Who had the tougher title defenses Lewis or Tyson

Don`t often disagree with you Greg but i honestly think the fighters in regards to the alphabet belts then Tyson`s are better than than those of Lewis

 

Excluding the lineal defences, I agree Noel. Including lineal, all 12 Tyson strap defences against all 16 Lewis strap defences, and Lennox has the clear edge, imo.

 

Think that is fair

 

I'd say Lewis but Tyson made it look so easy at time's.

 

I once compared their resumes in another thread. I concluded that their reigns were very similar, but the post was made in a different context: I argued against having Mike as ATG while not having Lewis as one.

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...during-his-career.722212/page-8#post-22921120

 

The quality of their reigns is quite similar, with Lewis facing more punchers while Tyson faced more technicians.

1st defence :
1) Tyson was matched straight against a very good slugger in James Smith, who was coming off the best win (and run) of his career.
The fight was marred by a lot of clinches, but Tyson won easily by UD.

2) Lewis faced the tall, good punching Akinwande. Oddly, this fight was also spoiled by clinches. Lewis won by DQ.

Ranking : even.

2nd defence :
1) Tyson then faced n°1 WBC and n°3 WBA contender Pinklon Thomas. Thomas lost his title the year before, and looked sluggish afterwards. He still possessed a powerful jab, and was almost granite chinned. He hurt his right shoulder during training.
After a great start, Tyson seemed beffudled and fought wildly during the ensuing rounds. However, he was able to break the deadlock in the 6th round, and started to unload probably his best combinations to put Thomas down.
Great start and finish, but average (by Tyson's standards) performance in between.

2) To his credit, Lewis faced mandatory WBC contender Andrew Golota who lost back-to-back fights against Riddick Bowe but looked the better man in each bout.
Lewis simply destroyed Golota in one of his most impressive performance, leaving him no time to foul. Golota may have been weakened by a lidocaine shot, but still it was a top class performance by Lewis.

Ranking : advantage Lewis.

3rd defense :
1) Tyson faced undefeated, newly IBF crowned Tony Tucker. After a difficult start, Tyson adjusted and outlanded and outjabbed the much taller Tucker. Tyson became undisputed champion.

2) Lewis faced newly " lineal " champion Shannon Briggs, who won controversially against a very old Foreman.
The fight was very exciting, and after rocky moments, Lewis showed he was the boss by stopping Briggs during mid-fight.

Ranking : a tough one, but I give Tyson an edge because of the better quality of the opponent and the historical significance of the win.

4th defence :
1) Tyson faced undefeated gold medalist Tyrell Biggs, ranked n°1 by the WBA/IBF. Tyson methodically crushed his challenger in an emphatic win.

2) Lewis faced Mavrovic, an unknown boxer who was the EBU champion and ranked n°1 by the WBC. Lewis dominated the fight but did not find it easy against the awkward and very durable Croatian.

Ranking : advantage Tyson.

5th defence :
1) Tyson knocked out (for the unique time of his career) the legendary Larry Holmes. Holmes was obviously past his prime but still quality, as he showed it during the fight by sometimes perturbing Tyson's offense and years later when he beat Mercer and giving a prime Holyfield a tough fight.

2) Lewis drew Holyfield in a unification fight in what should have been a clear win for Lewis. It wasn't an exciting match but Lewis clearly outboxed the declining American.

Ranking : going by the official results, I would favor Tyson since a win is better than a draw. But we all know Lennox won so I will give him a slight edge.

6th defence :
1) Tyson remarkably knocked out an overweight Tubbs (ranked n°2 by the WBA), who looked impressive until then. First time Tubbs was KOed.

2) Lewis decisionned Holyfield for the rematch. The win was less convincing but still, Lewis was finally crowned the undisputed championship.

Ranking : advantage Lewis.

7th defence :
1) Tyson pulverised the unbeaten lineal champion Spinks in 91 seconds in the 1980's heavyweight superfight. Tyson's peak performance.

2) In turn, Lewis demolished the highly touted Michael Grant who was seen by some as the next big thing.

Ranking : both fights were ferocious displays, but I favor Tyson's pinnacle.

8th defence :
1) Tyson KOed the hard punching Bruno (WBA/C n°1 rated) , who showed tremendous courage and even stunned Tyson in the first round.
The fight was not easy as Bruno disrupted Tyson's rythm with his clinching and mauling (sometimes fouling) tactics.
Again, Tyson started fast and knocked down Bruno quickly, and his finishing was pure beauty. Notably, Tyson beat him quicker than anyone did.

2) In a homecoming voluntary defence, Lewis quickly dispatched the durable Botha in two rounds. Lewis also beat him quicker than anyone did.

Ranking : advantage Tyson, Lewis won in a quicker fashion but I rate 1989 Bruno slightly higher than 2000 Botha.

9th defence :
1) In his final winning defence, Tyson one-punched the technician Carl Williams (n°1 IBF rated) almost head out of the ring. All in 93 seconds.
Very good win.

2) For his last victorious defence, Lewis was pitted against the Samoan powerhouse, David Tua, who happened to be his mandatory IBF challenger. Lewis won a comprehensive UD after a difficult start. Lewis exhibited all of his jab and movement brilliance.
Excellent win.

Ranking : very close but I give Lewis the edge as Tua was better regarded than Williams (even tough he did not appear in the best shape but that's on him).

Final ranking : 4-4-1, so even.

 

Good, fair post, though you've limited your comparison to defences from their respective longest "reigns". If you included all title defences, the advantage clearly swings to Lewis, imo, who has more.

 

Thank you.
It's true that I have only included Lewis' second reign but it's because it was more suitable for the comparison.
I think that Lewis' first reign wasn't a truly one since Bowe and Holyfield were seen as the best and the last reign was made of two fights (Tyson himself and Vitali).

So yes, Lewis has more defences but Tyson had that aura and looked a little more dominant.

 

On balance, spread across their respective reigns, I rate Lewis's 15 successful title defences as superior to Tyson's 10, factoring in quality as well as quantity.

I agree, that for a couple of years, Tyson was about as far removed from the field as any HW in history.

 

Fair enough.

 

Tyson only had 9 defences. Seldon fight wasn't a defence.

 

Cheers, I didn't know that and stand corrected.