Quote Originally Posted by mucho testosterone
Quote Originally Posted by lb4lb
Lewis was a bad fighter when he was unprepared. He always came back to avenge. He would have taken Holyfield more seriously than he did the first time against Rahman and Mccall. Let's not compare Bowe to Lewis either, because we all know Bowe was scared to fight Lewis.
Lets not give Lewis too much credit either, he was outboxed by Ray Mercer and knocked out by McCall and a very mediocre Rahman.

He avenged his loss to McCall, by teaming up with McCall's old trainer Emmanuel Steward, (a little fact that I feel is often overlooked when folks talk about the rematch) and outboxing McCall.

He did avenge his loss to Rahman as well, a fighter that I feel he shouldn't have lost to in the first place.

I also felt the second Holyfield fight was a toss up, but that pawing snapless Lewis jab kept distance and kept him winning fights.

But lets be realistic, being prepared for a fight is part of what makes a fighter great and being unprepared for fights is part of what doesn't make a boxer great.

IMO Lewis wasnt very fun too watch but he did have a very solid, effective overhand right and a great uppercut. That jab always bothered me though.

The thing that was nice about Bowe was that he was a big guy who would mix it up on the inside or on the outside. Lewis was an outside fighter period and not as exciting to watch. The problem with Bowe was that I don't think he was committed enough to be in top form every match.

But you're right in that Bowe should have faced Lewis.....I just can't see the best version of Lewis beating the best version of Holyfield though.
Good points. Although I still think Lewis in his prime was better than prime Holyfield, I respect your point of view. They are only 3 years apart, so age may have been a small factor, but not a huge factor when they faced each other.
All fighters have had some bad outings here and there. I don't think that Holyfield should have went the distance with Michael Moorer and losses or draws against Ruiz is bad at any stage of Holyfield's career, but I still see him as one of the all time greats as well.