This is the greatest heavyweight of all time

While head to head he probably beats most fighters in the top ten. But greatest of all time. No he isn't. The only great fighter he fought that was still capable of giving a great account of himself was a old Holyfield. It took him two fights to beat an old Holyfield convincingly, the only other fighter of note who is top 10-15 at ATG was Kliechkoes and that was life and death until the cut ( But both fighters were beyond prime) He got starched by two fighters whom were no more than good punchers,good fighters but other than that , nothing special. Someone compared Lewis's being knocked out, to Ali being knocked-down. The difference is(If you don't know) Ali got off his ass and won convincingly. And the fact Ali later on in his career faced far more dangerous punchers and and much better fighters and wasn't dropped at all (with Exception of Frazier in the FOTC) so theirs absolutely no comparison. ANY fighter can be put on his ass if he's clowning and gets caught with the perfect punch, Ali was no exception to that. Lewis was a very good fighter, no doubt that. But he had some major flaws in my ranking I've got him between 5-10 as far as ATG ranking.

 

It took Lewis one fight to beat Holyfield convincingly and another to be awarded a decision (with a less convincing performance).

 

Ali, at his peak, was the greatest heavyweight of all time.

His performance against Cleveland Williams was amazing.

 

Would you agree the first fight was much closer than it should have been. Especially when considering where the fighters were in their careers?

 

Not really. Holyfield wasn't a shot fighter and Lewis made it look easy.

How many rounds would you say Holyfield won clearly against Lewis, in their first encounter?

 

That's a whole can of Worms since Broughton, Slack and Johnson were all head and shoulders the most dominant BKB guys of their time.

 

Lewis was good for sure, but the greatest of all time doesn't run from an offered and ordered rematch. Holyfield wouldn't have ran away and I rate him higher.

 

I thought he won at least 5 personally.

 

A top 10 hw list with no Ali.

A TOP TEN HW LIST WITH NO ALI.

LOG OFF.

 

As far as being #1 I agree. Ali and Louis rare air. When you refer to the Mercer fight as a robbery you lose some credibility. You were also quick tp point out that Holyfield and Tyson were past it but fail to acknowledge that Lewis himself was no spring chicken.
#3 is about right

 

Tyson was shot and on cocaine. Holy was much older. Lewis was in his prime for the Holy fights undisputably, an argument for the Tyson fight could be made, but again, Tyson wasn't even a shadow of his former self. Honestly Marciano gets so much trash about his fight with Louis (who's miles better than Tyson and wasn't on drugs), where's the same treatment for Lewis???

Imo Lewis clearly lost Lewis vs Mercer. Some believe that Holy won Lewis vs Holyfield 2 but I don't subscribe to that.

 

Again, I'm playing the game here not saying what i believe.

In doing so I could retort that Johnson never avenged his KO losses and LL did. And LL got troubled by a tall tangy puncher at 37 years old and punched his way yo victory. JJ did not.

You see, its a game.

 

If you think Holyfield clearly won 5 rounds then we each interpreted the fight very differently. He never looked like winning it, at any point, in my opinion.

As a matter of interest, do you think Holyfield won the 12th round? If not, you’re essentially suggesting Lewis and Holyfield went into the last round at 6-5, respectively (unless you had one round a draw).

Either way, the fight was never that close. And, there’s no scenario, in which Holyfield could be credibly considered the winner.