What do you think is the real reason that Lewis never fought a southpaw?

Next up:

Why did Jake LaMotta never fight a ginger? Does it affect his legacy? ...

 

Lewis most certainly expressed interest in fighting Moorer, it sounded like he really wanted him..he was already talking of it before he had to fight McCall and we know how that went, he may well have been looking past Oliver.

 

The Byrd question is probably valid. I dont think LL was afraid of him (or anyone) but his management just didnt see much reward in the fight.

The Moorer and Sanders takes are less accurate.When Lewis wasn't being upset by McCall or Rahman, those two were either inactive, injured, or also not exactly lighting up the win column. There was always a more appealing fight in the immediate future. Moorer was quite inactive after losing to Foreman, and Sanders was a foreigner and that hurt his marketability. There was also issues in the promotions world at that time that would sometime complicate things, such as the agendas of Showtime/King vs HBO and who would get Tyson and when that also mucked up the situation.

Lennox took on and beat both Tyson and Holyfield. He tried to get Bowe and Foreman, neither of whom wanted any part. He destroyed murderous punchers like Ruddock and Morrison. Overcame adversity in fights with Bruno and Briggs. He avenged his OWN losses.By and large, facing quality opposition who came in a variety of sizes and styles is not really a knock you can make against his career, southpaw or not.

 

These are all valid points but this is a stubborn lot when it comes to Lennox Lewis for some reason. I'm not a huge fan of his title reign, he was not very busy and with the exception of maybe seeking out Grant and the short notice Vitali fight he concentrated on low risk/high reward bouts, just the way it is. Im much more impressed with his wins over Holyfield, Ruddock, Golota..etc. than what he did as undisupted Champion.

And I personally don't think Wlad beating Byrd proves anything about Lennox Lewis, not enough to justify "easy win" claims. We know Wlad can dominate fast slicksters and southpaws, Lewis is an enigma we can only guess about.

 

Sanders probably had the best chance of upsetting lennox. An in shape Sanders that is. He was deemed "The Sniper" by lewis for a reason.

 

Yep, was waiting for that :roll:

 

And in the last few years, there's been more southpaws of note in the HW division than there's ever been at one time.

And it isn't as if there's some sort of mandatory requirement to seek out and get a southpaw on your resume either.

Which just goes to show how incredibly rare they were in Lewis' era (as they traditionally always were at HW until just recently).

And another of which avoided him, although you conveniently left that part out.

Key word being "just."

And who were those?

Read Pachilles' and McGrain's responses then.

 

I saw an interview with Lewis where he said Byrd was no threat and no-one would buy the fight which is why he never fought the guy - he was right to do so in my opinion, I never wanted to see him blast Byrd out it would have been a complete mis-match despite what certain people that like to big Byrd up think (and why do they like to big him up again.....ah yes, that's why )

Moorer wouldn't have really been on Lewis's radar either, he lost to Foreman back in 94 or whatever and if memory serves me right Lewis had just lost to McCall and was on the way up again looking to get the WBC belt back. Again, nothing I ever saw of Moorer ever suggested to me he'd be a challenge for Lewis, too small and not the best chin in the world either.

As for Sanders, he was an also-ran until he flattened WALDO, Lewis was on the brink of retirement at the time and there was no reason for him to fight the guy - I suspect Lewis will cope with life knowing he never won the crappy WBO strap (I can't believe that point was brought up by the way )

 

And a little down the road, Steward said it was his decision for Lewis to avoid Byrd because he didn't like the style match up and feared he would drop an ugly decision to him, just too much risk for the reward. I know he mentioned this on HBO, and probably in other interviews after he left Lewis' camp.

Of course when Lewis dropped the IBF title so he could pursue an unncessary but bankable rematch with Tyson, he had to talk trash Byrd and dismiss him as a non-threat. Only way he could justify the absurdity of his long layoff and subsequent signing to face Kirk Johnson. He claimed Vitali and Byrd were both boring non-threats and Kirk Johnson's knockout of journeyman Saverese was the real deal, while still expressing interest in another Tyson fight.

 

Like him or not, the notion that Lewis was a "ducker" is preposterous.

You've asked the question and I'm as sure as one can be without personally knowing Lennox is that it was due to nothing but circumstances. Sanders and Moorer were never really realistic entities in Lewis's span as champ.....Sanders especially. In fact I barely recall hearing his name during Lewis career.

Byrd did have a claim to fight Lewis', but I just don't think the fight happened - it's not always a case of ducking. Every one of the top 10 were calling Lewis out during his title reign....he couldn't fight them all.

Add to this that as has been previously mentioned, there weren't an array of top southpaws around. It would be similar to me asking why Vitali/ Wlad haven't fought a top athletically built fighter in recent times. You can only beat what's out there.

 

Biased,agenda based,garabage,nothing thread....
But i will make two points.
Somebody said 'lewis is an enigma whereas klitsch is proven against slicksters and southpaws'.
I mean ****ing hell,there is so much wrong with that statement i wont even bother. Theories,conspiracies and 'put downs' have their limits in the 'real' world guys.
Last,Pachilles has lost his cherry....He made a valid point on this thread,and also hasnt yet mentioned a certain panamanian.....

 

I seem to remember Lewis being on record saying he had trouble facing southpaws. He did give up his title for a Range Rover and some cash, not to fight Byrd.

 

:deal

 

Lefthook,you are seriously thinking that Byrd could beat lewis?
Steward talks **** a lot of the time.