What if Lennox Lewis went pro in 1985...

Vitali
Holyfield
Mavrovic
Grant ( maybe not an obvious choice but he prooved against Golota and Savarese he had some decent boxing ability)
Mercer
Morrison ( Yes a come forward fighter who banged but i wouldnt like to say he just stands there.)
Bruno
Tucker.

Thats not in any order other than bottom up moving through his career.

I agree size and strength means nothing if you cannt deliver it but often these big guys he fought had proven they could deliver it.

 

Savarese, Grant, Mercer, Morrison didnt do anything special as far as boxing and creating angles, either did the Holyfield that Lewis faced. Mavrovic just ran, he had close to zero offense so I would consider him at all, but that running still made Lewis look pretty bad. Tucker was a completely different fighter. A prime Tucker would have given Lewis a lot of fits with his boxing and movement. He became very stationary in the latter part of his career.

 

I wasnt picking fighters who were special in any way just fighters than dindnt stand and always want to trade.

 

This is kind of why its hard for me to rank Lewis ahead of the other guys in terms of overall skillset, because what we saw from him against these guys was less than spectacular at times and personally I dont think these guys had much to offer.
In reality, Vitali K, was the best mobile technician he faced, a guy who fought somewhat similar to some of the contenders of the mid to late 80's. Guys who could move pretty good and mix it up a little, as well.

 

I would agree they went special but special is a subjective word. They were top 10 guys that would be top 10 guys and serious contenders in any era.

 

Not necessarily. Would all of the top ten guys today be top ten guys in the 90's for example? The mid to late 90's were pretty weak, today is weaker.

 

Mikey T ducks Lenny L until 1990, when Donny K hosts a event called - Lettin' it go, in Tokyo.

Lenny wins by KO7.

 

Like a lot of others,i consider lennox to have been a natural late bloomer. He came along,for him,at exactly the right time. Just as Larry Holmes did. if Holmes had turned pro three years or so earlier than he did,he would have had some success,but not as much as he enjoyed in reality.