2002 Lennox Lewis vs 1988 Mike Tyson

[El Kabong]

I agree, but there's one missing factor...... mentality.

Tyson at his peak was unwavering. He fought some huge punchers (ie: Razor Ruddock), and still found the way and the will to win. With Lennox, you didn't know what you were going to get on fight night. Laser-focused and angry..... or lazy and lackadaisical. If you add the adjectives on 2002 Lewis, namely focused and determined..... THEN I would agree with Lewis winning 7 or 8 times out of 10. Otherwise forget it.

Alright then, let's account for that then




All of that was bubbling under the surface, just 1 or 2 good shots away

[TitoFan]

Yeah, we all know Tyson was a head case.
Still, he never went into the ring unfocused or lackadaisical.

[ross]

I agree, but there's one missing factor...... mentality.

Tyson at his peak was unwavering. He fought some huge punchers (ie: Razor Ruddock), and still found the way and the will to win. With Lennox, you didn't know what you were going to get on fight night. Laser-focused and angry..... or lazy and lackadaisical. If you add the adjectives on 2002 Lewis, namely focused and determined..... THEN I would agree with Lewis winning 7 or 8 times out of 10. Otherwise forget it.

Alright then, let's account for that then




All of that was bubbling under the surface, just 1 or 2 good shots away

This is a 15 year old child.....

[mikeeod]

Back to the main point, Tyson would always have a punchers chance vs Lennox, so a Tyson win isn't out of the question. That being said, Lewis was much larger and would've come in against Tyson with a laser focus due to Mike being so dangerous. With both versions fighting their best fights, Lennox comes out ahead. Too many weapons, too smart, and too big for any version of Mike Tyson.

[El Kabong]

This is a 15 year old child.....

Yes and he was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time....just pointing out that a Tyson who wept before fights wasn't all that far in the past. But please feel free to elaborate on how Tyson grew emotionally and psychologically in the 7 years between this and 1988.

[TitoFan]

This is a 15 year old child.....

Yes and he was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time....just pointing out that a Tyson who wept before fights wasn't all that far in the past. But please feel free to elaborate on how Tyson grew emotionally and psychologically in the 7 years between this and 1988.

I don't think Tyson grew up emotionally and psychologically until after he retired.

However, that is besides the point I was originally trying to make. Whereas Lewis was given to the periodic lackadaisical attitude, which earned him two knockout losses which he later avenged, Tyson was not. Regardless of whether he won or lost, Tyson went in there trying to rip your head off. His head was a mess.... but inside the ring he was like a caged animal. If the Lewis that got KO'ed against Rahman and McCall shows up against prime Tyson, he gets KTFO'ed..... I don't care how much bigger Lewis is. Otherwise, the saying that a great big man beats a great little man has a lot of truth to it. Prime Tyson versus a prime (and laser-focused) Lewis would be a helluva fight. But I think Lewis takes it over 50% of the time.

[ross]

This is a 15 year old child.....

Yes and he was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time....just pointing out that a Tyson who wept before fights wasn't all that far in the past. But please feel free to elaborate on how Tyson grew emotionally and psychologically in the 7 years between this and 1988.

Are you for real?

You cant comprehend the difference in maturity between a 15 year old and a man who had been in the biggest fights the world had known at 22?