Prime Tyson vs Prime Lewis

234 pounds not 240+
Lewis actually opened up on Tyson in rd 1 when Tyson tried to charge in, Lewis ended up blasting Tyson with uppercutts on the ropes, afterwards Tyson told his corner he was hurt and after the fight said he got hurt early and didnt recover.

 

Tyson wins this easily.
The differential in speed, agility and agression is waaaayyyy too much for Lewis to withstand.

 

Unfortunately, this is not true.

Lenny accepted a million dollar payoff from Don King in the mid-90s when, as WBC #1 challenger, he had the opportunity to fight Tyson.

 

This is simply my opinion. Lewis peaked when many of the other greats in his division were on the decline, most notably Mike Tyson. And because he beat those greats in decline while he was in his late bloom, contributes to his ranking amoungst the ATGs. I do believe that Mike Tyson lost to lewis do to lack of training and ten over a decade of ring rust that was never refurbished. Lewis has a chance of course because he actually beat Mike Tyson. Lennox Lewis is great fighter, but did not transcend the sport like Tyson did. And that is requirement in my opinion to be an all time great. I believe is Tyson could of managed to muster five rounds of endurance against Lewis he would have knocked him out. Lewis was late bloomer and that is not is fault. But missed the prime of his era by about 7- 8 years. And I say this with all respect due to Lennox Lewis. He should not have retired in manner he did. Should have fought Vatali again, and that is an example is way some are reluctant to give Lewis his credit. Lewis seems in some aspects to be a chess player, and the Vatali non- rematch is an example. I am a big Tyson fan and that may taint my opinion in bias but Tyson is one of the only fighter other than Ali, and a few other I have seen that only can lose when they beat themselves.

 

I couldn't disagree more. Transending the sport might have more to do with charisma and popularity, country of residence, etc. We could have an ATG in say the Flyweight division that barely anybody even knows. The line of transending or not would also be very vague. Popularity and media appeal has little to do with it IMO. As for Lewis vs Tyson as an ATG, Lewis beat every man he ever fought, he lasted FAR longer than Tyson, he actually beat Tyson and Holyfield regardless of when he fought them and many other things.

This is unfair i reckon. I'd say Lewis took the Vitali fight as showing him he no longer had it and twas time to get out, which he did, while still on top. At the end of the day, regardless of any trouble he was in, Lewis punched Vitali's face near off his skull. It was the Lewis fist that did it. I'd hardly cast doubts upon the Lewis greatness based on a fight he both won and almost caused permanent serious facial damage in. It's boxing, this is the way it rolls. Vitali could simply not go on, and Lewis was the winner. Compare it to Tysons disgraceful last few years. I know which i'd prefer.

 

You havent seen much of Tyson if you actually believe that statement.
He was almost passive during his ringwalk, and gave up after a round.

Tyson was too fast and agile for Lewis, and accurate too.

 

They missed each others primes.

However, the the 1999 Lewis meeting up with the 1990 Tyson results in Tyson's first loss. It would have been like Douglas, only worse.

 

Agreed, its sort of like comparing Tyson or any all time great to the version of Lewis who lost to McCall. The Lewis fans, all scream the same thing " he wasn't training with Stewart ", or " it was a lucky punch and an early stoppage ". They all love making concessions for lewis, but never take into account Tyson's out of the ring troubles or losing all of his best trainers, managers and cornermen.

Anyone who thinks that Tyson Losing to Douglas was a shear reflection of the true Tyson, either didn't see that fight or is in total denial.

 

You can pick any version of Tyson and the result is the same .

I picked 1990 because his prime ran from 1986-1990.

1999 Lewis takes care of any version of Mike.

 

Thanks for a good analysis. I am not loyal to any particular fighter, but to the most accurate picture I can have of each great's all-time ranking.

Lennox Lewis was an awesome heavyweight, no question about it. He was about as ring smart and powerful with the right as any other heavyweight champion. Besides, he was huge, skilled and fast with his hands.

Yet, against Tyson, about as ring savvy, bearded, aggressive, powerful and fast with an assortment of surprising single shots and combos as any other heavyweight champion, with the unique ability to turn an opponent's follow-through into a huge opening as well as endurance, I have to favor Mikey.

To answer your question, few greats ever faced another A-Grade fighter come to trade, yet look what Tyson did to Holmes as soon as the still capable senior citizen opened up. He did what no other fighter did to him, before or after, inside two minutes. And look what he did, with one shot, to a go-for-broke Michael Spinks immediately after the first knockdown. Look how he brutalized the unafraid champion Berbick and the determined Thomas.

I know Tyson will slam Lenny sooner than later and history shows that Lewis can be hurt with one shot. And Tyson can score one-punch knockdowns, from Holmes to Douglas. Should this happen, Tyson is a tremendous finisher. On the other hand, their actual fight shows me Lewis could not blow out Tyson early, so, again, Lewis is looking at rounds here, at best.

Disruption could be Lewis' chance: throw and hold, throw and hold. The Holmes and Tucker fights showed Tyson can still win the points against technical movers and disrupters, without losing focus. Eventually Lewis will have to plant his feet and engage and, again, this spells danger for him much more than for Tyson.

I believe the guys Tyson destroyed in the 80's were pretty good fighters: Berbick, Thomas, Tubbs, Biggs, Smith were all strong and tough. And let's remember that Tyson was a specialist in getting around the jab, as he was trained by Cus to face champion Larry Holmes.

In a word, Lewis would try to frustrate and eventually pound Tyson into submission over the long haul. Tyson would always be looking for that one, devastating shot to then jump all over his man. Let's remember that, in Memphis, when the Lion was considered very, very close to his elusive prime, the only reason shell Tyson was given a chance was because everyone knew Lewis can be knocked out. I believe this eventually would be his undoing.

 

Some decent analysis here.

Holmes, however cannot be considered in this discussion if you waqnt to keep it serious, anymore than Ali can be considered when assessing Holmes.

In both cases, the men were way too far past prime.