Pre 1980s boxers that could beat Lennox Lewis?

Id say Ali,Foreman and Holmes. Id give Liston a helluva a shot. There is also alot of the big punchers like Shavers,Louis,Fraizer that would have a great shot,but I think Lennox gets them out first.

 

In addition to Baer, another couple of darkhorses may have been Galento and Cleveland Williams. Galento had the whiskers and did wing big shots in there. I like the Marciano chances as well, but don't love them.
Ingo threw a weird sneaky right hand and that's the shot that got him out of there against Rahman and McCall. So, it is possible for the guy to land. Shavers was the opposite of a lot of punchers--he dipped down to fire off the big shots. Most guys rise up. Perhaps he could catch Lennox with that early.

I think a 76 or 77 Jimmy Young gives Lennox a lot of problems. I just don't know if he'd ever do enough to get judges to award him a victory. But in a 15 rounder, I think the Lewis gastank could be drained.

These are a few guys in addition to the others mentioned. The thing with a Lewis is that you wouldn't exactly pick a Rahman or McCall ko victory over very many other top names, but they sure got the results aginst Lennox.

 

There are very few who could take on and beat a prime and fully focused Lennox Lewis.

 

Trouble with Earnie was,that he was very much a chin or be chinned fighter. Not as durable as Ray Mercer. Shavers could have caught Lennox,true but a more likely scenario would be Lennox tagging Earnie.

 

Muhammad Ali circa 1964-1975 would beat Lennox. So would a prime Larry Holmes.. I'd give 50/50 shots on Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

 

Who can ko the glass jawed Lewis who was 1-punched twice? here goes. Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, Johnson, Dempsey, Tunney, Schmeling, Bear, Louis,Langford, McVey, Jeannette, Walcott, Marciano, Charles, Liston, Ali, Cleveland Williams, Frazier, Quarry, Boavena, Lyle, Frazier again, Foreman young and old, Holmes, Ali, Norton, Snipes, Page on a good day, Tyson, McCall, Danny "Little Red" Lopez, Rock-a-bye Rubin Olivares and my cousin Jolene who has a fierce left to the body-right to the chin combo and absolutely rules her fifth grade schoolyard.:smoke:rofl:rofl

 

You left out Maxie Rosenbloom, Joey Archer and Miguel Canto. (Not to mention Rachman.) Oh, and by Walcott, do you mean Jersey Joe, or Barbados Joe?

 

Either:dead

 

its way to easy to say ANYONE with a punch who can reach that chin......so, discounting the easy answer......

ali....too smart, too fast, too good
holmes....better jab, better chin
frazier....could, and would i feel, draw lewis into a scrap and outgut him, lewis has a chance over HIS fight length, 12 rounds...but frazier could weather a strom and stop him in the championship rounds over 15...
foreman..ok, he was slow and predictable, but he was always in shape..(i think the emotion drained him in zaire rather than any physical deficits..), hit hard and had a great chin...
louis...again, too smart...his stalking, oredatory style would, i feel, cut lewis down....

there are probably others..hell, you cant discount marciano or dempsey...i have huge respect for lewis and his achievments, but im no fan, if you see what i mean...there are two lewis..pre and post ko loss....the pre ko loss is, probably, an easier fight for many of these guys..post ko, he was more careful, more cautious..but he still carried that right low, still, perhaps, struggled with a pace like marciano, dempsey or frazier would set...

all great fighters have off days, but, and im a big bruno/mercer even briggs fan....could you see any of the fighters mentioned having huge tussles with the likes of frank or ray, or being drawn into a shoot out with a briggs.....

 

Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali & George Foreman could beat him. I'm not saying that they would but they could If Foreman hit anyone clean he could beat them. Like Foreman Ali and Louis are not that small even by today's standers. Louis would win by using his near perfect form and Ali through his athleticness.

 

It's a fairly long list.

 

Could he? I'd be my life savings plus my left testicle that he'd knock that midget Burns the **** out, the same devastating way he did Botha.

Yeah, i can. Lewis blasts Shavers easily just like he did Ruddock and Golota. Lewis is as proven against big, heavy punchers as anyone in history.

 

True. It's the faster, smaller, scientific and skillful boxers he's not proven against.

 

That's the point. A prime and focused Lewis. The likes of Earnie Shavers (no disrespect) is not going to be able to handle a focused Lewis who turns up and means business. There's no point in doing any comparison unless you assume the best version of Lewis turns up, otherwise you could say that dozens, perhaps any big heavyweight puncher in history, have a chance at beating him. Some of you think the Lewis that showed up in McCall and Rahman 1 would turn up to face the likes of Ali, Frazier, Foreman etc. I find that ludicrious myself.

There's really only a handful of fighters that beat a prime, motivated Lewis. Pre 1980 I would give Liston, Ali, Holmes and Foreman a shot and I'd only make the 1967 Ali a favourite.

It does say something however about Lewis that his only 2 defeats are constantly borne up as 'proof' that he's vulnerable to just about any big heavyweight puncher who ever lived. It does kinda smack of clutching at straws if you ask me.

 

Lewis wouldn't psych out Foreman like Ali did to him.

Plus, Foreman could always "bulk-up" if he wanted to for more size.

Whoever landed the first big right hand would probably win.