I used to dislike him for a number of reasons. #1 I think he got lucky against both Frank Bruno and Shannon Briggs even though he managed to beat them both. Bruno had him hurt and was dominating the fight before he got careless, dropped his hands, and allowed Lennox to land a haymaker right hand. Briggs punched himself out, and didn't pace himself properly, otherwise I think he would have had Lewis in more trouble. #2 I don't think Lewis won the second fight with Holyfield. I scored that fight as a two point minimum victory for Holyfield. Lewis IMO was given this decision because he was clearly robbed the first time. #3 Lewis was lucky to get a gift decision when he fought Ray Mercer. I thought Mercer did enough to win that fight and landed the cleaner and harder shots. Avoiding a rematch with Mercer also didn't encourage me to appreciate Lewis more as a fighter. #4 He used illegal and dirty tactics against Michael Grant, pushing and leaning on his back while throwing uppercuts underneath. Some will say Lewis got away with that tactic against other opponents as well. My new respect for Lennox Lewis is a direct result of his commentary and revisiting the later stages of his career. Lennox as a commentator offers the fighter's perspective of what happens during and between rounds. He also brings a bright, fresh perspective as opposed to Lampley and Merchant. When I look at his fights against Mike Tyson and David Tua, my first impressions of Lewis aren't very complimentary. I think he could have finished Tyson earlier than round six and could have put more pressure on David Tua. Most boxing fans appeal to the exciting knock-outs and slugfest stoppages, but I appreciate Lewis because he's an athletic big man that will make his opponent stop fighting. Lewis was not just a big man that can knock a fighter out. Lewis was a big man that could move, box and make his opponent quit by beating him to the punch. He's a true gentleman of the sport, calling himself a pugilistic specialist. He didn't go and try to kill Tyson in the first couple of rounds, but systematically broke him down with a disciplined jab and right hand. He made Tyson quit without turning the fight into a nasty brawl, and I find that impressive considering the build up to that fight.
Most of your observations at the time were just flat out wrong. Holyfield did not win the second fight. We've had thread upon thread about this and the vast majority feel Lewis legitimately won and the few who felt Holyfield won, couldn't agree on which rounds put him over the top. As for Mercer, that was a hard fought legit win for Lewis, although to me at least, it was closer than the second Holyfield fight. The Briggs comment is ridiculous, Lewis beat him fair and square and looked impressive doing so. And as for Bruno, not sure what to say other than the fight isn't over, until it's over. This applies to the Klitschko fight as well. I don't understand how anyone can diss Lewis for coming back and winning a fight, when he lost against both McCall and Rahman, while being ahead on the cards? That makes no sense to me. As for the Tyson fight, not sure how many people know this, but Lewis hurt his right hand fairly early in the fight, round 2-3 I believe. He mentioned it in one of his commentaries about the fight when he said Manny was swearing at him to end it, but he didn't bother telling him he hurt his right hand to the point that he said it took a couple of round to get used to the pain of punching with it full out. Not that that matters much, cause it seemed to me, he systematically beat him regardless of when it ended, but this might explain why Tyson could absorb some many of those shots. That and a great chin.
Even if Briggs DID gas, it's pretty irrelevant as Lennox took many of those shots flush on the chin that resulted in Briggs gassing.
How was he lucky against either Bruno or Briggs? Bruno did well early but his succes was fading, and he didn't "drop his hands", he was hitting Lewis in a corner when Lewis came with a left hook, not a right hand, that turned the tide. Same against Briggs, he covered up, got into a rythem and knocked him out. I don't see where luck came into play. 2 point minimum? Which 7 rounds in your eyes definitely, if not more, went to Evander? The majority of the people scored it 6-4 for Lewis. It was a close fight, so per definition it cannot be a "gift" decision. It also didn't help, of course, that the crowd went nuts when Mercer landed as much as a glancing jab but watched silently when a three punch combination bounced off Mercer's skull. And Lewis wasn't even champion, so there's not much merit to "avoiding a rematch". Especially considering Mercer did nothing to get back into the picture when Lewis got the title again. And Holyfield headbutted the **** out of his opponents, Ali held behind the head and sometimes excessively, Frazier hit the hip, Tyson did all kinds of stuff, but who cares? Umm.. ok...
Call it what you want. Holmes was also a great fighter, who may have had the best jab ever, or for sure his jab was in the top 5. Are you sure you're a boxing fan? Most people making these type of comments are simply fanatics of one or two fighters (ie Tyson) and not true boxing fans. If it's one thing Holmes could do, it was box.
It was not luck. These were tough fights, and Lewis kept his composure and hung in there when his heart was tested. Briggs and Bruno hit a ton. They almost cashed in on their punchers chance, but Lewis would not let them. Having said that, I do think the Hook that took Bruno out was a lucky 1 in 10-desperation type of punch. Lewis landed a hard hook backing up, a bit hurt, and according to HBO cameras, with his eyes not on the target. Lewis won clean on fair score cards. Good fight. Close fight. I had it 6-4 for Lewis. Lewis imposed his will late. Yes, Lewis hit and held, and did some rule bending for sure. Lewis is a smart guy as long has his ego doesn't get in the way. Yes-- he is a very good color guy. I like him in this role.
Lennox deserves all the repsect he gets. His wins over Bruno and Briggs were good win, he struggled for a bit with Bruno and maybe a bit with Briggs, but their was no luck involved here, Lewis was clearly the better man in both fights and scored legit stoppage victories, also may i mention that briggs was linear champ at the time and BOTH went on to win versions of the heavyweight title after lennox knocked them out. Lewis won the rematch with Holy even after being robbed blind in the first meeting. As for Mercer, Cmon man if you are the british fighter, fighting a popular american, in America, with 3 American judges in a show which was promoted as Britain Vs America and you still get the nod in a close fight, then you are unarguably the rightful winner. his win over Grant was legit, Grant was HBOs future champ but cmon its a fight at the end of the day - the better man won!
