Lewis vs other great HW Champs

Lewis vs Ali
Lewis vs Louis
Lewis vs Marciano
Lewis vs Holmes
Lewis vs Tyson
Lewis vs Foreman
Lewis vs Frazier
Lewis vs Dempsey
Lewis vs Johnson
Lewis vs Liston
Lewis vs Holyfield
Lewis vs Tunney
Lewis vs W. Klitschko
Lewis vs V. Klitschko
Lewis vs Bowe

 

Lewis vs Ali:

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Lewis vs Louis:

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Lewis vs Marciano:

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Lewis vs Holmes:

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Lewis vs Tyson:

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Lewis vs Foreman:

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Lewis vs Frazier:

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Lewis vs Dempsey:

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Lewis vs Johnson:

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Lewis vs Liston:

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Lewis vs Holyfield:

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Lewis vs Tunney:

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Lewis vs W. Klitschko:

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Lewis vs V. Klitschko:

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Lewis vs Bowe:

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As long as Lewis's chin holds up he will win.

 

I think that's reasonable, and cases can be made for all your picks wether everyone outright agrees or not. I do think Lewis might beat Foreman though personally.

 

Lewis vs Ali -ALI PTS
Lewis vs Louis -LEWIS K.O within five
Lewis vs Marciano Lewis K.O within five
Lewis vs Holmes-Holmes PTS
Lewis vs Tyson -Tyson K.O within ten
Lewis vs Foreman -Lewis PTS close fight to tcall
Lewis vs Frazier Lewis K.O within ten.
Lewis vs Dempsey Lewis K.O within five
Lewis vs Johnson Lewis K.O within five
Lewis vs Liston Liston K.O late
Lewis vs Holyfield Lewis PTS
Lewis vs Tunney Lewis K.O within three
Lewis vs W. Klitschko lewis K.O within three
Lewis vs V. Klitschko Lewis stoppage within ten
Lewis vs Bowe lewis PTS

 

I'd like to hear your reasoning here.

 

Joe Louis would whoop LL.

 

The temptation here would be to assume that this fight would unfold a bit like Lewis Tyson (prime for prime) but I think that there are enough key differences between the styles of Dempsey and Tyson to create a verry different fight.

While Dempsey had many similarities to Tyson he did a lot more work on the inside and was harder to tie up in the clinches. While he was not as fast and explosive as Tyson on the attack he only needed a few inches room to be dangerous and it would be verry difficult for a Tucker style heavyweight to spoil their way to a decision.

It should be added that while Dempsey was a come forward attacking fighter he would often circle a larger oponent looking for an opening and feinting to set one up. While McCall and Ramhan got their chance prety muck by luck Dempsey would be looking to create his chance and if Lewis gave it to him he would be in trouble.

In all I would expect a much shorter and more explosive battle than with Lewis Tyson. Dempsey would throw Lewis off his game and would not allow him to fight to survive. He would have the tools to force Lewis into a more agresive confrontation. On the flip side of the coin I think that Dempseys chin was not on a parr with Tysons and that it tends to get over-rated due to his ability to fight while hurt. This would also stack the deck in favour of a shorter fight if Lewis gained the upper hand.

In short I pick Dempsey to win by mid round TKO but think that he would be vulnerable to getting caught coming in by a Lewis right hand which might put him on ***** street. Either way it will be a shorter fight than Lewis Tyson.

This would probably be the most boring fight of all those listed. There is not enough footage of Johnson to mkake a detailed pick of how he would fare againt Lewis or vice versa.

Johnsons style was minimalistic based on avoiding punishment with the smallest movments and the lwest energy expenditure. It is fair to observe that he had considerable success with his style against larger and taller fighters including some mobile ones with good jabs like Denver Ed Martin (at least based on contemporary acounts). He could also turn tiger on larger oponents and knock them out with a sly uppercut if he chose to do so.

I am confident that Lewis never faced anything remotley like Johnson stylisticaly so it is impossible to say how he would have fared.

The bottom line is I don't know who would win.

This would be one of the most dangerous matches for Lewis of those listed here.

Liston not only had an incredible 84'' reach but he was also only 6' 1'' tall. This meant that against taller oponents who liked to fight at range he could reach them but he could also duck under their punches while they could only go backwards against his. Liston knew how to deal with taller oponents and he didnt care if he had to take a few flush bombs to the chin to do it. He was also a superb ring general able to anticipat his oponents next move and often having the shot set up before they moved.

Lewis would need all of his ring smarts and inteligence to cope with Liston and his best chance probably lies in his handspeed combined with his mobility. While Lewis might be able to marshal the right fight plan to pull this off I am going to fall on the side of Liston.

You have seen the fights that actualy took place and I dont think I can tell you anything about the dynamic that you don't know.

Horrible stylistic matchup for Tunney.

Tunney would be the proverbial slickster trying to outbox the proverbial superheavyweight. Small slicksters struggle against fighters like Lewis precisely because they are giving up the one variable that they cannot aford to give up e.g. range. If you make up for your deficit in offensive capability by trying to defeat your oponent on the outside you cannot aford to have to come into his offensive range before you can even reach him.

Tunney would deploy his ring inteligence, boxing ability and mobility but it would ultimately be to no avail.

Lewis would probably go through Klitschko prety brutaly.

Klitschko has a good jab and is a good fighter at range but he lacks a deluxe inside offensive arsenal like Lewis has and dosn't even seem to make use of the uppercut. Against Lewis this would be suicide. Ke would find himself unable to keep Lewis at range, forced to trade with him, and it would soon be over.

Lewis by early KO.

I think that if Lewis had been at his peak the fight would have gone prety much as it did anyway. Wlads style would always have been awkward for Lewis in the early rounds but Lewis would always have taken control.

Surprisingly similar I suspect.

Lewis was always wrong for Bowe.

I suspect he would have finished what Golotta started.

 

Lewis vs Ali ud
Lewis vs Louis ko late
Lewis vs Marciano dominate decision or late ko
Lewis vs Holmes ud
Lewis vs Tyson ko round 8
Lewis vs Foreman late ko
Lewis vs Frazier ko early
Lewis vs Dempsey ko mid rounds
Lewis vs Johnson ud
Lewis vs Liston ko
Lewis vs Holyfield ud
Lewis vs Tunney ud
Lewis vs W. Klitschko ko
Lewis vs V. Klitschko ko
Lewis vs Bowe ud

 

What odds would you give for Dempsey to win by his magic KO-when-opponent-clinches punch?

 

Prety low.

It tended to be a wear you down type of punch unless you got careless on the inside.

 

Lewis vs Ali - Ali UD 12 (close fight)
Lewis vs Louis - Lewis KO8
Lewis vs Marciano - Lewis TKO 3
Lewis vs Holmes - Holmes UD12 (close fight)
Lewis vs Tyson - Tyson KO6
Lewis vs Foreman - Lewis TKO5
Lewis vs Frazier - Lewis TKO4
Lewis vs Dempsey - Lewis KO3
Lewis vs Johnson - Lewis UD12
Lewis vs Liston - Lewis KO7
Lewis vs Holyfield - Lewis UD12
Lewis vs Tunney - Lewis KO2
Lewis vs W. Klitschko - Lewis KO5
Lewis vs V. Klitschko - Lewis TKO7
Lewis vs Bowe - Lewis UD12 (although if they fought in 1993 I would give the edge to Bowe)

Lewis would end up 12-3 9KOs.
Not bad...

 

Thanks for the insightful posts, Janitor. You have gone into the ring with Lewis and the greats and offered an informed analysis. Each in his style, the men came alive as I read through.