Sonny Liston v Lennox Lewis in a street fight?

Lewis doesn't have the chin to withstand Liston in a street fight.

 

I think journeymen like Tex Cobb and Dominic Negus could have taken a lot of elite boxers in the street, Danny Hodge too. I would say Vitali Klitschko is slept on in this talk too.

Did Ali have any street fights? I know Fury stated he has never been in one and Wladimir Klitschko said he had one when he was a little kid and that's it.

 

Just like he did to Rahman right?

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Dempsey and Tyson as well would be beasts in a street fight, I imagine.

 

Everyone, you do know how ‘hard’ or ‘screw lose’ someone is doesn’t make them better in a street fight, I don’t know where this notion comes from

 

To be fair Rahman was physically very strong, he's likely doing that to Liston too

 

On one hand we have someone experienced in street fights, brawls in prison, and flat out fighting cops with nightsticks, shoving them in bins, and oh yeah, he also hospitalized an armed cop for disrespecting him and broke his legs with his bare hands. On the other hand we have Lewis, a class act who's likely never been in a street fight in his life..... getting bodied and manhandled by Hashim Rahman on national television.

Hmmm this is a tough one.

 

Knowledgeable and sensible as always John.

 

Angelo Dundee even said Ali wouldn't have beaten Sonny Liston in a street fight. Some guys are more suited for something less restricted than boxing and some are trained in more than just boxing which gives them more tools.

In the boxing ring a guy like Wladimir Klitschko beats guys like Tex Cobb and Danny Hodge 10/10 but in a street fight? Wladimir is getting wrecked.

 

Liston would win.

Liston was a great boxer, and also a great street fighter.

Lewis was a great boxer, and only a great street fighter by default.

 

No basis for that. We've never seen Liston in a situation like that, nor do we know what he'd do in a situation like that. I can guarantee though, he would've thrown punches or something, and shoved Rahman off of him. Rahman's strength was impressive in terms of lifting, but his functional strength was nothing exceptional to say the least.

 

Here's an article of boxers/boxing personalities talking about street fights including Lennox Lewis. Don Turner claims Chuck Wepner would have been the best in a street fight:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/box...e-outside-the-ring/1azv1pr2wwvge1qax2ibjlsz8g

 

/thread

You could make reasonable arguments for both men in the ring but not here IMO

 

Great thread! I'm lmao reading some of the responses.


I'll go with Liston via trashcan lid to the dome in 3.

 

I think it goes back to if the person would fight if they weren't a boxer ... i.e. never saw Ali as being a guy who would get into fights; but Frazier absolutely would, and did.

Whether it's aura or actual life experience, some guys either had it in them or didn't. Liston has the rep and the demeanor; Lewis, while having every gift and is plenty tough, just doesn't seem inclined to get into a no-holds-barred scrap.

Sonny wins - not easily, but certainly