Tyson vs Lewis (primes)

When people use the word "shell"...it tends to refer to the person having nothing left inside.

He was in shape. Emanuel said he was. "Focus," however, may not have been all there given he was Mr. Hollywood.

Any little bad habits you pick up, any slight in focus, and you put yourself at a huge disadvantage going into a fight with Pro Fighters on that level.

 

Actually, Ruddock did say in an interview that Tyson basically took him out of his prime. He was never the same. Ruddock also felt those battles took something away from Tyson.

By the second fight, both landed some very hard shots.

George Foreman didn't have kind words for either fighter based on that fight. And thought Tyson was past it.


Lewis, maybe by design from his Promoter, did go after Tyson left-overs. Check the resume and years.

Was a smart move though.


Now going back to Tyson, there was talk of not only Tyson losing his skills, but his speed wasn't the same either.

All those things took specific training throughout the year to get to peak levels...something he was said to have not been doing quite the same anymore. Plus, life-style outside the ring.

It's one big thing with Lewis I like a lot more than Tyson: Lewis was smarter, more focused, and kept on track for the long haul.
Now if Lewis had it easier in a way...that's another debate.

 

I'll stop you there.

The subject of what fighters say has been covered too many times.

What fighters say cannot be relied upon for anything. Unless you would believe him if he said he got his prime back before Lewis, ignore it.

 

Against a SHOT fighter...that's what you are comparing it too?

Tucker knocked Tyson back with an uppercut as well, did he win?

difference: One fought a peak Tyson and the other, a shot version.

For Tyson, at 5'11, 215+ to be effective, youth has to be on his side...he has to be in peak form both mentally and physically...and has to have a game-plan (which was devised by Rooney).

None were there when he fought Lewis.


Being Hurt: It hurts more when you are a drug-addict shot fighter who had years of wear and tear and out of shape.

But even then, he wasn't so hurt to not come back and take his ass whooping for more rounds. Even Lewis said he was surprised at how much punishment Tyson could take and it was the first time Lewis said his hands were swollen after a fight.

 

Then just watch the fights with Tyson and look at the injury report.

Fighters can decline quick when they take such beatings.
Not just physically, but mentally they can decline big time as well which will not only effect them during the fight but all through training camp.


If you really want to compare power that way, we can go down a list of fights with power fighters that can make you scratch your head.

For Tyson's power...it depends on who is rating it. But I tend to think it was similar to the way Joe Louis's power was which was built on a combination of strength, speed, accuracy and kinetic energy. When one or more of those attributes declines, so does the power.

 

Depends...
Pre-Ko'd Lennox Lewis was a different fighter than Post Ko'd Lewis.
Had The "Prime" Mike Tyson fought the Lewis from say the Ruddock fight.
I'd prob go Tyson by K.O.

Now if it's the older, Calculated Lennox I'd take him Vs. any version of Tyson.

 

Lewis did get ko's by lesser men than Tyson, however this was the exception rather than the rule,

Lewis on points or very late stoppage. I would see Tyson taking the first 3-4 rounds and looking good, then Lewis taking charge.

 

Lewis would have schooled his black ass. It would look like the tua fight. Lewis wide UD

 

Watched them. Great fights.

What I believe is that getting punched to the head causes inevitable damage in all fighters. Some more than others depending on predispositions and nature and length of beatings.

But if we assume that fighters can turn from iron chin to glass chin after one (or any specific number, for that matter) beating and that it will happen in 100% of cases, then we have a problem.

How on earth are we going to rate boxers?

 

Very interesting as I also think that Tysons ko's in his prime were primarily speed and angles, not so much power. Foreman on the other hand was always pure power and he was ko'ing guys late in his career

 

i like lennox....but the tyson who fought mitch green woulda knocked out lennox

 

This is a tough one to call. I grew up watching Tyson and have watched everything that Lewis has done as well. Since I was always a Huge fan of the Heavyweight division and boxing in general I recorded any and every fight on tv hbo, ppv, espn, the old usa tuesday night fights for 25+ years you name it I have it. Growing up me and my friends watched fights over and over again and we all loved Tyson (of course) I never was a Lennox fan but I always had massive respect for the guy. Man this is tough I want to say Tyson attacks him and ends it early but I just have a feeling Lewis gets through the early storm takes Mike to the late rounds and begins to take the fight over. My heart wants to say Mike but my mind tells me Lennox gets him at the end of his Long Jab and peppers Mike in the 2nd half of the fight and takes over on the scorecards. I think Mike will stun Lewis here and there in the late rounds but Lennox will still control most of the action. The fight will look like Lewis-Mercer so there will be split opinions at ringside but I think Lennox wins this one by a close decision.

 

tyson has the slight edge here. tyson at his best appeared to be a little bit better then lewis at his best, although lewis has a significant size advantage on tyson.

 

Tyson always has the slight edge in fantasy land.

Tyson is the most fantasized about fighter of all time.

It is a little creepy at times. Guys start losing it over things like his height. You know this is not an everyday conversation about boxing.

When you claim he will lose with no magic excuse, they act like **** victims.

 

So Ruddock wasn't hurt in both fights?

The problem with Tyson in those fights, specifically the second one, was that he wasn't following up properly to finish. He did in the first fight.

Lewis knocked Ruddock down with a shot around the Temple area (maybe even close or even to the back of the head) while Ruddock dipped his head down. Ruddock got up. It's a nice spot to hit to keep someone "hurt" longer. Second knock-down was a shot right on the chin. Lewis was attacking, that's something you have to do. The last shot, over-hand-right, also looked close to the back of the head. Lewis's height and reach also makes it easier for him to land cleaner shots.

There is a lot to it.

Who else took out Ruddock?

Tommy Morrison?
Tommy had big power in his left.



Do you think Rahman and McCall have more power than Tyson at his best?

It could be argued Lewis had a glass chin too then. One shot, that's all it took to take him out.


There are enough people to note that Tyson did have power in his punches.