Rahman's Right Hand

It was kind of telegraphed and he rocked Lewis with the same punch earlier in the fight. It was a hard punch but not so sure how many others would have got hit and stayed down for the count but the punch had power behind it. Rahman hit Holyfield with a few good ones but no effect.

 

Yet I think we agree Evander was much better prepared the LL, no?

 

Lewis was exposed that night by Rahman.. who was the only fighter who Lewis ever fought who was "At the top of his game" yet i think of Rahman as the worst champion in history at heavyweight (lineal).. The punch was a decent shot but it is the way Lewis went down which makes the punch look spectacular IMO very few if any other HW champions would have been hit with that punch

 

And if it wasn't luck, why no repeat in the rematch?

 

Yeah he got caught with a big one that he also walked onto, about 30secs before the finish. Infact i think he was still hurt from that punch, by the time he got dropped. He got caught with right hands all night, but he was aware those were gonna land.
He was fighting for air because he didn't acclimatize properly, mouth gaping open, didn't respect Rahman's power, got caught with a bomb he never seen. Fight over. Put a lot of other top men in those circumstances, and it would be the same result.
Whether Rahman would've landed it on other top heavies or not, that punch would of ended a lot of good men that night.
Damn right it was an hard punch!

 

Marion wilson who has fought everybody..........said hasim rahman is the hardest puncher he has faced....

 

I think the entirety of the arguments from both sides are completely circumstantial.

On one hand Rahman was a big heavy guy , very strong with huge raw power. The power behind that shot could put anyone on the canvas, potentially.

Then again if it did land the question wouldnt be so much about the oppositions chin more so the angle he throws it from , would the opposition see the punch and how are they stood. Would they be caught by that punch? Maybe not but everyone has a moment of carelessness.

Lewis learned a valuable lesson that night , treat a heavy hitting , highly motivated weightlifter like a Kronk everyday sparing partner and you will end up on your ass.

 

Gigantic punch. I'd say very few fighters in history could take that specific punch and continue. Holmes took a similar one against Earnie Shavers, Ali is an easy pick, as is Chuvalo. Rahman can punch, and when he hits you that cleanly, with everything he has, it's going to take a great beard and a massive will to keep on going.

The way Lewis' body was angled (slightly side-wise) his neck just went until it couldn't go any further.

 

It was just an amatuer telgraphed punch that was thrown slow from left field. A fighter like Lewis should not have gotten hit by it. You can see Lewis turn away as the punch is coming, another bad amatuer mistake. Its like Lewis left all his skills at home that night. I think at that point Lewis was just bored with boxing, because he was beating everyone so easily. Rahman on paper didnt look to be any better than what he had already beaten.

 

Haven't seen many better one punch wins of the heavy title - up there with Marciano, Walcott, Patterson, Lennox in their rematch, etc

 

The shot lewis hit Rahman with was better!

 

I agree .. keep in mind Lennox was completely gassed from the altitude .. he did not train properly, came to Africa way too late to adjust and was sucking wind badly .. he was rocked moments before and the follow up cleaned his clock ...

To me Lennox had a good but not great chin ... I don't see that shot stopping Ali or Holmes .. they both took better rights from Shavers ... however it was a flush, full shot delivered by a 235 pound heavyweight who could punch and it landed right ...

 

what i find quite extraordinary is the excuses which get made for Lewis 2 defeats.. they range from
the referee counted to fast
Lennox never trained correct
it was the altitude
Lennox never took him seriously enough
the punch was the hardest in history
the punch woulda KOd every heavyweight in history
Lennox just got careless
Marion Wilson said Rahman is the hardest puncher ever
blah blah blah....

The bottom line is that both Rahman & McCall never before or after their KOs of Lewis poleaxed any other opponent in the same fashion as they did Lewis.

Praise for Rahman is like praising Tony Galento for putting Joe Louis down.. Lennox is a British/Canadian thing. it's like all the garbage spewed out about Henry Cooper and how after decking Muhammad Ali the fight was stopped for 2hrs while they went down to woolworths and bought a new pair of gloves.. Lennox got leveled twice by mediocre journeymen

 

Mcall and Rahman werent mediocre journeymen, they were mediocre fighters though on the championship top ten level.

 

If they didn't see it coming (as Lennox didn't), few greats could absorb that flush bomb & stay standing.

I will say that Tyson (even if charging forward), Old Foreman & '70s Ali would not be floored by it, in my opinion.

Obviously anyone exhausted would be dropped by it, but Lewis wasn't tired so that's not a relevant point.