Who was better, Lewis or Wlad?

I dont think Lewis had a weak chin at all.
Sure Lewis suffered 2 KO losses but that can happen at HW. He also took big punches off of big punchers.
Duran was KOd by Hearns but didnt have a weak chin... Far from.

Overall I think Lewis was the greater fighter but take nothing away from Wladimir who was also a great HW fighter.

 

Sanders said that Lewis told him he'd also had concerns about facing him. Whether this was to boost Corrie or whether it was the truth (and it's possible, Sanders was a kind of high risk low reward guy) I can't say.

 

Sanders got stopped by Rahman. In his next fight, Rahman knocked out Lewis in Johannesburg. I’m pretty sure I know who the original opponent was supposed to be.

Sidenote: That’s definitely in the running for best two fight wining streak ever at heavyweight.

 

Very fair assesment mate, i got to agree with you.
Wlad, for all the technical ability and power, did not have a dog in him to dig deep and grind, hence the clinching and panic under fire.
Doesnt take a genius to realise Wlads biggest flaw isnt his chin, it’s his mind, which Fury succesfully played and now is considered (not by too many i hope) one of the greatest HW’s.

 

Except at the time, Corrie Sanders wasn't considered a top level HW. Too inconsistent, no relevant wins over any other top rated HW.

 

... no matter how you slice it...lol

 

Duran didn't panic he was frustrated...but if you see it that way...
Sanders is a lot smaller than Lewis & Vlad who are being discussed here ...

 

Exactly...Odin ...polish this Turd ?

 

Sounds like a smart comment, except he was coming off a good win earlier that year and would’ve been highly rated had he taken Rahman out.

Lewis has no issue fighting Botha, who wasn’t a serious contender at the time.

 

Sanders is pretty close to Lewis in size. Just a little bit smaller.

 

Wlad didn't panic he was caught cold.

Sanders is 6'4 if that is small then what do you call Oliver McCall???? A dwarf?

 

I have no intention of wanting to polish you.

 

Wlad was the better athlete, the more disciplined fighter outside the ring and the more consistent fighter in the ring. You don’t fight in the most title fights in the division’s history and rack up the 3rd most consecutive title fights ever by not being extremely good and extremely motivated.
H2h I believe he matches up well with Lewis as his straight right hand was lethal and it’s the punch Lewis was ko’d with twice. Vitali also hit Lewis at will with his right but his right was nothing like Wlads.
Steward didn’t rush to become Wlad’s trainer for nothing, he knew Wlad was a special talent.
As for Lewis his best asset over Wlad was his ability not to panic when hit. I won’t say Wlad didn’t possess a warrior’s heart as that would be unfair (and wrong based on the Peter and Joshua bouts) but it is clear he often panicked when engaged, which also seemed to rob him of his endurance at times. Wlad was so good that he often didn’t need to find his extra gear in the ring with his opponents which is impressive but when he did sometimes need it, he looked as if he was on very shaky ground. His face showed distress and panic often. So the optics are not as good for Wlad in a big fight as they are for Lewis who had a much better comfort zone so to speak in the ring. Lewis also fought in a much more popular era for the division when America still had some name heavies. Therefore his resume appears more impressive. However Wlad face a lot of prime heavies, which is all you can ask of any champ to fight the best available guys at their peak.
So in summary i’ll Say Wlad was the better boxer but Lewis was the more natural fighter.
Sometimes you want the better boxer sometime you want the natural fighter. It’s splitting hairs either way

 

I think Wlad was a better athlete but Lewis was the better fighter. I can't think of many occasions where Wlad dug his feet in and went to war, when someone put it on him he never looked comfortable.

 

That's an interesting scenario. I think pre- Steward Wlad in some ways would of had a better chance of winning as I don't think a jab and grab style would work well vs Lewis who moved well and had a reach advantage, Lewis had long arms even for his height, only an inch shorter than Fury's.

A more aggressive Wlad might very well have a better chance to land that big KO punch that we all know was the one proven way to beat Lewis. Out boxing Lewis was hard only Vitali and Bruno really did it and Lewis would then just turn the fight around by taking it to his opponent and getting the stoppage.

But I'd still favour Lewis. Wlad pre-Steward had a wider stance and didn't move as well, he often threw and then just stood in front of opponents to be countered, which is why Sanders beat him so easily. Even if Wlad could beat Lewis on the outside, once Lewis decides to come inside his tendency to stand in front of his opponents back then would be his undoing and Lewis would get to him.

But as I said Wlad has a much better chance in a shoot out this way as he could always catch Lewis himself while trading shots. It's much more of an even scenario than post Steward.