In these enjoyable fights, the tall Superheavyweights trained by the legendary Manny Steward had their "baptisms of fire" which made them reach their Peaks. When Wlad (244lbs) fought Peter (243lbs) in '05, it was his 6th fight with Steward training him, & when Lewis (247lbs) fought Mercer (238lbs) in '96, it was his 4th fight with Steward as his trainer. Those fights happened 11 years apart, but were very similar senarios in the final development phase of Wlad & Lewis. I think these two fights are ideal to use in my 'Opponent Swap' concept. Here are the bouts: '96 Lewis vs. '05 Wlad '96 Mercer vs. '05 Peter '05 Wlad vs. '96 Mercer '96 Lewis vs. '05 Peter My scorecard for Wlad-Peter I '05: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10293533&postcount=985 My scorecard for Lewis-Mercer '96: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10202936&postcount=938
'96 Lewis vs. '05 Wlad Lewis '96 Mercer vs. '05 Peter Mercer '05 Wlad vs. '96 Mercer Mercer '96 Lewis vs. '05 Peter Lewis These guys still had the tools to win the fights.
'96 Lewis vs. '05 Wlad -The more confident fighter wins in Lewis. '96 Mercer vs. '05 Peter -Toss up. Same level of fighter, and neither in great shape. '05 Wlad vs. '96 Mercer -Wlad, he would just do more clinching than Lewis. '96 Lewis vs. '05 Peter -Lewis, he would just mix it up more than Wlad. Like 05 Peter. 96 Mercer really wasn't THAT good.
I've been watching quite a bit of Mercer recently, and am way less impressed than I recall. His fight against Lewis was a pretty good performance, but on the whole, he had a lot of awful, shaky performance, and displayed inconsistent skills. He's tough enough and hit hard enough to get rid of Wlad, but he'd have to in order to win. When Lewis boxed behind his jab, he seemed to have Ray well controlled. Same with other opponents. Lewis wouldn't struggle with Peter at all. Peter vs. Mercer, I'd probably go Mercer, because he had skills in his jabbing that the cruder Peter didn't. But its no blowout, as Mercer gets hit with big overhand rights in about every big fight he's in, and that is Peter's specialty. Lewis vs. Wlad, Lewis definitely at this point. Wlad was soul searching and looking for a measure of confidence in the ring; Lewis never had a crisis of self belief, and was actually on a decent little run. Wlad and Lennox would box a bit, and fairly evenly, for several rounds, but when Lewis decided to go for it, Wlad would not be ready to repel him.
'96 Lewis vs. '05 Wlad -Close tactical boxing, until Lewis decides to turn on the pressure, & ends it in devastating fashion in the early or middle rounds. When it finished depends on if Lennox comes out slugging, or starts with a feeling-out process for a few rounds. '96 Mercer vs. '05 Peter -Mercer by 7-5 type decision in a great memorable war, his jab & workrate take it for him. Peter obviously has more raw power of the two, but Mercer had a amazing chin, as shown by the monstrous bombs he absorbed with ease from Lewis. '05 Wlad vs. '96 Mercer -I used to pick Mercer here, but now i take Wlad by close decision, he would jab & clinch more than Lewis. In a 10 rounder, it really could go either way depending on judging preferences, but i'm quite confident on Wlad winning a 12 round bout, due to how Mercer faded late in his 10 round fight with Lewis. '96 Lewis vs. '05 Peter -A one-sided fight where Lewis batters Sam with the ramrod jab, & stops him in 7 rounds. The frequency of Lewis throwing huge hooks & uppercuts determines how long this goes. Peter is great at walking through jabs & straights, but monstrous hooks & uppercuts are his bane.
Lewis vs Peter, I'd love to see that. Would be a war, like Lewis vs Mercer. The question is whether they put him in a 3-foot ring like they did vs Mercer?
Lewis destroys Wlad and either destroys Peter or UDs him wide. Wlad outboxes Mercer (who may test him a little) and Mercer outboxes and outslugs Peters who was too sloppy and punched too wide
