Was Lennox Lewis the greatest HW of ALL-TIME?

Someone who knows a thing or 2 about HW greats thinks so: George Foreman. I am starting to think there may be something to this. Lewis smoked the 2 guys who smoked him. Its hard to picture 5'10" Rocky Marciano fighting this giant. Its just as hard to picture Joe Frazier, who couldnt get past Foreman at 6'3", being able to fight 6'5" Lewis. Its hard to imagine Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson or even Joe Louis fighting someone 6'5". I truly believe Lewis' height seriously and his reach seriously CONTRIBUTED to him being practically unbeatable.

Only guy I can imagine giving him a problem is 1965 Cassius Clay. Clay would dazzle him with speed and shuffle, and his stamina would outlast Lewis'. Larry Holmes had a tough time with Cooney---so it would be even tougher with Lewis. Dempsey, Tunney were too small for Lewis.

How about that Kansas farmer who KO'd Jack Johnson? ;D

he's surely one of the greatest. The only guys I'd pick against him are Ali and Holmes with his lighting jab.
Otherwise ,I agree many of the guys you mentioned are too small or just not as good/ or dont have the style to beat Lennox

Head to head on their best nights, the guys who I think could beat him are:

Tyson
Holmes
Ali
Holyfield
Foreman (only if by KO)

Lewis is definitely top ten HW all time for me though I can't really decide where to put him - arguments and counter arguments I have with myself have him sometimes as high as 3rd and then as low as 8th or 9th :-\

I just wish he was around now in his prime to take out the Klitschkos. Wlad would be an easy early night for him possibly inside 3 minutes. Vitali would take a bit longer.


Lets not forget he wasn't in his prime when he stopped him inside of 6 inhis last fight - shit I just used boxrec to see when it was. 8 years ago !!!! Where does time go.....

I'm a huge Lewis fan but I don't think he's the greatest. I still think Ali holds that title at-leased the 1960s Ali. I'd put Lewis in the top 3 though, his hight and reach are part of it. But if you watch him in his second Rachman fight at 36 years old he is amazing. So much better than the Klits today, he fires more right hands in one round than Wlad does on whole fights. His jab is also far harder than any active heavyweight today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QctkR_TxUk

there's a video of Lennox here, he looks in good shape, better than Foreman and Larry Holmes were at 45. God I'd love to know how good he'd be at this age.

"NO"....next question

Lewis is certainly a historic fighter and, as one of the first giant athlete types that will dominate the division for the next generation, he merits a place in history.

Because of his size and athleticism, he would be hard to beat, just like the Klits. The Klits are one dimensional, but they do what they do so well that its hard to see anyone beating them in the near future. Lewis had technical flaws too - his defence wasnt great, he pawed with the jab and he lost focus during fights. Having said that, he would be competitive with most fighters in history if he jumped into a time machine. He is therefore one of the BEST fighters in history.

What that doesn't tell us is what would happen if Ali had been born in 1970 instead of 1940, or if Joe Loius had been his own great grandson ...... better nutrition, good diet, early technical training etc may have meant that they too would have been 6'7" or more nowadays.

For me - a measure of true GREATNESS is how far ahead of the opposition people were AT THEIR TIME. Louis made 25 defences if the undisputed crown, Marciano never lost etc. Lennox did get splatted himself a couple of times by inferior contemporaries, and he never absolutely dominated the division like Ali did. I would argue, therefore, that those fighters were GREATER than Lennox.

Another way of thinking about it may be the 100metres sprint. Asafa Powell has run faster times than Jesse Owens, so he is arguably better ........ but he has not been so far ahead of the field or created history like Owens, so Owens is GREATER.

Just my interpretation of 'Greater', its worth a good debate though?

Head2Head, possibly.. Lennox was one of the very first supersized HW who had the mobility and the skills of a smaller fighter and a guy like that is very hard to beat... ON his best night, he beats everybody.. I have no doubts that he would put a beatdown on Joe Louis, Frazier and the Alis of the world.. Size disparity is a big factor in this case and he'd beat em all...

No.

Top 10? Maybe!

On his best night did he have the potential to beat anyone? Definitely.

Prime for prime though I'd have Foreman smashing him all over the place and I also think he got his timing of Holyfield perfect too. I think Holyfield on the night he destroyed Tyson would have taken any version of Lewis.

I don't like this because it sounds like I'm getting at Lewis and I really am not. I love the guy and to be honest I miss him and what he brought to the game, but the greatest of all time? For me, NO, but I won't come down too hard on anyone who thinks he is.

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

"NO"....next question

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Agreed, Ali & Holmes would have beaten him imo

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Head to head on their best nights, the guys who I think could beat him are:

Tyson
Holmes
Ali
Holyfield
Foreman (only if by KO)

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agree, a past his prime Holyfield took him to the limit in the rematch, so i'm pretty sure the same Holyfield that fought Bowe would have given him as much hell and most likely would have beaten him, IMO a prime Larry Holmes would have beaten him as well, had a better jab (IMO the best jab ever in the history of the HW division) and a good strong straight right, would have disrupted Lewis' tempo all night

on 2nd thought, having swung far in Lewis' favor after years of discrediting him, I will come back around a bit against him and say that he wouldnt have fared any better against some smaller figthters liek frazier than he fared against Tua, which is this: a boring fight, play-it-safe thing. Tua also was lazy and risk-averse in that fight, something guys like Tyson, Frazier and even Marciano would NEVER be. Has anyone ever seen those 3 shorties fighting cautiously? Therefore Lewis would have his hands full against even guys as short as Rocky, since they wouldnt cower out and chciken out like many recent fighters have against him, after tasting his huge jab and counter right uppercuts, alot just resigned themselves to fighting from the outside and getting picked apart/KO'd. Maybe Marciano would get KO'd fast with his in-your-face style, but atleast he'd have more of a chance at knocking Lewis out than the way Tua fought Lewis. Hey, I think the Rock could maybe crack Lewis' ribs if he ever got inside and landed a nice Suzie-Q.

Bes of 3 my answer is yes , and personally i dont buy this 1965 Clay guff ,

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Originally Posted by brocktonblockbust

on 2nd thought, having swung far in Lewis' favor after years of discrediting him, I will come back around a bit against him and say that he wouldnt have fared any better against some smaller figthters liek frazier than he fared against Tua, which is this: a boring fight, play-it-safe thing. Tua also was lazy and risk-averse in that fight, something guys like Tyson, Frazier and even Marciano would NEVER be. Has anyone ever seen those 3 shorties fighting cautiously? Therefore Lewis would have his hands full against even guys as short as Rocky, since they wouldnt cower out and chciken out like many recent fighters have against him, after tasting his huge jab and counter right uppercuts, alot just resigned themselves to fighting from the outside and getting picked apart/KO'd. Maybe Marciano would get KO'd fast with his in-your-face style, but atleast he'd have more of a chance at knocking Lewis out than the way Tua fought Lewis. Hey, I think the Rock could maybe crack Lewis' ribs if he ever got inside and landed a nice Suzie-Q.

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The fight against Tua was a masterclass and a complete shut out. Whether or not you found it 'boring' has no basis in how effective it was or how likley he was ever t0 lose that fight.

9 times out of 10 Lennox Lewis would have beaten Ali

it might be hard to swallow because of the fairy tales of Ali but its true

id put lewis in the top 2 or 3 HWs of all time