Lewis vs Mercer

dawnofthedead · Nov 22, 2021

Big Ukrainian said: ↑

Just watched this fight for the 7th time. Of the 6 previous times I watched it I scored this fight 2 times for Lewis by 1 point, 1 time for Mercer and 3 times I scored it a draw.

This time I had it this way:

Round 1 - Mercer
Round 2 - Mercer
Round 3 - Lewis
Round 4 - Lewis
Round 5 - Mercer
Round 6 - Mercer
Round 7 - Lewis
Round 8 - Lewis
Round 9 - Lewis
Round 10 - Mercer

So, my final score was the same as Lederman's and Foreman's ones - 95-95, although we disagree with them on some rounds.

Interesting points I'd like to post here after re-watching this fight:

1. It was BY FAR the most exciting of Lewis' career IMO. Better than Vitali fight and much better than any other. Really great fight.

2. Don't know how people can claim a robbery here. Fight was VERY close, it could have gone either way, it wasn't like Mercer won 7 rounds to 3

3. IMO it was one of the best performances of Lewis' career and probably the only fight where he HAD to show all the skills he had. There was no any other fight in his career where he threw so many body punches, and he never threw so many beautiful 5-6 punches combos as he did in this fight (except of probably first Holyfield fight)

4. Mercer was clearly overweight and his conditioning costed him the win here - Lewis won 3 of 4 last rounds on my card.

5. On the other hand, small ring clearly favored Mercer. I think Lewis would feel himself more comfortable in the bigger ring and would have won the fight more clearly. But the small ring was one of reasons that made this fight so great

6. When people are saying: "Oh, if old, fat and inactive Mercer gave Lewis hell and arguably beat him, imagine what Mike Tyson would do to him?" WRONG! I'm not saying that Lewis would definitely beat Tyson prime for prime, no... But Mercer is very different stylistically to Tyson.

7. Mercer had absolutely fantastic, ATG chin. I'd say his chin wasn't any worse than Oliver McCall's one - the punches and combos he took from Lewis - it was amazing how well he took them and just kept coming.

8. Mercer's jab was a thing of beauty - it was one of the most effective jabs in HW history. He landed 60% of his jabs and clearly outjabbed much bigger and younger guy who had great skills and far superior reach.

9. Mercer nullified Lewis' clinching more effectively than any other fighter did. How he did it? He tried to put both his arms on Lewis' shoulders when Lewis held him at the beginning of the fight making it very uncomfortable for Lewis to put his weight on him. Later in the fight, when Lewis tried to hold Mercer's left arm, Ray ALWAYS threw body punches or right uppercuts making things all but comfortable for Lennox in the clicnhes. That's the skill that Mike Tyson lacked big time - he was always pretty easy to hold.

10. Unlike some boxing fans, I think Mercer fight adds a lot to Lewis' legacy rather than hurts it. Yes, the fight was very close, but it was one of the few times Lennox showed all his skills and heart to get the victory. Against Vitali Lennox showed great heart as well, but skillwise it wasn't his best performance. Against Mercer Lennox has shown great skills. Why the fight was so hard for him? I think Mercer was just a stylistic nightmare for Lennox with his ATG jab, ATG chin (Lennox couldn't hurt him even with his obest punches and combos) plus he nullified Lewis' holding/clinching very effectively. But I think this fight is great for Lewis' legacy the same way as Ali's win over Norton (in their second fight) is great for Ali's legacy. Or Holmes' win over Witherspoon is great for Holmes. Overcoming a tought fighter in a very tought fight IMO is a greater achievement than destroying a talented, but fragile opponent
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dawnofthedead · Nov 22, 2021

I scored it a draw, very close fight & could have gone either way, one of Mercer's best showings & fought consistently throughout.

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Lewis vs Mercer

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Lewis vs Mercer

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