What if Lewis came along a in the 80's?

I could see Larry decisioning or stopping Lennox late, as could Page and Witherspoon.Tubbs could conceivably outbox him if he doesn't get stopped, and I would give Thomas, Weaver, and Berbick a shot of defeating him.

 

You almost describe him as though he wouldn't even be a top 10 heavyweight in the 80's. Personally, I think he likely would have been Holmes toughest rival and possibly a champion.

 

Yeah, soulds like Lewis would have struggled to cut it at all in the 80's.

Personally i think the only one with a decent chance is Holmes, and that's not exactly certain. Lewis would hammer the inconsistent and unmotivated in the 80's, which there were plenty.

 

Considering that Larry had his toughest fights against men his own size who could box and jab(Witherspoon,Williams,Snipes,Berbick) it is'nt too hard to imagine that a 6'5" 230-240lb Lewis who could box and bang and stratagize very well would give Larry fits if not beat him outright. Fighters like Holmes and Ali do not like to be jabbed back at which is why men like Norton,Witherspoon,Williams etc...gave them trouble. They look thier best against shorter men who come at them looking to land a bomb ala Frazier and Shavers etc.. A jabber disrupts thier rythym and Lewis could jab...and follow it up with a straight right that carried plenty of power to boot. Larry's prime were the years between the Norton-Shavers-I fight when he weighed between 210-215lbs. Sleek and fast no doubt but he would look rather slight in comparison to Lewis' 235-240 solid lbs. If Lewis was a big stiff then all that size would'nt make a difference against a fighter of Larry's caliber but he certainly was no stiff. Lewis in the 80's would have wreaked havoc against most of the HW's in that era, provided he was focused and in shape. Size matters if you're good and let's face it boxing fans, Lewis was good.

 

No way lennox beat larry easy. He would really struggle witrh a m master like holmes. who did lewis beat that says he would of destroyed holmes?

The 80's were better than the late 90's, early millenium when lewis ruled. Witherspoon, dokes, cooney, smith and co were better than rahman, shot holyfield and co

 

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He could've been a top ten, but many of those guys could've given him hell if his head wasn't in the right place.Lennox and John Tate was a potential good matchup.

 

For the record,

Tate was a guy who's head wasn't always in the right place either. I think Lewis would have destroyed Tate and most of the other alpha champs of the 80's. A well trained and motivated Tim Witherspoon ( a rare commodity ) would have potentially given Lewis some trouble due to his awkward style and physical attributes however.

 

What would you consider Witherspoon's "physical attributes" ?

 

Prime Witherspoon possessed immense raw strength, an awkward and agressive gung-ho fighting style as well as being extremely tough and durable.

Page vs Witherspoon on their respective best nights would have been a potential classic, perhaps a pick 'em fight. I just don't think he looked quite himself in the actual fight against Witherspoon (as occured pretty frequently with GP)

 

Page and Witherspoon were both very disappointing when they did actually fight. With Page coming off a brilliant effort vs Snipes and Witherspoon coming off his valiant effort vs Holmes on the very same night one was expecting both to be absolutely soaring. Instead they left their audience snoring. A terrible fight and very poor application by both. Page was possibly a bit flat because he had been building up for Holmes but he also thought he only need to just turn up to win this fight. You can lead a horse to water, but you make make it drink.

 

As I remember it, a peak Lennox Lewis had a load of trouble with an out-of-shape Ray Mercer in 1996.
So I can see why guys like Witherspoon, Dokes, Berbick and Page at their best could be favoured over Lewis.

 

Picking out small ripples on a large ocean can be decieving tho. Peak Holmes had stuggles vs the likes of Snipes and Weaver. Holyfield had life and death vs Bert Cooper of all people and was quite disappointing in one of the Bowe battles. Near all of them have their isolated moments. How anyone can favour a fighter of Berbick's style and assets over Lewis i will never ever know. Well any of those 4 even at their best with Lewis anywhere near his. Pretty harsh assessment Sonny.

 

Well, I think Lewis was at his peak and using a good set of tools against Mercer. I dont think I picked out an especially bad performance. It's a good 10 rounds to assess Lewis on.
In fact I think Lewis looked far worse or less complete a fighter in lots of his other wins. And Mercer is a relevant example because he's the type of rugged typical American fighter who can easily be lumped in with the 80s crop who we are discussing.

What Lewis fights do you think is fair to look at ?

 

Pretty much any from after the McCall loss to Tyson. You've probably dragged out one of the two worst.

Realistically tho we need to assess the whole picture, not just a bad performance or two to drag him down with. What about the great ones? Can't we pick one of these and shoot him to the heavens?

No, as i said we simply need to look at the whole picture.