The phallacy of Lennox's chin being china.

90% seems way too high. You might say 50% of those who were floored get up and fight on. Lewis was out on his feet one time, and could not beat the count on the other.

 

The stoppage was fair but boxers have been allowed to go on in worse condition and plenty have come back to win. Would Lewis have? Probably not (they'd just started the round) but we will never know. If he managed to invoke a clinch it certainly would have helped.

 

Not necessarily no. He didn't see the McCall punch at all and they say these are the punches that can knock you out. He moved into it as well and this flaw was of course (quite famously) both spotted, taken advantage of and later repaired by Steward. I'm not sure he spotted the Rahman punch either and he was possibly conditioned even worse than he was for Vitali.

Numerous times we have seen fighters stopped by seemingly innocuous punches comparative to what they have taken before. It's an imprecise science and Lewis most certainly shipped numerous big punches throughout his career.

 

I remember it. Lewis fell into the refs chest walking forward, that's why it was stopped. Lennox was done and ready to hit the floor again. Had Lewis vs McCall continued, Lennox is down again, and probably badly Ko'd. The ref did his job and saved Lewis from further punishment and a Ko that would be much harder to come back from.

My point is what damage did Lewis really take prior to this KO? That would be none, and the Rhaman fight was pretty much the same way. A fighter only need to hit as hard McCall or Rhaman to one punch KO Lewis. It was proven twice. Of course power alone does not mean landing a solid shot. Tua hit harder than either Rahman or MCcall, but landed very little.

 

I don't think that's a very fair post, You say 'a fighter only had to hit as hard as McCall or Rahman to one punch kayo Lewis' then give an example of a fighter (and there were plenty to choose from in Lewis' career) who hit every bit as hard but didn't KO him. Then you change tack and say that they had to land a solid shot. So, essentially, you had to hit hard and land it just right to KO Lewis. Is that what you're saying because, if it is, you can take out Lennox's name and replace with just about any other heavyweight you like, particularly if they enter the ring in the kind of shape Lewis was for the Rahman fight?

Lewis was kayoed twice by one shots and you have the opinion that he would go with one shot. Looking at it another way, he also stood up to the shots of several big bangers in over ten years at the top, more than any of his contemporaries bar Holyfield. And the times he was one-shotted, I feel there were extenuating circumstances. I don't think he was this walking accident waiting to happen if one big punch landed.

That's fair enough. I'll leave it there. I don't think your opinion on Lewis will change and, to be fair, nor will mine.

 

Lewis staggered into the ref after McCall slugged him. He only "snapped to" a couple of seconds after the fight was stopped. He looked done to me. The Rahman was more obvious, but to be fair Lewis was an idiot for joking around...who knows what possessed him.

I don't feel Lewis had a brittle chin, however the two knockouts tend to make me cringe a little whenever I read about him being "the world's AT Greatest Heavyweight". Holyfield was more that than he was, imo. I have LL at #6.

 

Some China in that chin for sure

 

Lewis did not have a great chin, end of history.
Stop writing fantasy stories

 

Lmao

 

But liston neither is in these pack of great chins that you mentioned.

 

He was poleaxed twice against mediocre champions, his chin is anything but iron his chin is preserved by his expert boxing and ability to take the sting off punches nothing more the shots he took off Tua aren’t anything special lesser then Lewis have survived a prime David’s left hook.

 

Agreed

 

Whether you agree with the video makers label or not the fact is Lewis took loads of big punches from big men over his career and apart from on two occasions took them with aplomb.

Holyfield actually felt the need to name his second in the best chin category when he did a "Best i Faced" article. He said Lewis "had a great chin". That's some serious praise. He named Foreman first which i am sure will stir your loins!!!!!!

BEST CHIN
George Foreman: I would say George Foreman. I hit him and I hit him a lot of times, a lot of times (Laughs.) … 17 punches one time! Lennox Lewis had a great chin. I went back and watched the fights and the people who knocked him out [did so] because he had a different mindset for them. He didn’t fight smart with them ‘cause he felt he could beat them. Everybody he pursued and thought that he could beat, they ended up knocking him out – that’s Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. I came to respect him ‘cause I know in the last fight I buckled him a few times but he didn’t go. Mike Tyson had a good one, too; he didn’t fall when I hit him.

 

I disagree. Liston's chin was excellent.

 

I'd say he had a decent chin (7-7.5/10) to absorb medium to slightly hard single punches, but had horrible recovery (4-5/10). He was very wobbly when he got hurt and his massive weight was a double edged sword (more functional strength, but he gassed faster when he was hurt or in a war).

Lennox also made things worse for himself by relaxing too much and not paying close attention to what the opponent was doing. Part of the reason boxers like Toney and Ali were so hard to stop wasn't just their chins, they were extremely alert and knew how to properly roll with a shot even if they got caught with something unusual.

Lennox also had a very mediocre defense and didnt do much more than put up a high guard or tie up his opponent with his big arms to stall. Considering Wladmir had the same flaws, I'd say that was a flaw in Steward's training methods. I'm not saying Lennox needed to have superb Toney level defense, but simply having better defense and being more alert in the ring would have made it nearly impossible to stop Lennox. It's strange because Lennox is a naturally cautious and thinking type of boxer so you'd think he'd tighten up this part of his game.