And by that I mean, when he came out guns blazing.. Scariest HW ever? He might just be, IMO. When he came out to seek and destroy, boy did he not mess about!
The Ruddock and Golota fights are the obvious choices. I think he was supremely focused in the Rahman rematch. He had a habit of just pawing with the jab but in this fight every jab was sharp and delivered with purpose. He was a man on a mission that night. I personally don't think he was that scary, he was always too relaxed and chilled to ever be feared. But he was a daunting prospect to fight, big man and big power just not scary like Tyson, Foreman or Liston.
I get that, but I mean when he came in ready to kill. He was scary when he didn't see Boxing as a game of chess, and more of 'I'm knocking you out cold.'
Yeh persona doesn't seem scary but he was the pugilistic specialist. Not much lewis couldn't do and I rate him highly h2h maybe 1st.
I think when he had something to prove he was more focused but it wasn't always the case of him wanting to just go in there and smash you out of there, he was far more than just a banger. His performance in the first Holyfield fight was very impressive. Yes he was perhaps too cautious but he dominated Holyfield like he had never been dominated before. When had Holyfield ever been so thoroughly out boxed? The Briggs fight was a fight where he clearly came in with "I'm knocking you out cold" mentality you mentioned, but he wasn't focused here and it almost cost him. Lewis when focused was on another level to anyone he faced but I once again wouldn't say he was ever scary just very formidable when he was in that frame of mind.
Of course he was scary. But all this "who's the scariest ?" heavyweight stuff is a bit silly. Anybody who's fighting at that level heavyweight needs to believe in themselves and figure themselves to be one scary mofo, or one fearless mofo. I suppose it's natural even for those guys to feel fear too, but any HW worth his salt wont let it defeat them. I mean, it's just a sign that the other guy is over-matched or has low self-belief if he's going to let the other guy be all big and scary. Look at Mercer and Holyfield. Relatively small men (Mercer was 197 pounds in the 1988 Olympics at age 27, Holyfield turned pro as a light-heavy) and neither of them had the power of Lewis. They took his best shots and had him on the defensive when they charged him, they had the right mentality.
He was a scary HW for everyone who didn't have great chin. If your chin is average or suspect then you're in big trouble every time Lennox connects with his punches (Ruddock, Golota, Grant, Botha, Rahman, Morrison and others found it was true).
Holyfields comments on Lewis, regarding the Tyson fight were 'He doesn't bend in the wind, he just breaks'.
Ray Mercer had one of the all time great chins. He took bombs from Lewis but he certainly felt it. He fought his best career fight against Lewis but still lost. Lennox fought a bit too cautious against Holyfield i felt and rarely connected flush. Evander also had an amazing chin.
FYI, Lewis was wobbled by a jab from Rahman in the re match......watch the film. Scariest ever ? LOL, it took him almost the distance to park the Mummy Tyson.....if a prime Tyson would have faced that shell of the washed up mummy he would have been lucky to see the second round. Fact.
Yes, they had great chins. But they weren't fighting scared either. Nor was Mavrovic, nor was Frank Bruno (who didn't have a great chin by any means), and others. My point is, of course any huge heavyweight is "scary", especially when the opponent gets swept aside easy and looks scared or shocked. I prefer to look at fights which are a bit more of a contest. Also, the ONLY reason people see the Lewis fight as Mercer's "career best" is because Lewis was overrated going into it, and overrated now. Mercer wasn't even in good shape - again ! Yes, he came to fight. He was in better shape and boxed better in his previous fight (v. Holyfield) but he was never much of a boxer anyway. He fought a flat-footed fight, still had no head movement, and just kept coming. He used his jab well because Lewis was so poor at slipping it ! People say "career best" because he showed Lewis's limitations. The fact is, it was the same Mercer who faced Holyfield but fatter, and probably no better - and perhaps worse - than the one who fought Morrison and Holmes a few years earlier, or Witherspoon in his next fight in 1996, or even the one who barely beat Ferguson in a rematch !