Overrated and the luckiest heavyweight in history.

He basically has two noteworthy names on his record: Holyfield and Tyson. Both Holyfield and Tyson were well past their best when he fought them. Tyson in particular was completely and utterly shot and a shell of the fighter he once was. I have no doubt that a peak Holyfield would have out worked him and won a points decision while prime Tyson would have turned Lewis into soup. I also believe Vitali would have beaten him in a rematch.

Lewis was the guy who always seemed to fight the right opponents at precisely the right time and has a very flattering record as a result. He did no better against a fighter like Ray Mercer than an ancient Larry Holmes did and this was the Larry Holmes completely destroyed by a peak Tyson several years earlier. He also struggled like hell against Bruno - a very limited fighter who was, again, completely outclassed and demolished by Tyson on two occasions. I don't suppose Holyfield or Bowe would have had any difficulty in beating Bruno either.

Had he fought peak Bowe he'd have been knocked out.

All in all, a pretty fortunate champion who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time throughout his career.