosts weren't interested in anyone else but Klitschko. There was an outcry from people, so I took the fight."

Lennox's dance is done,. Well is dry; nearly 38, He's no different to Ali or Joe Louis or anyone. I heard that when Sugar Ray Leonard was training for his last fights he just had a mirror and shadow boxed. He didn't do any sparring, so of course there was no way he could judge himself."

Lennox last quote:
"When Muhammad Ali was training for his last fight I was down there with Tommy Hearns. Ali sparred Tommy. Tommy handled him so easy he was playing with him. Of course he took a bad beating from Trevor Berbick. If it could happen to Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, couldn't it happen to me?"

The words of a man who soul-searched himself and knew he couldn't turn the clock back. No longer a big man with reflexes. No longer the fighter with the longest reach- It was now Vitali who had the long reach, better jab. So to expect him to fight a rematch past his best isn't a sport. It then becomes a business.

Lennox went out right by giving 60 stitches to the face of the up in coming HW champ.

 

Well resume wise Ali and Lewis are a cut above the rest of HW's ever.

 

and crucially to those criticisms ‘not American’!

 

Ridiculous suggestion!
Lewis is 10 years older than Foreman was when he returned!
Vitali had an amazing opportunity to beat the worst version of Lewis to ever step in a ring and not only failed but got beat up

 

Lennox Lewis beat Vitali & the hardship is his fault, If Lewis wants to more ATG credit, he has to take those big risks...rematches, comebacks

Otherwise, setback, relax and watch the new generation outdo him...

 

Lewis was great

But also BORING

Mike Tyson? Now there's an all-time great.

 

Your suggestion is ludicrous, for Lewis to face Wilder, Fury & Joshua at the first opportunity and when they were Champions he’d have been 52 years old!

As I said in my last post, Vitali (who I like) faced the absolute worst version of Lennox Lewis ever and it was his worst condition by a distance. Lewis had trained for a tune up fight, then very late in the day he was thrown into a match against the No1 contender!
Vitali made a great start, confidence is a wonderful thing, but from the 3rd onward Lewis turned the fight and was landing heavily while Vitali faded. In the end Vitali was beat up, needed a hundred stitches and was lucky to finish on his feet.

Vitali got the best opportunity he was ever going to get and couldn’t beat Lewis!
Do you honestly think Lewis would have gone into a rematch in such poor condition and under prepared? Vitali would have faced a fit and focussed Lewis who’d have KOd him inside 4 rounds

 

Have you watched a single Chavez fight? He is one of the best when it comes to head movement.
Yeah, he liked to brawl at times, but he also made someone like Pernell look stupid at times(too bad for him that Pernell repaid the favour).

 

Um, was Vitali really the nr 1 contender?
Regardless, it was seen as a mismatch as well.

And I agree, Vitali did well in the early going, but Lewis seemed to be turning the fight around. And no, no way does Lewis easily KO Vitali in just 4 rounds. Lewis might have had a shitty camp, but Vitali also showed up on short notice.


Lewis gets a ton of praise, but who did he really beat? Holyfield was a nice W, but he was old as ****. Tyson was clearly past it.
Massive credit for avenging his two brutal losses tho. But what else of ATG substance is there?
Not to say that his resume is weak, as it is clearly not: Holyfield, Tua, Vitali, Ruddock, Tucker, Bruno, Morrison, McCall, Mercer, Golota and Rahman. That is a heck of a resume.
But how can you even compare it to someone like Ali? Or even Holyfield?

 

So underwhelming, not what fans imagine the G.O.A.T don't though worry future Heavyweights will be World Champions in their 50s

No risk taking, No Greatness.

 

Would have been interesting to see how Lewis would have handled Wlad after Vitali.

 

Lennox was undoubtedly a great fighter and earned his place amongst the heavyweight greats. If you were designing a prototype for a modern heavyweight he would probably have a lot of Lewis' attributes.

In fights though he wasn't always the sum of his parts, which needs to be factored into H2H match-ups. When you look at the competition for the top slot, as well as the skills you're looking at the intangibles such as an extraordinary ability to adapt within fights (Ali), or in rematches (Louis), or to recover when badly hurt (Holmes). While Lewis avenged all three blemishes on his record, and proved his heart against Klitschko and Mercer, his intangibles are not quite on the level of some other ATGs.

 

I would have taken him to beat the then Wlad but he was getting his ass beat in any rematch with Vitali and he knew it.

 

Yeah, Chavez in his prime was a craftsman and one of the finest ever at skilled infighting. His clinic against Rosario was a masterpiece.

Taylor made him look like a facefirst slugger, but supernatural speed can do that do anyone. McGirt probably took more flush punches against Taylor than he did in his previous half a dozen fights combined.