Who ranks higher all time Lennox Lewis or Joe Calzaghe?

I give the edge to Calzaghe.

I believe Lewis is overrated P4P. He has to be up there in the top 5 Heavyweights H2H but P4P he ranks quite a bit lower for me.

 

CALZAGHE by a comfortable margin.

Joe was a better boxer & more versatile when needed.

Best ever at 168.

21 defences... best p4p fighter in the world at 36... never lost never mind KOd twice like LL was by B+ (at best) fighters.

Calzaghe... definitely.

 

agreed.

lennox was a fine boxer though.

terrific skills and punch.

the 2 ko losses have to tip it jc's way. :thumbsup

 

:good no need to post my own - just read this one

 

Its a very hard call..I would call it even atm.

Lewis's list of wins is very impressive but the 2 ko losses is the main concern.

Would McCall and Rahman have been able to knock out the likes of Holmes, Ali, Louis and Marciano....i think not.

 

Lennox Lewis.

The respect and reverence for this guy has appreciated 10 fold since his retirement and rightly so.

Top 10 all time HW easily....JC has a good resume, but Lewis fought practically everyone he could have with the exception of Bowe(and that was hardly his fault) and he beat them all, most convincingly.

The thing that irritates is the loss to Rahman in Africa....that was totally avoidable and I feel that it does dent his prestige somewhat because people feel as though he lost to two mediocre fighters....something other ATG's wouldn't have did at their best which Lewis was at or close to, at least in the latter case.

Lack of mental focus cost Lewis dear in that 1....but we all saw what happened in the rematch when a determined, vengeful Lewis showed up...

Great fighter.

 

That's exactly why this subject will be better addressed in five years time.

 

I think the problem with undefeated records is that they can often be misleading.

It is quite easy to build up a padded record - guys like Michael Watson never really did that and hence his record looks average.

 

Yep, often happens. Perhaps nostalgia plays a role, or the haters ammunition dries up as the legacy is set in stone and there for all to see...people look to pick holes in the resume's of fighters currently active as a means to justify fighting contender after contender after contender....as if they have something to prove.

Calzaghe's will be appreciated more when he's gone, of that I have no doubt. Just like Lennox.

 

Especially given that our conveyor belt of top class fighters has come to what seems like a shuddering halt!

 

They are not misleading if you take the time to analyze them correctly. All records are different.

Calzaghe has 5 very good wins, and then below that he fought plenty of good supermiddle contenders.

In this scenario, an undefeated record is good. Completely different to an Amir Khan, fighting a heap of bums and then a few top 10 British fighters. Or an Edwin Valero.

We don't have to catergorize undefeated records one way or the other without looking at them closely, people seem to just assume if you are undefeated you ain't fought anybody and its meaningless.

 

There are some familiar things in their resumes.

They both fought solid condenders over a long period (although the edge maybe goes to Lewis)

Calzaghe - Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Lacy, Kessler
Lewis - Ruddock, Mercer, Bruno, Golota, Tua, Morrison, Vitali

They both got the big american names far too late in thier careers. Lewis missed out on mid 90s clashes with Bowe, Holyfield, Moorer and Tyson. Meanwhile Ottke, Jones and hopkins eluded Calzaghe.

Lewis - Holyfield (past prime) Tyson (shot)
Calzaghe - Hopkins (past prime) Jones (shot)

 

That is what plenty of people fail to do. Many simply assume that because a guy is undefeated he must be the business. Others assume the complete opposite.

 

All records are misleading if people look at stats and do not have the brain to effectively comprehend what makes up the numbers.

Perhaps Sam Langford is rubbish because he lost 46 times. Perhaps Valero is better, he's undefeated. Perhaps Marciano is as good as Valero, because he's undefeated too.

 

Touche......