he got knocked by rahman and oliver. tyson would have landed 1 of his bombs and it would have been ova
I still pick lewis. He wouldn't have taken tyson lightly. He comes well prepared and outboxes mike. On another note tyson must have had the shortest prime in boxing history
Lenny still wins. When Lenny took a fighter serious he has always been victorious. He will have the advantage of height and reach over Tyson, and Mike for the first time in his prime will face a HW with ATG skills, ridiculous punch power, great ring IQ and decent speed. Lennox by late Tko or UD Not to mention that Tyson was also a little intimidated by Leon
Tyson by TKO round 7. Tyson was too much for anyone in his prime, too much speed, head movement, combinations, power in both hands, leg movement and serious stamina. People tend to get mixed up with the 1999 version of Tyson who was a 4 rounder at best, had zero head movement and only relied on one punch. Prime Tyson kept throwing, vicious body shots and was consistent, always active and calculated his attacks. Lewis was going to be caught sooner or later and he would have been dropped in my opinion. Lewis won't be an easy fight but he won't be able to keep a prime Tyson at bay with only his jab.
When is Lewis considered "Prime" exactly?? (The Steward years version) Or the flattop fade version that KO'd Ruddock? In 92 If we are talking Lewis 92-97 Vs. '88 Tyson, I'd Take Mike. 97-2000... Probably Lewis.
If second raters like Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman could take Lewis out early, a PRIME Mike Tyson would surely find a way to shatter that suspect chin.
Cherry picker Lewis would never fight prime Mike anyway but If they did it would end by KO1 or 2. Mike kills him.
I've read comments by people who were around D'amato's training camp and around Lennox Lewis in his amateur days and those comments were about how Lewis manhandled Tyson in the amateur bouts and in sparring. How true those comments are I do not know. I think Tyson was definitely intimidated by Lewis even before they fought. His leg biting brawl during a pressconference says "no self-confidence" to me.
If Lewis got to Tyson early he would discourage him and pick him apart in the later rounds, but if Tyson landed anything worth while I think he could stop him within the first 5. Would be one for the books, it would be 10X the fight there meeting in 2002 was.
I believe Lewis could always hit hard enough to back Tyson up and Tyson couldn't fight in reverse gear.
