Lennox Lewis's Toughest Fight

Not including his two losses it has to be Vitali.

 

When I am using the term "beat," I am going by my own eyes and status of the fight. Not so much in terms of the cards at the time of stoppage.

I just don't give as much credit to the Bruno fight as others do because simply put, I don't see what others did. I have the fight on DVD, I have watched it numerous times (hence my tag, I am a huge Lennox fan), and I just don't see it. I see Bruno who was getting worse and worse and it was only a matter of time before Lennox was going to end that fight. Not once did I ever think Lennox was in any kind of danger. Not once. I had the danger feeling a few times in the Vitali fight.

 

As I said in an earlier post, Bruno was not getting stronger as the fight went on, he was getting worse, his punches were being thrown wider and his stamina was fading, it was only a matter of time before Lewis stopped him.

Did you get that feeling of danger when Briggs had Lennox hurt in the first round?

 

I watched both the Bruno fight and the VITLAY fight live and I thought Lewis was in more trouble with Bruno than VITLAY. Bruno might have been tiring and getting slower, but nowhere near as badly as VITLAY was. Lewis looked old, under-trained and ring rusty against VITLAY but he never looked in danger of being KO'd. Against Bruno he looked in trouble right up until he landed that huge left hook and was getting busted up by Brunos jab - hence the sunglasses not only in the press conference but immediately after the fight. I'm not a Bruno fan but he gets way underestimated on here for his boxing ability, he had a great jab and hit like a ****ing mule, hence his KO%.

 

:good thats a good call. the first 10 rounds was very close but he was clearly ahead.

 

Yep, I am in full agreement with you on the Bruno fight. I just don't see any struggle. I see a lumbering fighter that was breathing heavier and heavier as it went on.

Honestly, I wasn't worried about the Briggs fight. At the time, I didn't think Lennox would ever get knocked out again. And being that I followed Lennox closely, I had seen him eat shots that were much worse. I still love the smile Lennox does after Briggs tags him later in the fight.

The only times I ever worried about Lennox were against fighters he should have killed on paper because he would go into the chess mode bull****. But when people questioned if he was going to win, I knew he would come in like a mother****er and rock the ****. Lennox was a bad mother when he wanted to be and unfortunately, the times he wasn't will give ammo to naysayers.

 

I am not saying Bruno sucked, he was damn good, I just never was worried. He was just way too lumbering when he was against Lennox for me to have any doubt and he kept breathing hard. But you are totally correct, the post fight sunglasses said it all. His jab troubled Lennox.

But when Vitali launched that straight right against Lennox (in the second I think), I was much more worried than any point against Bruno.

 

As a huge Lennox fan, I will forever be pissed that Zelkjo contracted that disease. The dude had serious skill and an IRON chin. He ate some serious shots. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have won a belt if he would have continued fighting.

But since he got sick, and was white, and looked goofy as ****, people will write off that fight as less than deserved for Lennox.

 

But it is similar to our disagreement on Wlad's chin. As a close follower of Wlad, I am much more worried about Wlad's stamina than his chin. Because everytime he has been tagged, he always has his wits about him. Even when Sanders was tagging the hell out of him, Wlad was fine, he just had no ****ing clue how to survive. Typical Euro coaching. I have never once seen Wlad have any kind of cobwebs from a punch. But I have seen his dumbass look like he ran four marathons in a row twice.

 

I too have followed Wlad closely over the years, and I still cant put my finger on what his deal is with not being able to take a punch well, I dont know if it's that he has a weak chin, lacks mental toughness, or a combination of both. Against Brewster in April of 04 he did look good landing almost everything, but if you watch closely in the 3rd round he was stung with a pretty average left and his feet went from under him, he slightly panicked and clinched onto Lamon, it truly was a punch 90% of Heavyweights could of took without even flinching, but Wlad looked genuinely hurt by it.

His fights with Sanders and Peter also show Wlads weakness to any kind hardship or pressure, he seems to either melt or looks out of sorts trying to survive. Even against Iggy he seemed to be quite timid, not looking to engage with the much smaller man, even letting him off the hook after he hurt him with a right. I dont really think Wlads stamina is all that bad anymore, but the way he reacts to getting hit is not normal for a top notch heavyweight, but given the weak state of the division and one of the best trainers in your corner, it seems to be enough to get him out trouble and continue to be the best out there right now.

 

I don't think you can claim a weak state of the division.

Granted Wlad has flaws, but it is not like those flaws are easy to expose in every fight, evidenced by his tools, record, and KO percentage.

Wlad would give any ATG fits and would beat a lot of them. If he continues his pace, he will be an undisputed Top 15 ATG easily.

 

Glad you mentioned that Sunday best punch that VITLAY landed in the second against Lewis....I too was worried when it landed but Lewis wasn't even shaken by it - as soon as I saw Lewis's reaction to that punch I sat back, had a sip of beer and said to myself 'yep, Lennox is going to be fine in this one' and watched the fight unfold. With Bruno I was worried right up until Lewis landed the killer left hook because I knew that Bruno could take any man out with a single shot should he land it - VITLAY obviously couldn't, looked good against the weak comp he'd faced up until then but as soon as he stepped it up he looked out of his depth, his power didn't save him and that's because his power wasn't that great to start with. I suspect WALD has better power but his punch resistance is awful which will be his undoing - if it already hasn't been.

 

I would hardly call it strong, in popularity and talent wise it's the worst I, and most here have ever seen it.

No, Wlads flaws are not easy to expose, it takes a certain type of fighter to bring those flaws out, he should thank Emanuel for that, without the clinching and improved defense, he would not be holding the belt right now IMO.

Wlad would give some ATG's a hard time, but the ones he would destroyed by our the ones that are aggressive, powerful, and have a good chin, guys like Tyson, Foreman, even Lewis would have a field day with Wlad, he wouldnt go past the 6th round any of those 3.

 

Please name these ATG's that WALD would give fits to?

 

You forgot Liston, Marciano, Frazier, Ali, Holyfield and Bowe too. Don't give me no **** about WALD being able to beat them because he's taller either :good