Muhammad Ali Vs. Lennox Lewis

looks like a heavyweight pernell there

 

Bowe was more of a technician than Lewis. That doesn't mean he was better than Lewis. But he had skills far closer to James Toney than probably any giant that I've seen, albeit for a brief stretch and even that stretch had it's inconsistencies. Bowe was lazy. And he took things for granted. And he was a bit immature. In fact, Bowe's psychology was as undesirable as Lewis's was desirable....

But damn, Futch taught him well. You can't take that away from him.

Bowe was hit more often because he took more risks. He was among the best infighters of any man over 6'3 that I've seen. There's more danger inside. Bowe liked to mix it up, but he had real talent on the inside by any measure and I consider that a good indication of technical proficiency... because it's harder to fight (as oppossed to clinch) in close. Would you agree?

Lewis' tendency to stay away and throw long straight shots on shorter guys was effective, but it just isn't very impressive in terms of level of difficulty.

Bowe was nailed by Golota in I and II. Lewis was nailed as well and hurt by Klitschko... Bowe never fully recovered from the Holyfield wars and Lewis was out of shape in his last fight. Golota looked pretty damn impressive to me on both nights -particularly technically. My comments on Klitschko have already been noted. Anyway, call it a wash. Bowe's performance against Holyfield in the first bout was extraordinary. Was he hit alot? Sure was, but that was prime Holyfield in there fighting very aggressively. Again, it was also due to Bowe's strategy which was high risk but also a showcase of serious skill.

Holyfield, Tubbs, and Golota were far more skilled than Wlad. You know that. I'd agree that Bowe was more skilled at those distances that require greater proficiency. I think that the Bowe who beat Holyfield would have brought the Ukraine flag to half-mast. It could have been a dramatic example of how fighters with modern skillsets could be counted on to embarrass fighters who fought as if it were 1905.

 

Hold on now!

 

Lennox lewis would have given Ali a pasting, Ali was floored by henry cooper for crying out loud he was smaller than me! a solid shot by lennox would of destroyed that over-rated muslim idiot

 

Ali was hit by Foreman and Shavers with solid shots to the body and head and went nowhere. For crying out loud, what makes anyone think Lewis could knock him out?


Works both ways. :good

 

No: Pernell Whitaker had astonishing technique to match his reflexes. I tend to think that Ali was an athletic marvel, but this is often confused to result in an overestimation of his skill. Was he skilled at what he did? Sure, but what made him great was his combination of speed, strength, durability and strategy.

 

Lennox lewis has the power of the punch though

 

So did Shavers and Foreman. You need to lay off sniffing lighter fuel.

 

...that's a standing eight!

 

Lewis could do almost everything a big man should.He could block punches,had decent movement and could punch with insane power in both his hands.To my way of thinking he could never consistently do well all these things at the same time,except from a position of total dominance.
I think this was a psychological thing with him-not enough margin for error.

 

I think it's safe to say no fighter is unbeatable, even Ali. Of those who could beat him Lewis would be on that short list. Perhaps along with Holmes, Foreman (absent loose ropes, etc), a prime Liston, (not the one Ali fought) and perhaps Louis and Tyson. And of course Frazier would always make it a competitive battle. But at the head of this list is Holmes and Lewis, at least in my opinion.

 

A prime Ali under normal conditions (normal size ring, room temperature and normal humidity) would make Foreman look foolish. Ali would probably make him look worse than he made Liston look in '64.

I agree about Holmes, Lewis and Frazier, though.

 

Okay, we'll just have to disagree. By the way, i don't think Bowe fights as if it were 1905. He is one of the best skilled superheavies, that much is clear.
I think Golota also belongs in that category. In his fights with Bowe he was awesome..... such a pity he went mental whenever things didn't go his way, or even when they did.

 

Prime Ali would win handily on points.

 

That's possible. But to me there were so many extenuating circumstances in that fight that it's use as an assessment tool is suspect. For starters the ropes were far looser than would ever be allowed under normal circumstances. The fight was also postponed due to a cut Foreman received which affected his training and the food was also substandard.

Add all that up and it could have made a material difference.

However, unless Foreman learned how to pace himself better all this is moot cause he'd probably still loose. But if he did pace himself and all those other conditions were addressed..it would certainly be a competitive fight.