Lately posters have been rating Lewis as high as #3 on their all time lists. That might be okay if we were having a dread locke contest, but this is boxing and being an ATG requires real accomplishments. He lost to Oliver McCall in two rounds. He lost early Rahman He was gifted against an old Mercer He was almost beat by old Bruno He drew with ancient Holy He couldn't finish an ancient Tucker when he had him in trouble He got lucky against Klitschko. One more round and Vitali would have had him. He avoided John Ruiz and Chris Byrd when they were contenders. His best wins came against over the hill fighters like Holy and Tyson. Lewis might make my top 15.
I agree he is often over ranked in the ATG list, but he was still better than your making him out to be.
Beat every man he faced, cleared out 1 of the best divisions in history and the HW in the world for 10years, beat 2 ATGs past his own prime, beat countless top 10 ranked opponents, beat the collective biggest punchers in history, beat more bigger men than any HW Yes I'm serious
He's a very lucky fighter. I've scored every round of every fight he's ever been in for the opponent, including the ones where he knocked his opponent out. Yes, his performances were that bad. It's no wonder he avoided ATG's like Ruiz and Byrd. Yet he somehow routinely won his matches. This puzzles me.
I didn't like Lewis when he fought, both his personality and his style. With that being said, I still would rank him in lower end of my top ten HW's. The reasons listed by the thread starter are embarrasing. "He had a draw with Holyfield". That statement alone makes the rest of what he says meaningless.
You' re joking, right?:huh First Lewis' fight vs Holyfield (who was past his prime) was his best performance ever. 1997-2001 version of Lewis (from Golota to Rahman rematch, excluding undermotivated Lewis in 1st Rahman fight) was MUCH better than, say, 1992-1994 Lewis. And slightly past his prime 2002 Lewis' beating completely shot version of Tyson (yes, the same version of Tyson was ko'd by Williams and McBride) isn't such a big deal. However, Lewis is definitely an ATG fighter. Just don't overrate his win over Tyson, who was nothing more than a name when the fight happened.
Lewis was 33 and 34 against Holyfield, he was a whole year older than Tyson as 36yo. And no Tyson didnt lose after the Lewis fight for a whole 2years, in which time he didnt train and wasnt as hungry, so no he wasnt the same fighter as when he fought Lewis. Plus he was nearly 38 against a Prime Vitali, who became the no1 HW in the world after him. By the time Vitali is done, we may consider Lewis beating 3 ATGs Lewis's physical prime was around 1993, he became better technically and more cautious when teaming up with, probably his peak of combined physical and technical ability came in '97 but even by '97 he had lost some speed and athleticism that the younger Lewis had
Easy all-time great. I have him around #4 but he is just about the most difficult H2H match-up of all time. His only losses were against huge men when he wasn't focussed. In the HW modern era, every opponent is a ****ing monster. It ain't like almost being whipped by Billy Conn. You blink and you are gone. Louis liked the soft life when he could get a taste of it. As he did before both McCall and Rahman. No excuse, just the truth. Focus was his main weakness. This thread is ****.
1) Tyson didn't look hungry fighter and weighed in 234 lbs vs Lewis, 1 lb heavier than he was against Williams and McBride, and 15-16 lbs heavier than prime Tyson. Prior to Lewis fight Tyson has fought 1 time in 20 months and looked awful against old, fat, out of shape jorneyman Brian Nielsen. 2) Holyfield is 3 years older than Lewis and was definitely much more washed up (because of his style and plenty of ring wars) 3) Younger (1992-1994) Lewis had way too many flaws in his style and was much more beatable than 1997-2001 Lewis. Post-McCall Lewis may have lost some speed, but he became stronger, much smarter, and better technician. I can't imagine 1997-2001 Lewis losing at least 4 of 6 rds vs Bruno or spending 8 rds to stop glass-jawed jorneyman Phil Jackson or being unable to stop shot Tony Tucker. Can you? Lewis 1997-2001 would destroy Lewis 1992-1994 easily.
I believe he's hovering in the 12-15 range of ATG HW's...To put him anywhere near the top 5-7 is nonsense--those spots are locked up to guys like Ali, Louis, Holmes, Foreman, Dempsey, Jack Johnson, etc...Great fighter though....