Who has the best chance of beating Lennox Lewis?

Larry Holmes is at a size disadvantage. 6'3" 209 lbs 80 inch reach was the prime Larry Holmes. 6'5" 245 lbs 84 inch reach was the prime Lewis, thats a pretty big size advantage considering Lewis always used those physical tools to his advantage.

I think Larry does give Lennox problems with the jab and his hand speed. However I think Lewis is good enough to keep Larry on the outside for the most part and start landing the big right hands. The big question in this fight is what can Larry take. Larry got decked by Ernie Shavers twice and Renaldo Snipes but got up and won all 3 fights. This is a tough one to call but prime for prime I really cant decide who my money's going on.

Ali may just be too fast for Lewis so I'll lean towards Ali if they ever fought prime for prime.

Tyson still loses by KO maybe even sooner then he did 2002 because he used to be more aggressive and fight at a faster pace. Lewis would still be too sharp and too smart to get nailed by anything serious from the 5'11'' Tyson. Although a prime Tyson wrecks any other top heavyweight in the Lewis era with the exception of possibly a prime Vitali Klitschko.

Liston just never gets in close enough and catches to many jabs and loses on points in a close but clear UD.

Foreman my just catch Lewis but all probabilities aside I go with Lennox UD.

 

Ali
Jack Johnson

 

I'm going to be controversial.

Assuming that we are talking out of 10 fights, I'd say:

Ali (considering his troubles with Norton) would beat Lennox 1 or 2 out of 10

Holmes - sorry, too small, not enough reach to play the jab game - 1 out of 10

Tyson - 2 or 3 out of 10

Evander - could conceivably take 3 to 4 out of 10 during his prime, perhaps 5
(I don't "like" Evander, but give the man his due)

Geore Foreman - 5 out of 10

Frazier - 0 out of 10

Shavers - 2 out of 10

Lyle - 1 out of 10

Considering the Rahman and McCall fights, it seems that Lewis is only likely to be defeated by quick, explosive (unforeseen) punch. That's why I give Shavers a chance of beating Lennox over Frazier.

Think about it... Ali was great, but his style is not likely to yield a victory against Lennox. Ali never fought an opponent with the combination of skill, caution and size of Lennox -- I don't think Ali could catch him with 1 magic punch. Ali would perhaps win a decision.

I think an aggressive Foreman has a good chance against Lennox. A prime Foreman had the power, size and reach to make Lewis uncomfortable.

Pound for Pound, I'd rate Evander as very dangerous for Lewis. Lewis did not (and I think, could not) put an "old" Holyfield away -- a Holyfield that had already been through many wars. A truly prime Holyfield would give Lewis problems and frustrate him to no end.

Flame Away!

 

Youre the furthest thing from controversial, hell you had both Lewises balls in your mouth..It was actually very obvious

 

pac

 

Larry Holmes wasn't much bigger than Ali - he was about an inch taller but weighed less. I think Ali, at least the older version, was tougher and more durable than was Larry. Having said that, I think Holmes' jab and boxing smarts would have given Lewis fits.

I don't think George Foreman would have been as effective against a tall, rangy, powerful boxer like Lennox. Lewis had enough power to get George's respect, and his height and reach advantages would have prevented George from just steamrolling him. Not sure who would win, but it wouldn't be an early type of Frazier/Norton blowout.

 

Prime Foreman wasn't much bigger than Holmes, and he had a shorter reach. Foreman and Holmes were the same height; Foreman was a little heavier - 8-10 pounds or so.

 

True, but George was a "naturally" big fighter, with good proportions and little excess weight.

It would be interesting to see how big a prime Lewis would look next to a prime Foreman. The Foreman that hadn't tasted Ali vs. Prime Lewis would be interesting. Losing wasn't in Foreman's vocabulary at the time.

Holmes doesn't have the 1 punch power required to bother Lennox. He might bug Lewis for a few rounds, but eventually Lennox would overwhelm him. (9 times out of 10).

I would love to see a Lewis vs. many old time fighters -- it would be a great yardstick. (and, obviously I believe that Lennox, thanks to his physical gifts, would do very well)

 

Exactly!!! And if guys like that could do it, I'd say pretty much any hard-hitting ATG would get Lewis out of there.:yep

 

yeah when you get KTFO 2 times by guys like that.....then its safe to say all the above listed legends have pretty good odds

 

Ali and Liston are the two i feel beat Lewis.
Liston has the same reach which is a big factor in competing with the best Lewis. He has a jab which is capable of keeping Lennox out of rhythm and hits hard enough to really make Lewis cautious.
Alis movement keeps Lewis off balance and his unorthodox punch selection never lets Lennox take control or time him.

Louis and Holmes potentially can cause Lewis problems but both have a susceptibility to the righthand and the way Lennox throws it from that overhand position makes it very hard to see coming. Lennox also posseses a great uppercut and a more than servicable jab to keep them at bay.
Foreman is another possible but it is just as possible Lewis out boxes him to a onesided decision