Prime Sonny Liston s L. Lewis title opposition (the versions Lewis fought)

Liston fought a lot of big punchers

Dejohn, Patterson, Valdes, Williams could all hit very hard. I like Sonny’s chances vs most of those punchers

 

Most? Who do you think could've beaten him? A 2002 Tyson? Maybe a Vitali who cut as soon as somebody looked at him?

 

I’d favor him over all of them in individual matchups

But we have to take circumstances into consideration. Can he defeat them all in a row over a few years period without getting caught once?

 

The Holyfield who fought Lewis was past it, not very active, and IMO would be a sitting duck for Liston's arsenal. IMO Liston hit harder than Bowe, and had better overall skills.

The Holyfield who beat Tyson however could defeat Liston. The Holyfield who edged Bowe in the 2nd fight could also beat Liston.

Lennox played it safe, as he didn't want to deal with counters or body shots. In the re-match, Lewis hiked his cup Guard padding very high to protect himself from body shots.

 

Didn't look at it this way.

 

Exactly. Put the Lewis of the Golota fight in with Sonny's opposition and see how we change our minds about Lennox.

 

This is it. Lewis had ridiculous longevity and still had enough sting to repel Vitali even at that ridiculous stage of his career. Liston would not have that longevity and would lose momentum somewhere.

Lewis beat a fantastic overall list of opponents when you add it all together. Amazing resume.