When did Lennox Lewis's decline start ?

I really don't know when he actually started declining, but I think his peak years were likely between about 1995-1999. I believe he was like 29-33 years of age during that period, and his skills had improved considerably, he kept in great shape, and his size and power carried him into older age. I think the David Tua fight of 2000, may well have been the last quality performance of his career. Neither man looked terrible impressive in that fight, but at least he was beating a genuinely good opponent.

 

I think physically, his peak the McCall rematch or the Golota fight. He never looked sharper than there.

Against Rahman he looked a bit dull but he won every round untill the knockout. Looked a lot sharper and focused in the rematch though - if he had declined, it seemed more to be due to richdom (Ocean's eleven), induced arrogance (no defeat in seven years of fighting top contenders) and lazyness.

I think he looked a bit slower, but well prepared against Tyson.

However, Tyson had declined as well which made Lewis look better. Against a young contender like Vitali Klitschko it was much more apparant, although i think Vitali's unorthodoxness, handspeed and just weird style made him look worse than he was. I think his prime was from 1992 to 2003. He wasn't as good as he ever was, but he showed he could stop one of the best contenders in the world in 1992 and in 2003, so i think he was in his prime.

 

I agree with many of your points, but I also don't think that sporatic good performances here and there throughout his career can be generalized in the form of an 11 year prime. The Ruddock performance of 1992 and the Klitschko performance of 2003, were both impressive, but I think we have to look at consistancy. Lewis in my opinion was consistantly good from the mid to late 90's. In the early 90's he had a great performance against Ruddock, but a miserable one against McCall. In the early 2000's he looked good against Tua, but fell short against Rahman soon after. Lot's of fighter throughout history had notable wins both before and after their primes, but the thing that determines a fighters "peak" is the duration in which they are consistantly looking good against top raters.

Just my opinion.

 

First of all I have to praise Lewis constantly shape, except the McCall and Rahman- fights (both were destroyed in rematches) he was in almost top shape for so many years, that´s really rare, especially for a HW... in 2001 his "slipping" started, pysically and also from his speed, stamina, etc...

 

He seemed to evolve which makes pin pointing his prime so difficult. I remember when he was younger he had all kinds of speed, both hand and feet but the tended to wing things a bit too much and was prone to being off balance and countered.

Over time he got better technique but slowed down and become more methodical, this seemed in improve his power and his defense. But because the results were similar, except for those two losses, it was somewhat of a seamless transition.

 

I don't think there was ever a point where you could pinpoint him declining like most other HW champs did, honestly.

 

I realy don't think he had a decline.

 

After Holyfield II.

 

The McCall rematch? McCall had a nervous breakdown in the ring.
I agree that Lewis vs Morrison was Lewis's peak performance.
Tommy had the power to stop Lewis and Lennox came out agressive,
and cut Tommy in the first round. Manny steward felt that the Morrison fight
was when Lewis came to his own as a fighter. I was also very impressed
by the Golota fight. Decline after Rahman 1.

 

I dont think Lewis physically ever looked different once he perfected his technique with Emanuel Steward and that includes the Klitschko fight. Where I think he mentally started to decline was the first Rahman fight. When a fighter isnt up for training and focused on a fight I think that starts the decline of their career. You have to be focused going into a fight even if your in condition.

 

I definitely noticed a drop in hand speed during the Tyson fight, so I would say he definitely started to decline then.

In terms of his peak, I say between the Golota fight in 97 to the Tua fight he was at his best.

 

If Manny Steward had got Lewis earlier than in 1995, he'd have been an even better fighter. He made Lewis a far better balanced fighter with subtle footwork and improved punching technique. The lighter, athletic, Lewis of the Ruddock, Tucker and Bruno fights was no match for the later, heavier, more seasoned and experienced version that Steward moulded together.

Before Steward, Lewis had a wider stance and his punches weren't as straight. His right hand was arced and wild.

He was at his best as a fighter between 1997 and 2000.

 

I never bought into the theory that Lewis was safety first and boring. This was said to be part of the reason why Americans never liked him.

He was exciting and was in great fights with Ruddock, Mercer, Golota, Briggs, Botha, Grant, Rahman II, Tyson, Klitschko, etc.

 

I think in some cases Lewis took a safety first mentality. Yes he was involved in some exciting fights, but he acted very safe against fighters he respected and almost embarrasingly so. He came into the fight with Holyfield with a kidney belt pulled up to his chin. He tarnished his performance against Mercer, by complaining constantly in the corner to Emanuel Steward.

The Grant and Bruno fights were blatant displays of cheating on his part by holding his opponents head down and hitting. He often leaned on top of many of his opponents heads to tire them out. He held alot on the inside. A lot of this in fights where he was physically bigger and stronger than his opponents. This was the type of stuff that turned off fans. Many fighters foul but Lewis seemed to do it in a way that was embarrasing for such a big man. I enjoyed his fight with Klitschko, it was a real fight and Lewis fought like a fighter in that fight and didnt resort to complaining or fouling like had done in many of the fights in the past.