Lennox Lewis vs The All-time Heavyweight top 10

For me old Lennox is the last great heavyweight champion.....However prime for prime this is how he fares against my top 10....

Lewis v Holy..............Think a prime Evander is to busy for Lennox...and the pace would be too hot......Holy comes on strong and wins a decision.

Lewis v Frazier............Frazier bombs out a Correa Lewis....and has a good chance against a prime one...but Lewis for me has the size and the jab to push Frazier back and Frazier wasn't good on the back foot......Lewis by decision..........

Lewis v Dempsey............Dempsey was a bully.....Whilst he was dangerous I'm not sure Lewis would be cowed, too big anyway.........Lewis by 6th round ko....

Lewis v Jeffries..........Jeffries may outlast Lewis but it's doubtful that even he could take the shots of Lewis and come on strong.....Lewis by decision....

Lewis v Marciano.......Too big...too everything.......Lewis by 10th round stoppage..

Lewis v Foreman.......Can Lewis tame Foreman early and stop him landing the shot!!! my guess is no..Foreman by ko3.............

Lewis v Holmes.........Just think Lewis is too much for old Larry........Holmes is made for Lewis..(watching Larry struggle with the taller less accomplished Bonecrusher) ......Lewis by decision

Lewis v Johnson.......Hard one this......Johnson would play cat and mouse...spoil and mess Lewis about..But for 15???????????nope
Lewis ko 12 from behind...

Lewis v Louis..........Too everything............Lewis ko 7....................

Lewis v Ali.............If Ali takes his shot (took Foreman's) then for me he outboxes Lennox and stops him late...Ali ko 12

I agree except for Holyfield who never convinced me at heavyweight, Lewis by decision.

I would only pick Foreman and Ali with any great confidence but await to be put straight on that by Gordy.

I agree with pretty much all of these except Frazier. Think Joe would have managed to gotten on the inside and worked the body shots taken it out of Lewis. Frazier on points or late stoppage for me

Foreman, Holmes and Ali would all beat Lewis comfortably. Frazier would beat him in a close and exciting fight (Frazier would make any fight exciting). Agreed with Holy (Evan Field would win easily).

As for the oldies.....forget it. Lewis easily.

Frazier lacked a prime Iron Mike's speed..................

Holmes struggled with taller foe like Williams and Smith late on......Reasonable to suggest a few years earlier against the better Lewis he'd struggle too!!!

Holmes couldn't punch that hard..

And Lewis was knocked out by 2 plodders and went life and death with Mercer. Holmes had the best jab I've seen in HW boxing. He would control the fight with that alone and set up Lewis for several counter rights. Plus he had far better footwork.

You're right but Lewis struggled to get up against garbage...

These are top 10 heavies...so perhaps your argument is redundant.

Holmes is simply the better boxer. Better mover, better jab and better recuperative powers. The punch he took of Shavers would have Lewis out cold to today.

Your opinion has it's merits....

.For me Lewis is bigger...has a good jab and holmes would struggle to get inside......

As he did against bonecrusher

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Your opinion has it's merits....

.For me Lewis is bigger...has a good jab and holmes would struggle to get inside......

As he did against bonecrusher

Not just for you is Lewis bigger. Its a simple fact that at 6ft 5 he was bigger. But his jab was more of a push which lacked snap and power. Krap jab in short. Great power with his cricket bowl over hand right which was sent via email first.

You mention bonecrusher yet discount Mercer who in many people's eyes beat Lewis.

Holmes, Foreman and Ali all beat Lewis easily. I see Frazier beating Lewis in a close and bloody affair, possibly getting off the deck to do so due to Lewis' decent uppercut.

Anything up to a 1997 version of Holyfield wins, especially when you look at their second fight. Holyfield too busy and puts Lewis on the back foot with his more regular and accurate jabs.

Lewis v Louis is a pick'em. Lewis has the size and stength but Louis has the technique, power and accuracy.

Lewis v Marciano:- I would favour Lewis but obviously you can't discount Marciano in any fight. I don't think Lewis ever fought someone as relentless as Marciano, and he could just break Lewis down to the body and arms until Lewis can't throw anything. It would depend if Marciano could take Lewis' power. I'd probably go for Lewis late tko.

Lewis beats Jeffries, Johnson and possibly Dempsey.

My own top 10 ATG HW's would include Tyson and Liston, who prime for prime would both beat Lewis easily.

But it works both ways...........Holmes got decked and struggled with RENALDO SNIPES!!!!!

Holmes lacked power..........Lewis had a greater reach........Holmes struggled with bigger men....

Nobody beats Lewis easily.........

McCall did.

Lewis in his prime?????

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Nobody beats Lewis easily.........

Holmes, Foreman and Ali do.

Holmes would jab the slower and more hesitant Lewis' head off all night, and as the Holy II fight showed, Lewis short-circuits when someone has a better jab than he does. If he can't dominate with the jab, he can't build off it, throws his whole gameplan.

Foreman would out-slug him, ala Ken Norton. While Lewis has a better chin than his detractors would like to admit, he isn't Chuvalo. One big shot lands from Foreman and is goodnight.

Ali is Ali. Too fast, better footwork, much better jab, better chin, smarter, more accurate, more adaptable.

No they don't.....

Holmes got a gift against Witherspoon........Struggled with Snipes.....Weaver and couldn't stop Cobb.......

Foreman was knocked out by Young...

Leave it out....

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Lewis in his prime?????

He was world champ ffs. How more prime can you get. Was he past his prime when Rahman sparked him out?

Az your argument doesn't hold water..

Consensus would agree he improved immeasurably under Steward!!

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:No they don't.....

Holmes got a gift against Witherspoon........Struggled with Snipes.....Weaver and couldn't stop Cobb.......

Foreman was knocked out by Young...

Leave it out....

Didn't get KO'd by plodders either.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Az your argument doesn't hold water..

Consensus would agree he improved immeasurably under Steward!!

Rahman?

If there is a boxer who ever laced em up with more excuses attached to his name that Lewis I am yet to hear of him.

But he was twice beaten by a light heavyweight albeit a great one.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:No they don't.....

Holmes got a gift against Witherspoon........Struggled with Snipes.....Weaver and couldn't stop Cobb.......

Foreman was knocked out by Young...

Leave it out....

What has Jimmy Young got to do with it?? A) Young was a counter-puncher. B) Foreman wasn't in his prime for that fight, his head was awol from the Ali fight. Didn't he have that religious "vision" after that fight? Hardly in his prime, mental or otherwise.

So Holmes had an off night or two, Lewis didn't?

I thought we were talking prime for prime here? No distractions, no complacency, no mental breakdowns.

So you can make excuses for Foreman but not Lewis?

That's right decked off chaff like Snipes and one dimensional Shavers and Weaver.....

lost to Spinks.......and trounced by Tyson at the same age that lewis beat Vitali....

But we'll forget all that!!

azania wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Az your argument doesn't hold water..

Consensus would agree he improved immeasurably under Steward!!

Rahman?

If there is a boxer who ever laced em up with more excuses attached to his name that Lewis I am yet to hear of him.

Mike Tyson

ShahenshahG wrote:

azania wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Az your argument doesn't hold water..

Consensus would agree he improved immeasurably under Steward!!

Rahman?

If there is a boxer who ever laced em up with more excuses attached to his name that Lewis I am yet to hear of him.

Mike Tyson

Ricky Hatton

Imperial Ghosty wrote:So you can make excuses for Foreman but not Lewis?

No, I'm saying Foreman wasn't at his peak during the Jimmy Young fight, just like Lewis wasn't when he lost to McCall. As far as I am convcerned, the point of this conversation is to compare these boxers during their prime, when they displayed their best attributes. Using past fights when they didn't perform doesn't really add anything to who would beat who as far as I see, it just levels the playing field.

The more relevant example would be to say would the Lewis that beat Rahman in the second fight (for example), beat the version of Foreman that beat Frazier? Leave everything else out of it. First agree on when X and Y were in their prime, then compare who had the best chin, power, heart, footwork etc. All this stuff about going on past fights to score points off one another doesn't move things forward.

Atila wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:

azania wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Az your argument doesn't hold water..

Consensus would agree he improved immeasurably under Steward!!

Rahman?

If there is a boxer who ever laced em up with more excuses attached to his name that Lewis I am yet to hear of him.

Mike Tyson

Ricky Hatton

Only Atila could be strong enough to raise Hatton

Imperial Ghosty wrote:But he was twice beaten by a light heavyweight albeit a great one.

He lost a very controversial decision when he was past his best.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:That's right decked off chaff like Snipes and one dimensional Shavers and Weaver.....

lost to Spinks.......and trounced by Tyson at the same age that lewis beat Vitali....

But we'll forget all that!!

What has age got to do with it. What was Ali like at 38 when he fought Berbick?

Beats Holy.
Beats Frazier.
Beats Dempsey.
Beats Jeffries.
Beats Marciano.
Loses to Foreman.
Beats Holmes.
Beats Johnson.
Beats Louis.
Loses to Ali.

If Lewis fought as a Canadian, would he be so highly rated in this country?

Of course not because he'd be the 15th best in canada

ShahenshahG wrote:Of course not because he'd be the 15th best in canada

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:No they don't.....

Holmes got a gift against Witherspoon........Struggled with Snipes.....Weaver and couldn't stop Cobb.......

Foreman was knocked out by Young...

Leave it out....

Nobody could stop Cobb, he even ate Shavers best showing little effects.

Foreman went 12 rounds with Young, what are you talking about? ..

I'm sure Tex cobb got knocked out in one round in the 80's...

Dokes did him in. But it was a premature stoppage. Or did he head butt (accidentaly) Dokes and caused a stoppage? I'm sure Dokes stopped him.

He was knocked out in one round by some journeyman I recall...

Some boxers lose their punch resistance the older they get.

Some do..........

Is it possible for a great boxer to lose in his prime to someone he shouldn't have and still be great?

As far as I'm concerned Lewis was in his prime at 29 against McCall. 29, in peak physical condition and a world champion = prime.

Lewis got blasted out in his prime against Rahman. World champion, won 14 nine by KO since McCall - Prime. Just because he showed up fat doesn;t make him not prime.

Lewis retired pretty much in his prime or only slightly on the wane unlike Ali, Tyson, Holyfield, Holmes , Louis, Foreman and countless other Americans who didn't know when to stop.

Why do Americans go on too long? Sorry I guess that's for another thread.

Wait but you were saying yesterday that Vitali was green despite being 32, in peak physical condition and a former world champion?

Super D Boon wrote:Is it possible for a great boxer to lose in his prime to someone he shouldn't have and still be great?

As far as I'm concerned Lewis was in his prime at 29 against McCall. 29, in peak physical condition and a world champion = prime.

Lewis got blasted out in his prime against Rahman. World champion, won 14 nine by KO since McCall - Prime. Just because he showed up fat doesn;t make him not prime.

Lewis retired pretty much in his prime or only slightly on the wane unlike Ali, Tyson, Holyfield, Holmes , Louis, Foreman and countless other Americans who didn't know when to stop.

Why do Americans go on too long? Sorry I guess that's for another thread.

I'm rather ashamed of myself that the first thing I did after reading the op was hit ctrl f to search for Gordy...

With Lewis' size and skills hes potentially a match for anyone. But the fact he can be sparked by two no marks does always leave a question mark when hes fighting the best of the best.

I'd back Ali, Foreman, Liston and Holmes to beat him. He beats Marciano, Johnson and Holy and I could see the others going either way to be honest. Could never write off an explosive, accurate puncher in Louis or the likes of Jeffries or Dempsey.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Wait but you were saying yesterday that Vitali was green despite being 32, in peak physical condition and a former world champion?

Green in terms of oppponents fought, green at the level but in his prime in terms of physical condition in the same way Lewis was when he lost to McCall. Lewis never got shot, he retired when he was still more or less at the top of his game.

Yes he did Ghosty........

Lewis hit his stripes when he joined Steward....against Mccall and Bruno he was really sloppy..

Against Rahman he was not motivated. Against Vit he only had 2 weeks notice. Against XY and Z he has an excuse for not performing well.

Oh and he rematched and beat McCall.......forgetting that McCall beat himself and should have been sectioned let alone allowed into a boxing ring.

The anti Lewis stuff on this site is getting silly now. Holyfield would beat Lewis?? Seriously. Did ANYONE watch their fights on here. Lewis drew with him in probably the worst ever decision by the judges and the BEAT him in a rematch. It wasnt even CLOSE!

Holmes would beat Lewis? Give me a break. Holmes reputation was based on him beating Ali when Ali was washed up and diseased. He also got knocked out badly by Tyson who Lewis completely outclassed in pretty much the best performance I have ever seen.

Foreman would beat Lewis? Foreman was a bully like Tyson and look what happened to him when he faced Lewis. Skilled boxers like Ali knocked out Foreman just like Lewis would have. They even knocked Foreman and Tyson out respectively in the same rounds! Foreman himself said Lewis would have beaten him so what more do you want??

Only Ali would have the ability to beat Lewis when Lewis was fully focused and it would be a close fight. But Ali was something else and took boxing to a whole new level. Lewis himself said only Ali would have been able to beat him but that he would have fought him to make sure.

^^

Shut up please.