for a sec forget about resumes and look at the fighters in their attributes to predict who wins. Lewis: better confidence, strategy, height & reach, power to hurt & slow down Tyson. Tyson: he would have the speed of his youth that he lacked in 2002. that's essential to compensate for lewis' advantage in size and reach. maybe better conditioned to recover from lewis' uppercuts. if Tyson is to win, he will probably do it with combination punching rather than 1 punch. never count on a 1 punch KO - I learned that the hard way in 2002. yes, lewis can be KO'd by 1 punch as McCall showed but that doesn't mean he has a glass chin. if lewis is to win, he will use his size & reach to keep away, use his punching power to fend off Tyson, and probably move to a boring decision or a late round KO after softening Tyson (like 2002 but probably not as one sided). size matters in boxing when comparing apples to apples i.e. two athletic guys. I would not put money on this fight. my vote goes for lewis via boring decision. i just don't know if lewis could outbrawl a younger & faster Tyson like he did in 2002. would Tyson have better success in catching lewis with a clubbing right hand? thoughts?
Either position could be argued very plausibly. I am skeptical mostly of a fairly extreme position, that is, that one outcome would almot certainly occur. I do not think that this is a case where styles means Lewis would have Tyson's number, like a Frazier/Foreman. Nor that the real advantage of size alone would make the difference, due to Tyson's speed & chin. The way I see it, Tyson was approaching 15 years(!) past his prime. He clearly did not have the same work rate, less stamina late, & mainly while he had some reduced speed, more than that he just did not use it, especially re: overall & head movement. He did not throw the same devastating combinations. Tyson's speed, power & explosiveness I pick to beat Louis's much greater length & about equal power. Lewis would not be lax at peak as when he was twice Koed, & Tyson had a granite chin at peak. I do not see Louis keeping Tyson at bay as he did a gun shy & injured Tua. Tyson in a grueling decision.
Lewis knocks his head off, if Douglas kod prime Tyson at 24, Lennox hurts him pretty bad.. Lennox had all the tools, height, reach, power, brains, discipline, Manny Steward in the corner, and a stronger set of balls. Tyson always did crappy against tall guys, that could fight,. had lousy stamina for a long tough fight, mentally unstable, and if things weren't going his way he would, quit , fight dirty, or look for a way out, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed..
Lewis may win Silver Skull, but I cannot trust the intellectual honesty of your post. You are like the opposite of the crass Tyson fanboys who give little analysis but emotionally favor Tyson. Is it rational to use Douglas as an example when you must know, if you follow boxing with any depth, that Tyson training poorly, using substances & woman like a fiend, & weight drained before the fight, also clearly looked sluggish & lacked his usual combinations & aggressions in that fight? Would it be fair to use the 2 fights when Lewis was prime or near prime & got KOed by only decent fighters as an example of how HE would do? No. Tyson showed plenty of balls in his prime, Lewis often fought cautiously...If I was as biased as you I would claim this was due to a lack of cojones. Tyson had good stamina in his prime, never quit or fought dirty then. His boxing IQ was excellent, he was well trained, & if you watch his interviews or recent stage turn he was & is bright, despite all his problems. They both had excellent corners in their primes. Tyson had demons & lived up to less of his potential than Lewis. Though this is a prime vs. prime argument. Oh, & Tyson beat all the tall guys that could fight during his prime. A shoulda been physical prime when dissapaited against Douglas does not count as prime, any more than the 2 Louis disasters-when he got lazy, complacent, did not train at altuitude for Rahmen... Again, there is NO no-brainer here, you can fairly argue either side. Or unfairly project all sweetness & light on one party, & project all negative disowned emotions on another.
Tyson, 4 rounds. But that would have to be the Tyson who tore through Berbick, Williams, Spinks and outboxed Tyrell Biggs and Tucker. Not the labouring, one shot at a time "spurt fighter" that there was a whole lot more of. Even against Thomas, Lewis would have beat Tyson that night.
Blow Out! it was known then and still known today by those from the period or honest enough to evaluate and access it right. a BLOW OUT!
Douglas in Toyko looked better than any version of Lewis that ever existed. He also was fighting an opponent better than any Lewis ever faced.
Smith and Tucker survived the distance versus a peak Tyson. Lewis had far more tools then either. Im a Lewis fan but its hard to nail his peak...was it the demo of Ruddock or the more complete boxer of later ? Either way i think unless Mike takes it early..its Lewis all the way.
Tucker survived the distance? how did Lewis do against Tucker? Lewis couldn't ko Macrovic nor Akinwande, that does not automatically constitute a vicotry fot Tyson just because xyz survived 12 rounds with Tyson doesn't mean Abc could beat Tyson Danny Williams beat Tyson twice as fast as Lennox. Does Williams have Tysons number?
Azzer...point i was making was Tucker and Smith managed to go the distance with Mike,so given that Lewis had at least the tools they had that in my book gets Lennox through being ko'd. Against mccall and rahman carelesness got him kod..i dont think he would be anything other than 100% for Tyson. Lewis came through all his biggest tests and nobody EVER was his superior in the ring...i'm not sure any heavyweight in history who boxed for a period of time could say that. Tyson was bettered on several occasions. However this post is about prime and nobody could argue that they Tyson that peaked versus Thomas Biggs Spinks Holmes, would be a huge danger especially early.I just think Lewis has so many weapons that Mike gets hit with on his way in...and once Mike is pushed back its all over.
Tyson KO 5 Lewis. The link below has the most emphatic and extensive discussion on how a prime battle would go. http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=112813