Lennox Lewis loss to McCall was actually good for him

Definitely a reality check for Lewis who probably would have been killed by Riddick Bowe if he fought him with Correa in his corner.

 

Definitely a reality check for Lewis who probably would have been killed by Riddick Bowe if he fought him with Correa in his corner.

 

I agree.

Lewis was more polished afterwards and had better balance. Steward was working McCall's corner and had him take advantage of the openings Lewis left when throwing right hands.

Lewis had a tendency to throw more winging right hands early on. He was more consistent later on in throwing them straighter.

 

Yes agree, he got rid of the silly wild right and perfected his style with Steward.

 

yes i agree that he benifited unbelievable amounts with many steward, how ever, his weaknesses still never left him really, his weakness to the jab and pressure

 

Even Lewis himself said the loss to McCall made him a better fighter. Got to admire a man big enough to admit you can learn from your losses, rather then just coming up with excusses as to why they happened.

 

One way or another, Correa was not going to be around long. His tenureship was pretty much on life support. DKP signed Manny up for Oliver's title shot but it wasn't as if the guy was groomed by Steward for years. So Lennox could have easily signed up with Steward regardless of the McCall outcome--Steward sure did not stay with McCall for any duration of time.

 

Agreed.

I remember clearly the talk of the time was of how much longer will Correa keep his job with Lewis. He would of been out after the McCall fight anyway and i reckon Steward would still have been appointed.

 

Yes,his loss to McCall was definitely a case of the silver lining inside a cloud. Lennox became a far better and more complete fighter in consequence.

 

loses are not bad if you learn from them. If you just do the same mistakes over and over again the fighter will never be great. Lennox learned.

 

Does anyone else think that Lewis looked pretty good when he was with Davenport ?

I thought the Mason and Weaver fights Lewis had a very good style. But he looked a bit sloppy against Tyrell Biggs. He hired Correa and got rid of Davenport apparently because he felt Davenport was giving him a "programmed" or "robotic" style. Corea allowed him to fight "natural", and that was fine with the Ruddock win, but he came unstuck against McCall.

If he had stuck with Davenport he might have never lost to McCall anyway.

I must admit, I don't see a vast improvement when he went with Manny Steward straight away. Even when he tightened up his stance he had trouble with Mercer. I think he learned to put his punches together better and that helped him.

 

Well, he did blame his trainer very publicly, and he didn't ever give his opponents much credit with his two losses. There's only so much you can admire there.

 

I liked Davenport. He certainly was a strict no nonsense kind of guy. Getting rid of him is one thing, but I just never ever understood why Correa was selected. there were others out there and Lewis was a major property and it's Pepe.

I think Steward did a real good job and doesn't he always? But he sure didn't have Lennox firing off left hooks anymore. Just the 1-2. Maybe fire off more uppercuts. But he also let Lennox put on more weight. It's probably true Lewis put on pounds better than any other heavy, but I liked him lighter. He'd use that lefthook and his mobility in there. But we're really talking Davenport.

But that gap between Steward and Correa is pretty significant and wide. The other thing with Lennox is the help through all those years from Blackmore and Knight. They did a terrific job.

 

Lewis' win over Ruddock made him a very lazy fighter who felt as though his big right would get him out of dodge regardless. He was a little fortunate against Tucker and Bruno and had become a known commodity in his first 3 defences and McCall was seasoned enough to capitalize. Correa took the fall which was a little unfair as he was a decent trainer and i think Lewis' own arrogance and inability to listen played a part in his downfall. Several close to the camp insisted Correa told Lewis what and when to do and it was right, yet Lewis' inability to learn and listen definitely played a part. The wake up call did help him though.