Lennox Lewis' longevity...not that much better than Tyson's!

Tyson's real reign started when he beat Michael Spinks for the Lineal Championship. But he had cleaned the division before that.

 

Yeah but Lewis was fighting and beating damn good guys for a long time, Tyson was finished after Douglas and prison. Also Lewis was avoided by Bowe and denied an earlier reign, he also regained the title.

 

Boring

Lewis competed at the upper level of the heavyweight division much longer and more consistently than Tyson did. Anyone that disputes that is either deluded or ignorant

 

:happy

 

How old are you, 14? Sounds like it.

Take your face off of Tyson's old wrinkled balls.

Tyson is not a top 100 fighter of all time and Lennox is, so thats that.

 

Tyson starched an old Holmes who was coming out of retirement. Spinks showed up for the payday. Then we got drunks, drug addicts and never weres like Marvis Fraizer, Mitch Green, Pinklon Thomas etc.

Lewis beat ranked guys over a much longer period than Tyson.

 

http://boxing.about.com/od/history/a/ring_80_best.htm

 

Lewis was consistently in the top 4 or 5, and often in the top 2, in the division for about 11 or 12 straight years.
That's good longevity.

Tyson was in the top 2 or 3 for about 5 years straight before going to jail.
After released from jail, I never thought he deserved a high ranking for more than a year (1996-'97), but many of the boxing magazines certainly did.
I never understood how he got elevated so high by the time he faced Lewis in 2002, but having said that I guess the depth of contenders in the divsion was almost non-existent. Lewis only had one real rival (Holyfield), and somehow I suppose Tyson could end up placed not many places below those two circa 2000-'02.
If that is correct and fair, then a case can be made for Tyson being a top 3, 4 or 5 fighter a whole 16 (SIXTEEN) years after he first exploded into the rankings, so that's pretty good longevity too.

 

How many fighters in the modern era of 3+ belts have been recognized as the Undisputed Champ for longer than Lennox?

 

Not much longer.
It also depends who you class as a "ranked fighter"
Lewis beat his first ranked fighter in '91 or '92, and the last one in '03.
Tyson beat his first ranked fighter in '86, and the last in '96 or arguably later (some might say Golota in '00).

 

Lewis defeated Ruddock in 1992 which marked his arrival as a top level heavyweight. This was a part of a heavyweight championship tournament that was spoiled by Bowe ducking him. He won the WBC title that Reluctant Riddick vacated to avoid fighting him in 1993.

From that point on Lennox Lewis competed consistently at or near the top of the heavyweight division until winning his last fight as undisuputed champ in 2003 and retiring

Lewis had 44 pro fights. From 1993-2003 he fought 22 times. 18 of those fights were for major world titles. He went 15-2-1 in those title fights. That's over 10 consecutive years of consistently competing in the upper echelon of the division. So much for your argument