why i cant make lennox lewis a top 10 all time heavyweight

[boxerbob]

2 names....oliver mccall and hasim rahman

both knocked out lewis with 1 punch when lewis was at the top of his powers.

oliver mccall and hasim rahman are 2 of the worst heavyweight champions there have ever been and for lewis to get beaten by them both by knock out isnt good enough for top 10 material

yes he beat them in rematches but to be beaten by 1 punch knockouts twice is terrible.

my top 10

ali.................beat the best bunch of heavyweights in history
louis..............longest reign and beat a host of top fighters in his time
marciano........undeafeated tells its own story
johnson..........talented beyond his age of boxing
holmes...........looked unbeatable untill he got old
holyfield.........only 4 time champion , fought every top heavy in his era
foreman.........the time he won his 1st and 2nd world titles is enough to make him top 10 alone
frazier............beat the best ali that anybody ever beat , only loses were to ali and foreman
tunney...........another who was talented beyond his age , fought modern in the old times
tyson.............could have been best ever , not the same after rooney left , wasted career with don king

now lewis beat both holyfield and tyson but both were way past thier best , if going by prime vs prime i dont think lewis lasts 3rounds with tyson , holyfield takes lewis late as lewis cant match holyfields workrate.

lewis also should have fought klitschko again after that match , lewis was behnd on points and looked like he was knackared , t

[Ezzard]

You don't have to have Lewis in your top 10 but you seem to be giving Tyson a pass for Douglas.

[boxerbob]

yes tyson was beat by douglas but he took a beating after 6 rounds , lewis twice was knocked out by 1 punch , thats the reason i have tyson at 10 , add to how tyson won the belts at his young age i think he deserves the top 10

i agree with bert randolf sugar , lewis is at top 15 to 20 heavyweight

[Ezzard]

He still lost.

It's your list and your call but why not out Jeffries in instead and that way you're being consistent with your critique.

[boxerbob]

there is no doubt lewis is the last great heavyweight fighter but i dont think he gets into the top 10 on the guys he beat , holyfield and tyson were well past thier best.

lewis best win was vs ruddock - he was devastating that night

jeffries was top 15-20 aswell

[Goodnight, Irene]

2 names....oliver mccall and hasim rahman

both knocked out lewis with 1 punch when lewis was at the top of his powers.

oliver mccall and hasim rahman are 2 of the worst heavyweight champions there have ever been and for lewis to get beaten by them both by knock out isnt good enough for top 10 material

yes he beat them in rematches but to be beaten by 1 punch knockouts twice is terrible.

my top 10

ali.................beat the best bunch of heavyweights in history
louis..............longest reign and beat a host of top fighters in his time
marciano........undeafeated tells its own story
johnson..........talented beyond his age of boxing
holmes...........looked unbeatable untill he got old
holyfield.........only 4 time champion , fought every top heavy in his era
foreman.........the time he won his 1st and 2nd world titles is enough to make him top 10 alone
frazier............beat the best ali that anybody ever beat , only loses were to ali and foreman
tunney...........another who was talented beyond his age , fought modern in the old times
tyson.............could have been best ever , not the same after rooney left , wasted career with don king

now lewis beat both holyfield and tyson but both were way past thier best , if going by prime vs prime i dont think lewis lasts 3rounds with tyson , holyfield takes lewis late as lewis cant match holyfields workrate.

lewis also should have fought klitschko again after that match , lewis was behnd on points and looked like he was knackared , t

If that's your reason, it's a poor one.

[boxerbob]

no mate tysons best win was againt unbeaten in his prime michael spinks.

tyson vs lewis prime for prime , lewis hasnt the chin to go 4 rounds

[boxerbob]

yes spinks would have troubled lewis but lewis would win probably on points , 8-4 lewis - styles make fights

spinks was a better fighter than lewis best win - ruddock

[boxerbob]

tyson was faster , better defence , hits harder , has a better chin than lewis

prime for prime , lewis chin would not be able to stand up to tyson speed and power

[boxerbob]

yep...it certainly wasnt an old and past it holyfield or a totally shot tyson

ruddock was dangerous and lewis destroyed him

[Rocky Balboa]

yep...it certainly wasnt an old and past it holyfield or a totally shot tyson

ruddock was dangerous and lewis destroyed him

Ruddock was a dangerous opponent & I take nothing away from Lewis on such a good victory, but Ruddock was not the same fighter who fought Tyson, no way!

[The Great John L]

I guess there’s no way that he was the same Ruddock that fought Tyson because Lewis stopped him so quickly? Is that your reasoning?

Isn’t it just possible that Ruddock’s rather limited style was more difficult for a 5-10 fighter (Tyson) to crack than a 6-5 fighter (Lewis)? Tyson always had more problems with taller opponents and despite the fact that the Ruddock fights were exciting, Tyson controlled both fights, its’ just that he had more trouble than most people were expecting.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Tyson always had more problems with taller opponents

- They were all taller than Tyson..............DUH!

.......Finished with a 50-6 record.....end of.

[The Great John L]

Tyson always had more problems with taller opponents

- They were all taller than Tyson..............DUH!

.......Finished with a 50-6 record.....end of.

Sorry, in the future I'll try to use single syllable words only. I think everyone else understood what I meant.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

As much as i hated Lennox, I fail to see anyway he wasn't top 10 and definitely ranks ahead of Tyson.

One punch knockouts? True, he also avenged both of them. How many of Mike's defeats were overturned in rematches?

Who faired better against Ruddock & Botha?

And though I rank him as an all time p4p and Light Heavyweight great, I fail to see a case for Tunney in the top 10. He only had 5 or 6 legitimate Heavyweight fights and he really split with Dempsey.

[jimglen]

simple he isn't good enough!

forget this stupid achievement way of ranking (it's OK for what it is; Achievement!) BUT even amongst boxing people it wrongly gets 'translated' that so and so are better than all the rest who have ever lived, WRONG!

P4P - Head to Head, Prime for Prime, Lewis gets beat by ALL mentioned and Dozens more who aren't!!!

I also agree Tyson should have been the Best HW ever, and again P4P and so on, I doubt he loses many!

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I would like tyson's chances if they fought when Mike paid Lennox off not to face him. Lewis look frightened for the first round in a half when they did fight. A younger tyson would have taken advantage of that. But Lennox prime came later in his life anyway and they never did fight then. His resume is better, plain and simple.

[Heartbreak_Kid79]

Lewis should be higher than Tyson or Holyfield.
Complacency was Lewis' worst enemy.

Do people seem to forget that a prime Holyfield was outboxed by the average Michael Moorer?
Holyfield was lucky wih his connections.... thanks to Don King he always got put right back in the title mix every time he lost.
When Lewis beat him for the UD title, Holy was on a losing streak when he landed a WBA shot at John Ruiz!
Thats why hes a 4 time champ..... look at his actual championship fight record at HW and it aint so good.... plus he tended to lose the title after a fight or two.

[boxerbob]

a prime holyfield that fought moorer????

not even when holyfield destroyed moorer in the rematch was evander anywhere near his prime

what makes evander a legend was that he beat some class fighters when he was way past his prime

holyfields prime was 88-91

[Goodnight, Irene]

You cannot reasonably say Lewis is beyond your ten because of McCall & Rahman, but have Tyson within it.

Just can't. I imagine, head-to-head, Tyson's speed of assault would've seen Lewis knocked out, but there's no comparing their resumes --- Lewis' is streets better. Your logic doesn't add up.

Lewis has avenged losses to lowly fighters in McCall & Rahman. Tyson has unavenged defeats to the similarly poor Douglas (under more embarrassing circumstances than either of Lewis' defeats), as well as every other fighter who bested him.

Look, man --- in a long career, nobody can be expected to be perfect, &, hey, this is Boxing --- sh!t happens. Lewis recovered & bettered himself. He had two (major) slip-ups in a long, dominant career. If you can't cut a guy a break for that, but still make room for Tyson within your ten, I start to wonder if you have an agenda against him.

[Controversial]

Lewis is so underrated. On his day he had the ability to beat ANY heavyweight who ever lived. He had the height, reach, speed, power and boxing ability to give any fighter a tough fight. As someone else said his downfall was he was sometimes lazy and hesitant in fights.

People say he had a weak chin but he fought and beat too many big punchers without ever really being seriously troubled to be classed as chinny. A chinny fighter would lose many more fights by stoppage or get dropped a lot.

Remember Jersey Joe Walcott was one punch ko'ed twice by Marciano, yet many arguments given about what a great fighter he was and he is always named as being Marcianos better opponents. Lewis got up against McCall, he wasn't out for the count. If he was floored at the end of the round (like Ali was with Cooper) then Im in no doubt he would have gone on to beat McCall. Liston was also one punch ko'ed twice but I don't hear anyone calling Liston chinny.

Lewis beat every fighter he fought and he never ducked anyone. Top 5 fighter in my opinion.

[Goodnight, Irene]

I can't bring him within my top five, & I do think his chin & recuperative powers are among his poorer assets --- however, he is top-ten, almost without room for debate.

If you're going to debate it, however, you need to do better than simply state he lost two fights he should've won. Can say that about nearly any fighter, ever.

[Controversial]

If you're going to debate it, however, you need to do better than simply state he lost two fights he should've won. Can say that about nearly any fighter, ever.

No of course thats not my reason for rating him. He beat every top contender and dominated the division. I believe on his day he would beat any fighter. Thats grounds enough for me to rate him so highly. Ranking fighters is very subjective as just because someone might say Joe Louis is number doesn't mean someone like Foreman couldn't beat Louis. Or Dempsey might be someones number 1 but a peak Tyson would probably flatten Dempsey. You get my point.

Lewis is top 5 because he cleaned the division out, beat every fighter he fought and was fast, strong and skilful for such a big bloke.

[Goodnight, Irene]

The statement you quoted was directed at BoxerBob. By, "it" I was referring to his place in the top ten, which, clearly, you don't dispute.

[boxerbob]

look its a good debate , in my opinion lewis inst as good as my top 10 , with tyson i was swaying with dempsey to be included

lewis was a great fighter , his resume is good but he did not fight the best of the era , holyfield did that , tyson did that in his time.

lewis should have fought mercer again but didnt , a fight that was very close , i scored a draw , he also did the same with klitscko , if he beats these 2 then yes he might get nearer the top 10

tyson is the youngest ever champ and unified the division so easily , nearly twice , that is another reason he is ahead of lewis.

these are my thoughts , like everyone they have thier own and not everyone agrees , im trying to answer the questions the other fans have been asking on why lewis isnt in the top 10