Joe Louis vs Lennox Lewis

[Lexus]

Since Louis was a sucker for an overhand right the way he kept his left low and turned his head to the right when he jabbed, I think Lewis knocks him out quite early (like he did with Ruddock).

[zuru]

Since Louis was a sucker for an overhand right the way he kept his left low and turned his head to the right when he jabbed, I think Lewis knocks him out quite early (like he did with Ruddock).

The great "Brown Bomber" would have been to savage for Lennox.Lennox may have landed that right & hurt him early on,but I don't think he has the killer instinct to finish Joe.Once Joe recovered,he would be on him like a panther,making short work of Lennox.,
zuru

[Lexus]

Since Louis was a sucker for an overhand right the way he kept his left low and turned his head to the right when he jabbed, I think Lewis knocks him out quite early (like he did with Ruddock).

The great "Brown Bomber" would have been to savage for Lennox.Lennox may have landed that right & hurt him early on,but I don't think he has the killer instinct to finish Joe.Once Joe recovered,he would be on him like a panther,making short work of Lennox.,
zuru

Could you describe the whole situation in more boxing-related terms?

[Tantum]

Tough call... Louis being far better, Lewis being far bigger...

[dempseyfire]

Louis by KO mid rounds. Louis destroyed men who were even larger then Lennox, although none of them had his boxing ability. But Lewis, who was always troubled by speed and a good jab, would find himself in unfamiliar territory with Louis, who was a hell of a lot better then an out of shape, 35 yr old Ray Mercer. Lennox had no inside fight game except the uppercut and holding, but Louis was too fast and savage on the inside for Lennox to just hold on like he did the other big behemoths he beat in the late 90s, and he would find himself KOd by a Louis flurry. It could very well end early but I see Louis starting off cautious against the big punching Lewis. But the speed of Joe coupled with his almost robotic precision combination punching would be the difference. And his jab would get him on the inside. If Mercer could outjab Lewis, the Bomber def. could as well. Lewis is pretty much outgunned in terms of skill, speed and stamina in this fight, and his only chance would be to land a perfect right hand . . but Louis was never KOd by one punch like Lennox . . his KO loss to Schmeling came after a series of pinpoint right hands round after round, and Louis never gave up and kept it competetive. Even if Lewis catches Joe, he didnt have the stamina to keep up a good pace like Schmeling did in the following rounds, and Louis would come back and knock him out.

[Lexus]

Louis by KO mid rounds. Louis destroyed men who were even larger then Lennox, although none of them had his boxing ability. But Lewis, who was always troubled by speed and a good jab, would find himself in unfamiliar territory with Louis, who was a hell of a lot better then an out of shape, 35 yr old Ray Mercer. Lennox had no inside fight game except the uppercut and holding, but Louis was too fast and savage on the inside for Lennox to just hold on like he did the other big behemoths he beat in the late 90s, and he would find himself KOd by a Louis flurry. It could very well end early but I see Louis starting off cautious against the big punching Lewis. But the speed of Joe coupled with his almost robotic precision combination punching would be the difference. And his jab would get him on the inside. If Mercer could outjab Lewis, the Bomber def. could as well. Lewis is pretty much outgunned in terms of skill, speed and stamina in this fight, and his only chance would be to land a perfect right hand . . but Louis was never KOd by one punch like Lennox . . his KO loss to Schmeling came after a series of pinpoint right hands round after round, and Louis never gave up and kept it competetive. Even if Lewis catches Joe, he didnt have the stamina to keep up a good pace like Schmeling did in the following rounds, and Louis would come back and knock him out.

Interesting post. I do have a few objections though:

* First of all, Lewis had to fight Mercer in a ring the size of a phone booth which I believe greatly benefited Mercer as he was the smaller fighter. Second, Mercer had to walk through huge right hands, sometimes even 4-punch combos, in order to get to Lewis. Did Louis have the chin to pressure Lewis like that?

* What about Louis' tendency to keep his left low? This is where I see big difference between Mercer and Louis. Mercer always stood straight up keeping his chin tucked in whereas Joe, as mentioned, turned his head to the right, kept his left low and occasionally pawed with the jab. Thus, Joe would, in my opinion, easily be tagged by that overhand right.

[Manos de Oro]

As dempseyfire says, it took 12 rounds - over half an hour - of continuous right-hand bombing on the chin to finally put away Louis for good.

And this was from a knockout artist like Schmelling.

But the speed of Joe coupled with his almost robotic precision combination punching would be the difference.

That is as accurate a description of Louis' punching ability as you'll get. For me, that is what would win him the fight. I can see Lennox holding Louis loose against the ropes in round 7, when Joe slips free and lets go a laser combo on the inside to drop Lewis for the 10 count.

[dempseyfire]

Louis by KO mid rounds. Louis destroyed men who were even larger then Lennox, although none of them had his boxing ability. But Lewis, who was always troubled by speed and a good jab, would find himself in unfamiliar territory with Louis, who was a hell of a lot better then an out of shape, 35 yr old Ray Mercer. Lennox had no inside fight game except the uppercut and holding, but Louis was too fast and savage on the inside for Lennox to just hold on like he did the other big behemoths he beat in the late 90s, and he would find himself KOd by a Louis flurry. It could very well end early but I see Louis starting off cautious against the big punching Lewis. But the speed of Joe coupled with his almost robotic precision combination punching would be the difference. And his jab would get him on the inside. If Mercer could outjab Lewis, the Bomber def. could as well. Lewis is pretty much outgunned in terms of skill, speed and stamina in this fight, and his only chance would be to land a perfect right hand . . but Louis was never KOd by one punch like Lennox . . his KO loss to Schmeling came after a series of pinpoint right hands round after round, and Louis never gave up and kept it competetive. Even if Lewis catches Joe, he didnt have the stamina to keep up a good pace like Schmeling did in the following rounds, and Louis would come back and knock him out.

Interesting post. I do have a few objections though:

* First of all, Lewis had to fight Mercer in a ring the size of a phone booth which I believe greatly benefited Mercer as he was the smaller fighter. Second, Mercer had to walk through huge right hands, sometimes even 4-punch combos, in order to get to Lewis. Did Louis have the chin to pressure Lewis like that?

* What about Louis' tendency to keep his left low? This is where I see big difference between Mercer and Louis. Mercer always stood straight up keeping his chin tucked in whereas Joe, as mentioned, turned his head to the right, kept his left low and occasionally pawed with the jab. Thus, Joe would, in my opinion, easily be tagged by that overhand right.

Mercer had absolutely no defense to speak of but eating punches with his face. He had no upper body or head movement and was his style to plod in face first. Louis had very good underrated head movement (watch the Max Baer fight) and reflexes to avoid shots, and also was an expert at parrying off blows, especially the jab. Lewis would have a lot more trouble landing anything substantial on the cagey Louis, esp. since in comparison to say a Billy Conn Lennox´s punches would be fairly easy to see coming.
Louis did have a bad tendency to keep his left low before the first Schmeling fight, which occured when Joe was 21 years old and at that age Lewis was still fighting with headgear and learning to box. After the Schmeling fight Louis corrected his error and right hand counters were not a problem the rest of his career.

[Tantum]

Mercer landed 59% of his total punches on Lewis according to compubox...

Just a fun little fact.

[Lexus]

Louis by KO mid rounds. Louis destroyed men who were even larger then Lennox, although none of them had his boxing ability. But Lewis, who was always troubled by speed and a good jab, would find himself in unfamiliar territory with Louis, who was a hell of a lot better then an out of shape, 35 yr old Ray Mercer. Lennox had no inside fight game except the uppercut and holding, but Louis was too fast and savage on the inside for Lennox to just hold on like he did the other big behemoths he beat in the late 90s, and he would find himself KOd by a Louis flurry. It could very well end early but I see Louis starting off cautious against the big punching Lewis. But the speed of Joe coupled with his almost robotic precision combination punching would be the difference. And his jab would get him on the inside. If Mercer could outjab Lewis, the Bomber def. could as well. Lewis is pretty much outgunned in terms of skill, speed and stamina in this fight, and his only chance would be to land a perfect right hand . . but Louis was never KOd by one punch like Lennox . . his KO loss to Schmeling came after a series of pinpoint right hands round after round, and Louis never gave up and kept it competetive. Even if Lewis catches Joe, he didnt have the stamina to keep up a good pace like Schmeling did in the following rounds, and Louis would come back and knock him out.

Interesting post. I do have a few objections though:

* First of all, Lewis had to fight Mercer in a ring the size of a phone booth which I believe greatly benefited Mercer as he was the smaller fighter. Second, Mercer had to walk through huge right hands, sometimes even 4-punch combos, in order to get to Lewis. Did Louis have the chin to pressure Lewis like that?

* What about Louis' tendency to keep his left low? This is where I see big difference between Mercer and Louis. Mercer always stood straight up keeping his chin tucked in whereas Joe, as mentioned, turned his head to the right, kept his left low and occasionally pawed with the jab. Thus, Joe would, in my opinion, easily be tagged by that overhand right.

Mercer had absolutely no defense to speak of but eating punches with his face. He had no upper body or head movement and was his style to plod in face first. Louis had very good underrated head movement (watch the Max Baer fight) and reflexes to avoid shots, and also was an expert at parrying off blows, especially the jab. Lewis would have a lot more trouble landing anything substantial on the cagey Louis, esp. since in comparison to say a Billy Conn Lennox´s punches would be fairly easy to see coming.
Louis did have a bad tendency to keep his left low before the first Schmeling fight, which occured when Joe was 21 years old and at that age Lewis was still fighting with headgear and learning to box. After the Schmeling fight Louis corrected his error and right hand counters were not a problem the rest of his career.

I see....

On a side note, is there any fighter today who has a style similar to Joe Louis? Doesn't Michael Moorer use pretty much the same "punching style"? (Haven't seen much of him today but watch his knockout of Bert Cooper and you'll see what I mean)

[barry]

Plain and simple, Lennox did not have the chin to last and Joe Louis took a hell of a shot, he was never taken out by one, or two punches, whereas Lewis, twice was taken out with one punch from fighters that did not punch like, nor did they possess anywhere near the same kind of skill of the "Brown Bomber!" Also, trying to compare Ray Mercer to Joe Louis on boxing is like comparing Anna Kornikova to Martina Navratilova in a beauty/feminine contest!

[Syntax Error]

Joe Louis' jab would have given Lennox Lewis a world of trouble.

I think Joe would have won on points.