What does everyone think of this Wladimir Klitschko-Lennox Lewis article

I don't know about a weaker version just simply not as good is a better description, Jim Dower seems to think VK was ready to go after six rounds with Lewis which differs from most on this forum who think if not for cuts VK would have won, I view I don't hold.

 

They are definitely similar, but there are clear differences that are often forgotten. For whatever reason, a lot of people remember Lewis as a boring fighter, while he mixed it up quite often (perhaps more than he should've) and took a lot of left-hook risks with those favored right-uppercuts of his. Klitschko is far less aggressive and has a great left hook where Lewis has a great right uppercut.

 

Lewis was the more elusive/loose/fluent boxer while klitschko is very stiff and hesitant. Thats simply becuase of that china jaw that he has. Everytime that he is caught on the chin flush, his world is always rattled. Lewis had the much better chin and i am one of the few that would say that his chin was pretty good. He took hard punches from big bangers such as Tua, Bruno, Marovich, Vitali Klitschko, Mercer and a lot of others. The punches that you don't see is that gets you. Klitschko's jaw is so weak that he can even see the shot coming and still be shaken by it. Lewis also fought the much bettet fighters in a better era. Yeah, I'm not too fond of Wladimir, but Vitali could have done some good things if his body held up. He was a special fighter that not only take a hard shot, but could dish one out and was very skilled for his size. Probably the only 6'8 fighter that could counter effectively and fight going backward.

 

This is the key. Now that Steward has Klitschko, he is going to be very hard to beat. Perhaps harder than Lewis because Wlad does not have a smug ego as Lewis had. I beleive if Steward was in the corner Wlad never loses to Purrity because Steward tells Wlad to forget eh KO and take the win far before he tires. Universum's corner back then was in the stone ages. Their advice and work in-between rounds with Sanders was poor. I also beleive Steward would not pick Sanders for a non-mandatory, and if he was picked, Wlad would take him more seriously than he did, and be prepared.

The author misses three things.

1 ) Wlad is an even better clincher, has better footwork / mobility, better speed, and better defense now.

2 ) Lewis was a skilled " bend the rules " fighter. Wlad is a very clean fighter. I suppose is Wlad wants to learn how to hit and hold, push a man down, and use other parts of his body besides his glove to mark his man up, he has more to learn.

3 ) Wlad will not make his name on past their prime fighters. Lewis cemented his legacy in beating a past his prime Holyfield and a shot Mike Tyson. These are the fights Lewis will be best rememembered for 50 years from now. Unfortunately, this is how legacies sometimes work in boxing.

 

The article's quite biased in my view. I don't think there's that much of a difference in class between Lewis and Klitschko. Lewis clearly was superior, but not to the extent that the article refers to.

I agree about Klitschko's inability to deal well with pressure though.

 

Man,what the hell are you talking about!!???

Wladimir Klitschko fought a whole bunch of crap in the most boring division you can imagine. Lennox beat ATG's and some other guys that were good men and would trouble a lot of the champions today.

Lennox footwork was very good and much better than Klitschkos. Watch Lewis vs Tua again and you can see the beauty of LL.

Moreover Lewis clinched very effectively. Klitschko,so it seems, ist unable to do it smooth,he looks panic and stiff.

Lewis was a special man,a beautyful Heavyweight Champion with a big heart and a bigger ego.

Klitschko is a poor mans version of LL.

 

How big was his ****? By the sounds of your post, you should know.

 

Would we ever see Wladimir mix it up in a fight like the Grant fight I doubt it, Lewis is a top ten all time Wlad has matured though under Steward and is much harder to defeat which is the name of the game if sometimes boring.

 

I don't buy into the "Steward has made Wladimir into a much better fighter" argument.

He's made him into a different fighter, yes, but not necessarily a better one.

 

:huh

By your own admission, Wlad infringes on the rules on a regular basis.

That is Wlad's problem. I think, if he'd come a long in a tougher era, he'd have more losses but be more appreciated because he'd have beaten better and more recognisable boxers as well as given ATG boxers tough fights.

As has already been noted, the comparison is flawed in that it fails to notice that Lewis was a far more exciting boxer. Apart from the Tua fight (which wasn't boring at the time) and much of the Tucker fight (until they started trading) Lewis was never a boring boxer, especially after the McCall loss when it suddenly felt like anything could happen with the next landed punch.

 

I think this is a common mistake that is often made when viewing this fight in hindsight.

First of all, Tyson was the #2 rated contender by ring magazine. There are some duds ranked in the top10 now and then, but anyone at #2 should at least be considered a "live threat". Just because he couldn't take out Lewis doesn't mean he was no threat. Let's not forget that the betting odds were just about even and Lewis had just been stopped by Rahman. Tyson, while far from as good as he used to be, was still a devastating puncher early on (Botha with one punch, Golota, Savarese, etc) with an iron chin.


A lot of people tend to under-rate this win because when they hear Tyson they think about the guy that removed Thomas from his senses, knocked Berbick down three times with one punch, etc. Sure, that guy was no more, but he was still a dangerous opponent in 2002, especially if you consider Lewis was 36 as well.

 

I agree it's not close to as good as the Holyfield win, but i'd like to point out that how little he did in rounds 2-4 also had something to do with Lewis himself. As said, against Golota he was still excellent in the 2nd and against Botha he found the punch as "late" as the 5th. He did land a great left hook somewhere in round 2 or 3, though.


Great avatar by the way, one of my favorite fights. Hadn't seen that picture before yet. :good