Lewis-Mercer Scores

[HomicideHenry]

I watched the fight last night and mainly out of boredom I scored the fight 98-91 in favor of Lennox Lewis. The only rounds I scored for Mercer were the first and sixth rounds. The official scores for the fight were 95-95, 96-95, 96-94 (split decision) for Lennox Lewis. The best round of the night, least for me, was the 4th. I have always heard mixed reviews on this fight were some people stated that they felt it should have been a draw or that Mercer should have won it, but I believe that not to be true.

I believe the only reason(s) why anyone would think that is because of Mercer's last minute aggressiveness at the end of each round, which made him appear to be the more dominate; this same tactic was used in Hagler-Leonard and some of even Muhammad Ali's fights, as example. Also it was Mercer who was the main power puncher in this fight, and though Mercer (as Lewis would say of future opponent Vitali) "state of his face" was swollen it appeared that Lewis's power punches didn't have quite the effectiveness that Mercer's did.

what won it for Lewis? the sheer volume of his jab, plain and simple. Thoughts/opinions?

[Woller]

We are going to raise some eyebrows!
Like you I have Lewis winning by a huge margin. One or at most two rounds for Mercer.
I never understood how American judges and fight fans could be so far off the mark.

Woller
(Denmark)

[HomicideHenry]

Lewis, like Larry Holmes before him, never was quite appreciated in his time. As Lewis often stated "I'm fighting for respect," but it never came to him. There always seemed to be a bigger name than his own, or too many sentimental favorites out there for him to fight. Mercer was a fan favorite here in the USA, as was Tommy Morrison, as was Frank Bruno, whom many here in the US wanted to see win over Lewis. Even when he defeated Tyson, how much press can you recall was made mostly over Lewis? It was 60/40 for Tyson in that department.

Lewis was the victim of his own dominance, and it cost him that popularity and cross over appeal in the long run.

[bennie]

I thought Lewis was lucky. Mercer outjabbed him.

[My2Sense]

I remember having Lewis just edging it by a close margin, six rounds to four, or maybe 5-4-1.

Lewis was just a little busier and a little more consistent with his output IMO.

In defeat, I thought Mercer gave his best career performance.

It looked to me that Lewis could've/should've won by a wider margin, if he had just let his freakin' hands go. But that was typical of some of Lewis' performances.

Considering that he was fighting in Mercer's home country, he was lucky such a close decision didn't go the other way.

[Robinson]

I remember I had it as a draw. Though I can not find my lil book
that I have all the scores in. The GF has moved it.

[TheOneIsHere2008]

Lewis, like Larry Holmes before him, never was quite appreciated in his time. As Lewis often stated "I'm fighting for respect," but it never came to him. There always seemed to be a bigger name than his own, or too many sentimental favorites out there for him to fight. Mercer was a fan favorite here in the USA, as was Tommy Morrison, as was Frank Bruno, whom many here in the US wanted to see win over Lewis. Even when he defeated Tyson, how much press can you recall was made mostly over Lewis? It was 60/40 for Tyson in that department.

Lewis was the victim of his own dominance, and it cost him that popularity and cross over appeal in the long run.

Lenox was seen as a hero by many for beating Tyson after Tyson bit him and said he "wanted to eat his children"

What kind of sick f--- tells a father he wants to eat his children?

[HomicideHenry]

What kind of sick f--- tells a father he wants to eat his children?

More bizarre is those who took the quote too seriously, considering Lewis didnt even have children then.

[dempseyfire]

Mercer outjabbed Lewis most of the fight. Lewis landed some good punches but many of his jabs were push-punches touching the target, while Mercer correctly jabbed 'through' the target.

I had the score as:

1-Mercer

2-Lewis

3-Mercer

4-Lewis

5-Mercer

6-Mercer

7-Lewis

8-Lewis

9-Mercer

10-Mercer

6-4 for Mercer. I think an 8-2 score for Lewis is fairly ridiculous. Even Manny Steward didn't think Lewis scored a clear victory. If Mercer had been in shape he would've clearly won the fight. Even gassed he still outworked Lennox the last two rounds.

[mrbassie]

I scored it narrowly for Lewis, can't remember which rounds were which. Only giving Mercer two rounds is highly perplexing

[Ambling Alp]

I had Mercer winning 96-94. There were some close rounds, some of which I gave to Mercer and some to Lewis.

Once again, Lewis' vaunted jab was no where to be seen. Mercer kept the pressure on him most of the fight. However, Lewis did fight a pretty good fight outside of that. It was a back and forth fight. Fun fight to watch with a lot of action. Great effort by both fighters.

Even though this wasn't a title fight, it was an important fight. If Mercer would have got the decision, Lewis reputation wouldn't be quite as high as it is with some people.

If Mercer would have got the decision, Mercer would have been closer to a WBS title shot. More importantly, he would be much more highly regarded historically with a win.

[bennie]

I had Mercer winning 96-94. There were some close rounds, some of which I gave to Mercer and some to Lewis.

Once again, Lewis' vaunted jab was no where to be seen. Mercer kept the pressure on him most of the fight. However, Lewis did fight a pretty good fight outside of that. It was a back and forth fight. Fun fight to watch with a lot of action. Great effort by both fighters.

Even though this wasn't a title fight, it was an important fight. If Mercer would have got the decision, Lewis reputation wouldn't be quite as high as it is with some people.

If Mercer would have got the decision, Mercer would have been closer to a WBS title shot. More importantly, he would be much more highly regarded historically with a win.

Lewis is the only fighter I ever saw put on dark glasses - before the verdict!

[energie]

i thought mercer won the night of the fight but if i score it with the sound off= lennox wins via 96 to 94

[Tuan_Jim]

Mercer the definite winner. Even the fiercely pro-Lewis Sky team couldn't really admit Lewis deserved the decision. Ditto the fiercely pro-Lewis Boxing Monthly (all UK points of view).

To score that fight widely for Lewis is just embarrassing. To score 98-91, thus finding a 2 point rd for Lewis somewhere is desperate, delusional, laughable.