Following on from the current thread on Lennox,which heavyweight champs do you think he beats and how?
Oh, he's at least got a chance of beating any one of them, so I'll ignore the cases where I think Lewis is very likely to win or lose and concentrate only on those where I think it's a somewhat tough call but Lewis is nonetheless more likely to win... and I've got... almost nothing, if you're talking about the old school guys. I think they all do or don't beat him, but I don't see any really tough calls. (The closest might be Baer.) Prime Tyson is a tough call where I think Lewis would probably win. I think that because it's Thursday. If you ask on a Saturday or a Tuesday I'll tell you something different. Vitali and Wlad might be close but I think Lewis has about a 65% chance of beating either. Joshua might be a tough call but if he's already prime Lewis very likely beats him.
I agree with this. Lennox Lewis on his best night could literally have defeated any heavy ever. COULD is the operative word, not WOULD. But the possibility would strongly be there for Lewis to have won against anyone from any era.
It's not just that he's really good, it's that he doesn't have any obvious stylistic foils, as far as I can see.
Well its easier to ask who he doesnt beat, because Lewis(who im not a fan of) is hard to beat at his best. He doesnt beat The holyfield of the Bowe rematch. That evander did everything he did in the Lewis rematch(which i had either a draw or 7-5 lewis) just faster and more often. He doesnt beat prime liston Those 2 are the only one im sure of. I have prime ali a slight favorite. Depends on how effectively he can get in range, his hand and footspeed was great but he would have the shorter reach and im not sure how well prime ali would do if hes forced to be agressive against a very hard hitting bigger man. Prime tyson is 50/50. Mike showed great ability to absorb punishment, a prime version would be alot harder to hit and would be extremely dangerous for atleast 8 rounds instead of just 1 round. If lewis can tie him up effectively up close and cautiously outjab him on the outside and occasionally drop the right to keep mikes respect he wins a decision if not then tyson eventually lands the big one. Ike ibeabuchi is 50/50. If you go by what we saw then ibeabuchi should be a solid favorite but there is always more than what meets the eye and everyone has a weakness. Ike got himself locked up before we ever saw his. Joe louis is 50/50. Louis can do it but if Lewis makes it an ugly boring fight by just pecking away from a distance and grabbing on the outside he wins a decision or late stoppage against the smaller man Prime George foreman is 65/35 in favor of lewis. George was too wide open and not used to fighting bigger guys who could hurt him(especially hurt him from a distance where he cant hit back) but george has a great chin and dangerous power üunchesfrom wide strange angles Bowe is 80/20 in favor of Lewis Bowe is too sloppy and too easy to hit. Bowe had a decent chin but he didnt bother to defend himself so he got hit flush and hurt badly by punches he didnt see(because he didnt care to look for them) from guys who werent feather fisted but definitely didnt hit like Lewis. Bowe had alot of fighting spirit good power and threw alot of punches so he has a chance.
I'd pick a young Tyson over Lewis as his aggression and speed would allow him to land the big one. That right hand he dropped on Holmes (which made Joe Louis cheer from his grave) would've slept Lewis.
Yes but Lewis was very very good at shutting other peoples offense down. I have it 50/50 because Lewis has a very good chance of turning it into a stinker in which case he has a good chance of winning a decision. Lets not forget that a young tyson often had the bad habit of clinching and cooperating with his opponents when they wanted a rest instead of continuing to work and break them down. Only against Biggs and Ruddock did he really get mean and nasty when his opponents tried to spoil. If lewis manages to make it a boring wrestling match early enough(i.e. before he gets hurt) he has a good chance of not getting hurt at all. Then he can try tp start pecking his way to a decision. But in theory, yes tyson has shown a good enough chin that he should theoretically get so many chances to knock lewis out that he would probably eventually get to him before Lewis wears him out, which is why i see lewis and steward coming up with a spoiling safety first type strategy
In my mind the only two that I would put money on beating a prime Lewis are Holmes and Ali. Especially the young version of Muhammad. I don't see many heavy s to be honest beating these two at their very best. Holyfield takes him to the brink on the real deal s best day but I have the best Lewis beating him. I think a prime Dempsey or Frazier could give him the fight of his life. So basically I see Lewis beating most heavy s but not Ali or Holmes in prime.
