ESPN Ringside Classic -Lennox Lewis

[Jon Saxon]

ShockaMagee!!

Just watched it... wow!

Manny Steward, Tommy Morrison, Lou Duva, etc..all commenting on each fight of Lennox's career (the shows over 3 hours long) from Bowe at the Olympics onwards.

Lennox is then sitting with Bert Sugar breaking down his fights, what he did right what went wrong, decribing his opponents strenghs etc etc..This is MUST see TV.
I sat upto 4 am watching it, it was riveting.

Man I love this sport, long live boxing god bless you all and Happy New Year!!

[Quixall]

ShockaMagee!!

Just watched it... wow!

Manny Steward, Tommy Morrison, Lou Duva, etc..all commenting on each fight of Lennox's career (the shows over 3 hours long) from Bowe at the Olympics onwards.

Lennox is then sitting with Bert Sugar breaking down his fights, what he did right what went wrong, decribing his opponents strenghs etc etc..This is MUST see TV.
I sat upto 4 am watching it, it was riveting.

Man I love this sport, long live boxing god bless you all and Happy New Year!!

Have you got a link for it Jon ??

[plymouthskinhead]

Bound to be repeated, they always are. Hope so anyway.

[marcianofan]

Bound to be repeated, they always are. Hope so anyway.

I've seen it about 3 times. They play it once every few months. I've also got it on my computer.

[Bricks]

wow that one must have passed me by! suprising to have some origional new content on espn classic with all the repeats!
Nice theyre also giving lewis the bert sugar/brian kenny treatment like tyson has had.

[marcianofan]

wow that one must have passed me by! suprising to have some origional new content on espn classic with all the repeats!
Nice theyre also giving lewis the bert sugar/brian kenny treatment like tyson has had.

It's not new. The first time I recorded it on Tivo was at least 2 years ago, and that probably wasn't its first run, either. I don't think they've had a new ringside since at least 2007.

[Jon Saxon]

wow that one must have passed me by! suprising to have some origional new content on espn classic with all the repeats!
Nice theyre also giving lewis the bert sugar/brian kenny treatment like tyson has had.

It's a few years old but they do give it the full treatment.

Essential viewing!

[Quixall]

Just watching the Lewis ringside special.............

Kenney is a nob and Birt Sugar just doesn't get his facts straight..............what a tosser that man is

[marcianofan]

Just watching the Lewis ringside special.............

Kenney is a nob and Birt Sugar just doesn't get his facts straight..............what a tosser that man is

Really? I love both of those guys.

[Quixall]

Just watching the Lewis ringside special.............

Kenney is a nob and Birt Sugar just doesn't get his facts straight..............what a tosser that man is

Really? I love both of those guys.

Kenney is just too plastic for me, he is like a car salesman...........

Sugar said that Lewis became a resident of Britain because an English guy bank rolled his career initially after he was courted by several different promoters including Don King. Fair enough, Lewis may have come here because of that or because he thought he may gain more independence, but Lewis is a Britsh Citizen, always was and always will be. The fact that he has dual nationality or speaks with an American accent doesn't change that. Sugar just tries to act like a guy who knows it all and just looks a joke with that phoney 1940's hack look, with the cigar and hat. Not for me at all.

[fightscorecollector]

did bert sugar telllennox that he thinks lennox ranks about 17 on the all time heavyweight champions list??

watched another program and that where he says he rated lewis , personally i have him round about top 8-12

[Jon Saxon]

I have Lewis at 5.

But he would have beaten them all.

[SteveO]

I have Lewis at 5.

But he would have beaten them all.

Not so sure about that, but I think Lewis is definitely in the top 10.

[Quixall]

I have Lewis at 5.

But he would have beaten them all.

Not so sure about that, but I think Lewis is definitely in the top 10.

I have Lennox in the top ten and like Jon says, he would have been capable of beating them all.

[Jon Saxon]

I'm getting the ESPN Tyson one tonight, should be fun.

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Bert Sugar is utterly dreadful, i used to like his shabby "old school" romantic view of the sport, but then i figured out he doesnt know what he's talking about.


Lewis beats every heavy who has ever lived, at worst, 8 times of of 10. Making him number 1 in my "book" (out soon, by the way)

Holmes at his peak would be his trickiest oponent, id say.


Tyson wins 0.25 out of every 10, and thats being very very generous.

[Karl Jade]

I must say, there's not one HW throughout history who I'd tip to beat the Lennox of 1995-2000. Just an incredible puncher.

[Quixall]

I agree with Khaosai-Galaxy and Karl Jade (and any other switched on sort) in thinking that Lennox Lewis would have beaten any heavyweight in history. Easily the number one heavyweight of all time with Larry Holmes at two.

Lennox could have beaten any heavyweight in history, of that i have no doubt, but that could go for a lot of other heavyweights also. Lennox was also capable of losing to any heavyweight aswell. He struggled with Bruno, had a very tough fight with Ray Mercer, was put in trouble by Shannon Briggs, got knocked out by McCall and Rahman and was out on his feet practically when his fight with Klitschko was stopped due to the cut. I have Lennox in the top 10 list and exactly where he fits in that top ten is debatable, but i would say in the bottom half. I really don't know how you can have Lewis at number one ? Larry Holmes who you put at number two is some way better than Lewis IMO.

[marcianofan]

I'm getting the ESPN Tyson one tonight, should be fun.

Yeah I picked up the DVD of the Mike Tyson marathon one in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart about 5 years ago- easily the best 5 bucks I ever spent.

[Old bones Ian]

Lewis is one fo the great heavyweights, and could of beaten any other heavyweight in history, but he's not the best there has been. the 2 losses by one punch KO's is the thing that stops him being number 1.

As a pro was that the only 2 times he was knocked down?

[Quixall]

Lewis is one fo the great heavyweights, and could of beaten any other heavyweight in history, but he's not the best there has been. the 2 losses by one punch KO's is the thing that stops him being number 1.

As a pro was that the only 2 times he was knocked down?

Yes. His chin is grossly underrated precisely because of those two stoppage losses. Both those shots were nuclear. To have faced the guys he faced and only get dropped twice is some going.

I don't think they were anymore nuclear than the shots that dropped Larry Holmes. The difference being that Holmes got up off being dropped by people who were known for their punching prowess. Lewis got dropped by McCall who Steward described as a club fighter and Rahman who was a very ordinary heavyweight.

[Old bones Ian]

Lewis is one fo the great heavyweights, and could of beaten any other heavyweight in history, but he's not the best there has been. the 2 losses by one punch KO's is the thing that stops him being number 1.

As a pro was that the only 2 times he was knocked down?

Yes. His chin is grossly underrated precisely because of those two stoppage losses. Both those shots were nuclear. To have faced the guys he faced and only get dropped twice is some going.

yeah i'm not saying that Lewis had a bad chin, but he does have those 2 losses that do stand out. On the plus side he completly dominated the rematches, so maybe he is No1. What do i know :P

[crusader]

Ali is number one for me, and well ahead of Lewis.

I think Ali could have beat any other HW in history (a think a couple fighters could on their best night) and his resume is better than Lewis's.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Ridiculous to have Lewis at #1 - he lost to Rahman and McCall, who are minor footnotes in boxing history.

Whether he beat them in the rematch or not, that does not change the fact they both blasted him. The McCall fight was due to Lewis' poor technical defence, the second complacency, but the fact is, that whilst Lewis did not have a poor chin per se, he had fairly poor powers of recovery.

Ali and Holmes, and Louis to a lesser extent, could recover from punishment to turn the tide.

Ali and Holmes would have been too much for Lewis, and would have won 8 out of 10, both would have outjabbed and outmanouevered the flat footed Lewis, and broken him own with volume of shots. Liston would have had a good chance, if he got to Lewis early, an Foreman's stamina and chin would have kept him in the fight for the duration.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Yes. His chin is grossly underrated precisely because of those two stoppage losses. Both those shots were nuclear. To have faced the guys he faced and only get dropped twice is some going.

I don't think they were anymore nuclear than the shots that dropped Larry Holmes. The difference being that Holmes got up off being dropped by people who were known for their punching prowess. Lewis got dropped by McCall who Steward described as a club fighter and Rahman who was a very ordinary heavyweight.

Both McCall and Rahman had huge digs but I don't disagree with the gist of your post. Larry had better powers of recovery than Lennox - just as well given he was easier to hit.

I think that Holmes was easier to hit because he wasn't afraid to get tagged, he knew he could hold a shot well, and recover well, so was prepared take chances. Larry had more wrinkles to his game

It's worth remembering that Lewis had a hard time with a fairly aged holyfield, despite having youth and physical advantages on his side.

for my money a younger Holyfield would have beaten him fairly convincingly. Holyfield's iron chin, workrate, heart, speed and technical proficiency would have kept Lewis' hands well and truly full. Hell, in the rematch, Holyfield almost pulled it off.

I'm a massive Lewis fan, and rate him around the 5-6 mark, but to make out he would have beaten everyone else in history more often than not, is ridiculous considering he was 1 and 1 with Rahman and McCall - utter tosh!