what do you class as lennox lewis greatest win??

[hurlock]

which gives him such a great legacy?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Holyfield, Vitali & Mercer are his best wins. Couple that with beating everyone he ever faced and wiping out guys like Ruddock, Golota, Rahman & Tua. His legacy is on very solid ground.

[Ezzard]

How do you think it compares with Holmes?

Both had long reigns...

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Quality is close, Holmes never lost to the two second raters that Lennox did. That puts him pretty clearly ahead for me. And the fact that I think he was a better fighter.

[hurlock]

Holyfield, Vitali & Mercer are his best wins. Couple that with beating everyone he ever faced and wiping out guys like Ruddock, Golota, Rahman & Tua. His legacy is on very solid ground.

do you think he'd of beat the holyfield who beat douglas??

& lewis was behind v vitali who i felt was forcing lewis to fight at a pace he wasnt happy with.

mercer was old & nearly pipped him after getting schooled by a 47?yr old holmes if im correct.


the others were fringe contenders.who's bubbles had previously been burst.

hard to please aint i D

[klompton]

Holyfield Vitali and Mercer... interesting. if those are his three greatest wins they are also three of his least conclusive wins. His second fight with Holy and fight with Mercer could and should have gone the other way and he was losing to Vitali when the fight was stopped against Vitalis wishes and retired rather than grant a rematch.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Holyfield, Vitali & Mercer are his best wins. Couple that with beating everyone he ever faced and wiping out guys like Ruddock, Golota, Rahman & Tua. His legacy is on very solid ground.

do you think he'd of beat the holyfield who beat douglas??

& lewis was behind v vitali who i felt was forcing lewis to fight at a pace he wasnt happy with.

mercer was old & nearly pipped him after getting schooled by a 47?yr old holmes if im correct.


the others were fringe contenders.who's bubbles had previously been burst.

hard to please aint i D

No, I think a younger Holyfield would have taken him. But it would have always been a difficult match up for Evander because he was more comfortable countering.

Yeah, Vitali was up 4-2. Who cares? Lennox battered his face until they had to stop the fight.

Losing one fight doesn't make you a scrub. Ray was in great shape and would have been formidable for anyone.

The other guys were solid, not spectacular. But he dusted them all with ease.

Be as hard on him as you want, I detest Lennox and I always have. But he was a great fighter.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Holyfield Vitali and Mercer... interesting. if those are his three greatest wins they are also three of his least conclusive wins. His second fight with Holy and fight with Mercer could and should have gone the other way and he was losing to Vitali when the fight was stopped against Vitalis wishes and retired rather than grant a rematch.

Most fighters greatest wins were in competitive fights. And retiring as an old fighter before it's too late is far from a negative. Internet fans are quite fickle. They say guys like Roy Jones & Holyfield are soiling their legacies but Lewis is a coward for not granting a rematch to a guy he kicked the shit out of.

Vitali was massacred, good for him that he wanted to continue. He may have been a permanent mutant.

[klompton]

Actually Mercer was NOT in great shape for that fight. Its well known that he trained a week maybe two at most for it and gassed badly. Had he actually been in great shape he would have won even more convincingly than he did and not been robbed. As it stands a badly out of shape Mercer who had already been exposed made Lennox face look like a cartoon character.

[klompton]

Holyfield Vitali and Mercer... interesting. if those are his three greatest wins they are also three of his least conclusive wins. His second fight with Holy and fight with Mercer could and should have gone the other way and he was losing to Vitali when the fight was stopped against Vitalis wishes and retired rather than grant a rematch.

Most fighters greatest wins were in competitive fights. And retiring as an old fighter before it's too late is far from a negative. Internet fans are quite fickle. They say guys like Roy Jones & Holyfield are soiling their legacies but Lewis is a coward for not granting a rematch to a guy he kicked the shit out of.

Vitali was massacred, good for him that he wanted to continue. He may have been a permanent mutant.

Im not an internet fan Im a boxing fan and likely have been since before you were born. If what Lennox did to Vitali was a massacre and/or kicking the shit of then thats a pretty sad statement considering he was wobbled time and again, badly gassed, and losing the fight. What he did was cut Vitali prompting a stoppage that ONLY the doctor and Lennox wanted. The supposedly massacred fighter was screaming for more long after Lennox had retired to lick his wounds.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Holyfield Vitali and Mercer... interesting. if those are his three greatest wins they are also three of his least conclusive wins. His second fight with Holy and fight with Mercer could and should have gone the other way and he was losing to Vitali when the fight was stopped against Vitalis wishes and retired rather than grant a rematch.

Most fighters greatest wins were in competitive fights. And retiring as an old fighter before it's too late is far from a negative. Internet fans are quite fickle. They say guys like Roy Jones & Holyfield are soiling their legacies but Lewis is a coward for not granting a rematch to a guy he kicked the shit out of.

Vitali was massacred, good for him that he wanted to continue. He may have been a permanent mutant.

Im not an internet fan Im a boxing fan and likely have been since before you were born. If what Lennox did to Vitali was a massacre and/or kicking the shit of then thats a pretty sad statement considering he was wobbled time and again, badly gassed, and losing the fight. What he did was cut Vitali prompting a stoppage that ONLY the doctor and Lennox wanted. The supposedly massacred fighter was screaming for more long after Lennox had retired to lick his wounds.

No offense Gramps, internet fans are Boxing fans too. Supposedly massacred? His face looked like a horror movie. It wasn't ONLY the doctor and Lennox. I wanted it stopped, that was too much blood.

As for your description of the fight with Lewis being wobbled over and over and giving the impression that Lennox was the only one who was tired.

[BoxBuzz]

Most fighters greatest wins were in competitive fights. And retiring as an old fighter before it's too late is far from a negative. Internet fans are quite fickle. They say guys like Roy Jones & Holyfield are soiling their legacies but Lewis is a coward for not granting a rematch to a guy he kicked the shit out of.

Vitali was massacred, good for him that he wanted to continue. He may have been a permanent mutant.

Im not an internet fan Im a boxing fan and likely have been since before you were born. If what Lennox did to Vitali was a massacre and/or kicking the shit of then thats a pretty sad statement considering he was wobbled time and again, badly gassed, and losing the fight. What he did was cut Vitali prompting a stoppage that ONLY the doctor and Lennox wanted. The supposedly massacred fighter was screaming for more long after Lennox had retired to lick his wounds.

No offense Gramps, internet fans are Boxing fans too. Supposedly massacred? His face looked like a horror movie. It wasn't ONLY the doctor and Lennox. I wanted it stopped, that was too much blood.

As for your description of the fight with Lewis being wobbled over and over and giving the impression that Lennox was the only one who was tired.

You both have a point here, I sort of agree with "gramps" that Vitali was winning, but in todays overly feminine climate, even the slightest outbreak of "Pizza Face" will cause a refereee to get weak in the knees. In the old days even a severe case of "double Stromboli Face" was not enough to end a fight as long as the fighter with the affliction indicated he could go on. Just ask Carmen Basilio.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I had Vitali ahead, but to act like he was on the verge of stopping him is ludicrous. Lewis clearly won the sixth round and that uppercut wobbled Klitschko as badly as the cross did Lennox earlier.

I just tire of reading that poor Vitali was winning a fight he got stopped in. I'm sure Jersey Joe Walcott weeps for him.

[hurlock]

lewis was taking heavy shots & too many in that fight & showed a great chin but it was visible to see he was fuked.he was throwing his arms round vitali like a fat northern bird outside a club :!:

& lewis must of paid vitalis cut man as he visibly worsend the cut by pulling it about like a porn star would a gash D

[SaadOffTheDeck]

It was cuts, not cut. And Lewis battered Vitali in the 6th. They were both exhausted, but I find it hard to see how Vitali was going to make the distance with his face that smashed in.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Its hard to say. There is no one fight in his career which stands well out.

I would say the 1st Holyfield fight. It was a peak Lewis against an over-the-hill Holyfield, yes, but no one had ever made Holyfield look so mediocre. Lewis was admirably in-command that night. Draw or not, that was his best, IMO.

Cant for the life of me understand where the love for the Rahman II & Klitschko bouts stem from. Rahman was a putrid fighter & Klitschko, who is insanely over-rated, was flat-out embarrassing him for two-thirds of their meeting. Lewis was cringingly petty in the post-fight interview, too. A sure sign of a fighter who struggled mightily.

Unsurprisingly given what has followed him, Lewis is now starting to become over-estimated with the passage of time.

[jezzamundo]

Rahman II and Morrison were probably his most polished performances, but I agree, less impressive considering the quality of opposition.

His wins over Holyfield, Mercer and Vitali are probably his best on paper, but in reality some of his worst performances. He fought much too cautiously against Holyfield, underestimated Mercer IMO and was behind against Vitali, though I believe he would have gone on to win had the fight been allowed to continue. Watch the 6th again, Vitali was out on his feet at the end of the round.

His blowout wins over Ruddock, Golota and Grant were impressive, but ultimately not great opponents.

While I do rate Lennox in my all-time heavyweight top 10, I can understand why many do not. He really doesn't have an outstanding performance against a truly great opponent to his name.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Fighting cautiously against Holyfield was the thing to do. The times he really opened up, Evander dug in his ass.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Fighting cautiously against Holyfield was the thing to do. The times he really opened up, Evander dug in his ass.

A great, close fight, prime-for-prime --- as I see it. Lewis of when they actually fought vs. the Holyfield from around 1989-92.

Very close, IMO.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Fighting cautiously against Holyfield was the thing to do. The times he really opened up, Evander dug in his ass.

A great, close fight, prime-for-prime --- as I see it. Lewis of when they actually fought vs. the Holyfield from around 1989-92.

Very close, IMO.

Absolutely, unless Lewis followed the plan of being more aggressive that Jezz alluded to. Evander would kick his ass if he did that. Sticking to his plan and knowing which fighters to attack and which ones to lay off of was perhaps his greatest strength.

[mrbassie]

Holyfield 1 (I'm ignoring any posts which correct me that it was scored a draw) and Ruddock for me. boxed the ears off Holyfield that time around. In the rematch I thought Holy had a better gameplan but I also thought Lewis turned up expecting it to be easy. He wasn't as sharp.
Ruddock was highly thought of and Lewis just destroyed him. Not saying he was in the top two opponents but he was more than decent and highly thought of and Lewis crushed him.

Regarding the Mercer fight: Ok, old Holmes beat Mercer far more convincingly but he was allowed to get away with an awful lot. I mean you guys do know that you're not actually allowed to stick your left hand in an opponents face and leave it there like Holmes did all night right? And Holmes despite being old was still Holmes, he made Holyfield look terrible when they fought too.
Also, Lewis was forced to fight Mercer's fight by virtue of fight in what was I think a 14' ring. That's tiny. Anyway Lewis still won, I don't get the robbery calls at all, I've scored that fight several times and always come up with a Lewis win.

Caveat: Holmes was a better fighter than Lewis.

[jimglen]

his victory over the majority of of today's boxing fans into believing that he is one of the greatest HW's... oh wait, that's Boxing today's victory in general over fans that it (todays boxing) is great.

P.S. Lennox Lewis is a S-HW and should not be rated among true HWs, especially the greats!

[Crease]

Beating an old Mike Tyson.

[IRLangmaid25]

Beating an old Mike Tyson.

If it was James Buster Douglas was the man who shattered the myth of Mike Tyson's invinicble nature, then it can be argued that is was Lennox Lewis who buried that myth once and for all. Tyson was still a force depending on who he went in with. But by the time Lewis went in with him in Memphis back in 2002 we were left the carcass of Tyson who was basically fighting to pay the bills and while we saw some of that old magic Tyson had. All it was a glimpse of that old magic that left us all spellbound when Tyson ran through the heavyweight division from 1987-90 with such feriorisity and utter savagery which we will probably never see the like again. Lewis got a rocket from Manny Steward because he was getting caught too easily at times and then settled down got his jab and preceded to cut Tyson above both eyes, had him bleeding from the nose and then knocked him out in the 8th round.

As for the fight against Vitali K. Well it was an exciting fight while it lasted and I reckon it was his toughest. Because for the first time in his career HE was the smaller man (Vitali K is 6'7 and a half) and was getting battered by Vitali in the early rounds but Lewis was still landing and rocking him, but each time he rocked Vitali K. Vitali would fall forward on to Lewis to by him some time to recover Lewis would have to push all 18 stone of him off and then throw his powershots and he was running out of gas and I really could not have seen the fight going into the late rounds as they were really going hell for leather and it would have been stopped on Vitali's utterly horrific cut as Lewis would have been going after it.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Jesus Langers, how about throwing in the odd comma or period. Just for laughs? LOL.