Was Lennox Lewis the greatest HW of ALL-TIME?

[gest12645]

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

[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)

[ElTerribleMorales]

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)

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

[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.

[Dark Lord Al]

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

[BIG H]

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.

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.

[erics44]

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

[Althugz]

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

I don't know about 9 out of 10 times - I can picture them being pretty even like the Frazier fights (obviously in a different way because of the differing styles).

I know it's a cop-out answer but I'd still put Ali as the greatest just for everything he achieved in and out of the boxing ring. It's very rare that you get a superstar who is the absolute best at his sport, fights everybody put in front of him, has a chin, has the skills and has the charisma/worldwide appeal that Ali had. You just can't touch that.

In terms of pure boxing, Ali in his prime gives every heavyweight in history a run for their money imho..But styles make fights.

As far as Lewis, he was very under-appreciated while boxing. Another case of "missed when he was gone. I'd put him within the top 5 heavy's of all time.

[brocktonblockbust]

yes he certainly completed dominated Tua, boring as all hell as it was; but he couldnt really seriously hurt or let alone finish him. Tua fought un-gallantly and hardly took risks to press Lewis. My point is if a pressure fighter like Frazier or Tyson really pressed Lewis, good chins that they had of iron practically, and willing to take a few to give a few, how well would Lewis have dealt with 1988 Tyson? I dont know, Im just wondering what others think.

As for 1965 Clay being guff, well, listen, that dude WAS magic in that year, as in '66, '67 as well.

[THE THIRD MAN]

I see the Lewis nuthuggers are out in force! Lewis was as slow as a three toed sloth, he was smoked twice himself, won a disputed rematch with Holyfield, i don't even think that one was close, Lewis thought after the draw all he had to do was turn up to win. He was given a gift decision. He never fought Bowe. He was at times lazy, lumbering and easily hit.

Who would beat him ?

Liston KO's Lewis inside 5
Ali wins a wide UD
Frazier KO's Lewis inside 5 (Frazier had no problems with a taller ALI in 1971)
Foreman (1973/4) KO's Lewis inside 5
Holmes wins a wide UD
Tyson (1986-89 KO's Lewis inside 5

There is a quick half dozen.
He would have trouble with Norton, Lyle, Shavers (can you imagine what would happen if Shavers hit him?) I give Terrell a chance!

If he fought Vitali again he would've been Knocked out! Lewis behind on all score cards at time of stoppage. Wlad would beat him too!

Greatest of all time? Shit, he's not even the greatest of the past 20 years!

[Matias64]

I think sportmen of 2010's are generally better trained, more healthy, stronger, bigger, faster, have better technic, etc than those of 1960's, 1970's, 1980's. Besides in internet world teams behind boxers have much more knowledge about weakness and strongness of boxers. Knowledge of boxing is now better than ever before - even in times of Lenox Lewis. That's why there many things support this list of all time best heavyweight champions:

1. Vitali Klitschko
2. Wladimir Klitschko
3. Lenox Lewis
4. Mike Tyson
5. Muhammad Ali
6. Larry Holmes
7. George Foreman
8. Joe Frazier
9. Sonny Liston
10. Rocky Marciano or Joe Louis

You can think about it by comparing athletics like Carl Lewis vs. Usain Bolt, Jim Hines vs. Carl Lewis or Bekele vs. Lasse Viren (Emil Zatopek vs. Paavo Nurmi). The problem is that we tend to appreciate too much these old time heroes with no critic at all.

On the other hand i have to say that Joe Louis in his time and Muhammad Ali in his time were surely showing much more skill and technic than any of their rivals at the same time of before. It's not their fault if knowledge of boxing, know how, is now much more better. It's just unfair to compare Muhammad Ali to Vitali Klitschko just as computer of 1950's to supercomputer of our time.

[rjj tszyu]

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.

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.

Tua was certainly no Frazier or Marciano though. I'd personally favour Frazier over Lewis. We all KNOW Frazier would just keep coming at Lewis through all the punishment, BUT how would Lewis fare when Joe hit him with that hook?

I can't make my mind up about Marciano against Lewis, but it wouldn't have been easy either way.

[BIG H]

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.

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.

Tua was certainly no Frazier or Marciano though. I'd personally favour Frazier over Lewis. We all KNOW Frazier would just keep coming at Lewis through all the punishment, BUT how would Lewis fare when Joe hit him with that hook?

I can't make my mind up about Marciano against Lewis, but it wouldn't have been easy either way.

He was no Frazier agreed. But not sure that Tua wouldn't have gone 49-0 against Marciano's opposition

[Mark TKO]

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.....

[Mctaggert]

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.



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.