Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis in their primes

[CrazyHorse]

Both at their absolute peak. Let's say a 1987-1988 version of Tyson vs a 1999-2000 version of Lewis. Who wins. I got Tyson

[gilgamesh]

I gotta go with Tyson with the sitatioion you picked though, It's tough to calll

[Rover]

Lewis for me.

[evrenb]

Lewis for me.

It's like this :

Lennox Lewis fights great but Mike Tyson's a great fighter.

evren

[Rover]

Lewis for me.

It's like this :

Lennox Lewis fights great but Mike Tyson's a great fighter.

evren

So does Tyson fight great?

[loaded_gloves]

I like both men but Lewis just doesn't have the chin to survive Mike Tyson, or the speed for that matter. I could see Lewis doing a Bonecrusher and holding a lot, as he was having to do in Memphis early against a heavy and slowed down Tyson, but at some point early the punch(es) get to Lewis and he's counted out on his back.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Lennox. With some rocky moments obviously.

[loaded_gloves]

How Riddick Blowe, how?

Have you seen Tyson's whipping combinations come out of nowhere to lift 6'5'' men like Ribalta off their feet, to crack Blood Green so hard his teeth literally flew out and hit a ringside photographer, to jolt Tucker's head and send jheri curl juice spraying into the back of the auditorium?

Tyson was adamant timing was more important than reach when it came to jabbing, and his jabbing was sublime against big tall rangy fighters, all of whom were more durable than Lewis.

I love Lennox, supported him throughout his career, hate Tyson freaks, but I can't see a way Lewis survives even implementing Bonecrusher's strategy, as even Bone took some great whacks to the jaw.

[gilgamesh]

Lewis for me.

It's like this :

Lennox Lewis fights great but Mike Tyson's a great fighter.

evren

So does Tyson fight great?

No, he's a naturally gifted fighter. Lennox is a man who learned his craft and became a great fighter. Early in their careers I gotta figure Tyson would've been too much for Lennox, but both men at their best Lennox is the better fighter.

[Bard of Boxrec]

How Riddick Blowe, how?

Have you seen Tyson's whipping combinations come out of nowhere to lift 6'5'' men like Ribalta off their feet, to crack Blood Green so hard his teeth literally flew out and hit a ringside photographer, to jolt Tucker's head and send jheri curl juice spraying into the back of the auditorium?

Tyson was adamant timing was more important than reach when it came to jabbing, and his jabbing was sublime against big tall rangy fighters, all of whom were more durable than Lewis.

I love Lennox, supported him throughout his career, hate Tyson freaks, but I can't see a way Lewis survives even implementing Bonecrusher's strategy, as even Bone took some great whacks to the jaw.

Obviously a prime Mike would have caused problems for anyone but I think Lennox would have been able to jab and use the uppercut on the inside and tie up Mike whenever he could. I could see Mike getting through with some hooks, obviously, but I see Lewis as savvy enough to avoid getting hit with a lot of clean combinations and Lewis had more than enough power to get Mike's respect and slow him down. A guy like Tucker was able to neutralise a lot of Tyson's attacks and Lewis was better than Tony. I know you're going to say Tony used a lot more movement and was more fluid around the ring than Lennox but I think Lewis would have been able to use a similar tactic he did in the first round of his actual fight with Tyson, jab, keep on toes, uppercut as Mike came in and tie up.

[dempseyfire]

It could've gone either way but I would actually favor Tyson by decision, as I think Lennox would lose rounds by being overtly defensive and Tyson had the better gas-tank late. But the early rounds would be telling . . .if Lewis could hurt Tyson enough early to have him wary, then the dynamics would maybe change. Although at the same time, Tyson at his peak took some pretty big shots from some big punchers and kept coming. I also don't see Lewis having the footwork to pull off a Douglas.

[montrealsuper]

Gotta favor Lewis. Tyson himself said after he lost to Lewis, "I could never beat this guy, he's just too big and too strong."

But maybe Tyson himself even forgets just how amazingly great he was back in 86-88.

Just kinda feel Lewis had the size and smarts and strength to outbox and control young Mike, Tyson even in his prime had some trouble with big tall smart boxers like Tillis and Tucker and Lewis was far better than those two.

Lewis WI2

[CrazyHorse]

Gotta favor Lewis. Tyson himself said after he lost to Lewis, "I could never beat this guy, he's just too big and too strong."

But maybe Tyson himself even forgets just how amazingly great he was back in 86-88.

Just kinda feel Lewis had the size and smarts and strength to outbox and control young Mike, Tyson even in his prime had some trouble with big tall smart boxers like Tillis and Tucker and Lewis was far better than those two.

Lewis WI2

That was after Lewis Tyson? To be fair he could have meant in that time frame that they were going to fight (2002) that no matter what he did in training camp ect that he could not beat him? Because I heard some sparring stories (yes I know it's just sparring and it's not like a real fight) that Tyson stopped Lewis and another time Lewis stopped Tyson. I think it was from a video. Later on today I will look for it

[dempseyfire]

Gotta favor Lewis. Tyson himself said after he lost to Lewis, "I could never beat this guy, he's just too big and too strong."

But maybe Tyson himself even forgets just how amazingly great he was back in 86-88.

Just kinda feel Lewis had the size and smarts and strength to outbox and control young Mike, Tyson even in his prime had some trouble with big tall smart boxers like Tillis and Tucker and Lewis was far better than those two.

Lewis WI2

He meant "I could never beat him if we fought again" not "no incarnation of me could have ever beaten him" . . .

Tillis wasn't tall (I think about 6'1) and had a completely different style than Lewis. Tucker won about 3 rounds . . .

[Ambling Alp II]

I think it is worth mentioning that Tucker hurt his hand somewhere in the middle of the fight. It was pretty close up until that point. Not saying Tucker would have won, but it would have been closer.

Tyson-Lewis has been talked about many times before. Often someone will say that Lewis chin would not be able to stand up to several good shots from Tyson, and that may be be so.
However, what about Tyson's chin? Why is it that his chin is rarely questioned? I think we saw in the Douglas fight that he didn't exactly have a great chin.

[evrenb]

Lewis for me.

It's like this :

Lennox Lewis fights great but Mike Tyson's a great fighter.

evren

So does Tyson fight great?

Have you ever seen anything so awsome in the boxing ring?? Yeah he fought great...based on some of his performances the greatest fighting specimen i ever seen...as an entire career not the greatest ever...but at a moment in time the most awesome fighting machine there ever was....truth..

[man]

still would favor lewis. i think he has the heart
and strength to handle the first wave and from
there on play size and distance.

have to say that - as much as i like lennox - the
way he leaned on tyson until he had him tired out
was a sad thing to watch. only when mike became
a static target lennox would let go of the big-man-trick-bag.

[bruiser187]

I think it is worth mentioning that Tucker hurt his hand somewhere in the middle of the fight. It was pretty close up until that point. Not saying Tucker would have won, but it would have been closer.

Tyson-Lewis has been talked about many times before. Often someone will say that Lewis chin would not be able to stand up to several good shots from Tyson, and that may be be so.
However, what about Tyson's chin? Why is it that his chin is rarely questioned? I think we saw in the Douglas fight that he didn't exactly have a great chin.

What fight were you watching ? . Not a great chin ? rewatch the fight , there is not many fighters thats could take the bombs that he received that night.
I have to go with tyson on this one in his "prime" , the major difference in my opinion on prime an non prime tyson is his ability to get on the inside of a bigger rangier fighter. His number one advantage was his speed closing that gap and counter punching the jab an sticking on the inside lewis wouldnt of had the speed or jab to keep him off him, Holyfield on the other hand would have beaten mike prime or not..... but thats a different topic...styles make fights

[loaded_gloves]

The difference with Tucker is that, like Green, he took some humongous whacks on the chin and was unfazed.

Are we seriously suggesting Lewis can shrug Tyson's shots off?

I don't buy into Lewis being far better than Tucker either. Lewis fought an aged, heavy Tucker, out of rehab, and had his hands full. Tucker of the 80s was an entirely different beast.

[Ambling Alp II]

No, I don't think that Lewis could take several clean, hard shots from Tyson. However, would he have to to? He may have been able to avoid enough of them and weather the storm if he did get into trouble.

Lewis gets to throw punches too. Can Tyson take a lot of Lewis' best shots? He could not take Douglas' "bombs".

[loaded_gloves]

Douglas issued out a sustained beating while continuously having to slip and dodge fast punches - can anyone point me to a fight where Lennox Lewis was able to maintain such an intense pace?

We have the Mercer and Mavrovic fights, and Lewis had hell. He liked to fight at his own pace, and pick his shots, and that style doesn't hold up long against Tyson, as the likes of Tucker found out - you had to constantly work.

[SamWise72]

I think that Tucker is underrated; I believe that had he not suffered the injury, he would have beaten Tyson that night. A big question here is, is Lewis chinny? I don't think he is. He took big shots in his career and stayed up; the two occasions that make people call him chinny, he got clocked with enormous shots he didn't see coming because he was overconfident. Now, I'm not going to say that he can avoid all of a peak Tyson's bombs just by being switched on; as we've seen, the guys who did go the distance with Tyson all got hit and hit hard. I do think that a Lewis who's paying attention can take those punches; I could see him on the floor, but I could also see him getting up.

What he's certainly going to do is punch back, and I think Pinklon Thomas and Tucker both showed that it was possible to fight back against Tyson. Lewis is bigger and taller than either, and hit harder than either too. I can see a decision for Lewis or a late stoppage, but I can also see an early Tyson victory. I think if they fight ten, Lewis wins 6.

[loaded_gloves]

I don't think Tucker even without the broken hand could win- he was too big a target and Tyson was too fast even for him. But who knows, really? Tucker was also nimble, way down at 220, not a behemoth 245 or so Lewis would likely be, heavy, strong, not built for hard fast fights or high volume punching.

I will say this Sam, if you can see Lennox Lewis getting knocked down and getting up, you can see something we never ever saw. When that man was hurt he was sloooow to recover. Hardly Holmes, Ali, or Frazier in the chin and recovery powers stakes.

[SamWise72]

Fair point well made. Interesting that arguably the hardest punchers he fought, (Tua, Mercer, Morrison, Bruno, Ruddock) never had him in trouble though. I recognise that none of these has the speed or combinations that Tyson threw in his prime, but equally, Tyson never faced Lennox' collection of attributes either.

[loaded_gloves]

Yeah it does sound impressive, anyone who can take clean shots from that line up has a steel chin. You can toss in Butler as well. But ultimately Tua, Morrison, and Butler only landed glancing blows, Ruddock never landed at all, while Mercer did land and hurt him and Bruno rocked him. Briggs had him staggering all over the place.

Lewis knew better than to let Ruddock land and was way more wary about his chin post-McCall when fighting Morrison and the overweight Tua et al, but those men hardly came with a vast arsenal. Left hooks, all night, and Lewis made sure he kept his right glove plastered to his chin. Tyson had the left, the right, combinations of both, crucially Tyson had the impeccably timed jab which he used multiple times to outjab and confuse the bigger men, and he came from all directions with combination punching. And Lewis, when you took his jab away, became very easy to get to, as Bruno, Mercer, and Rahman discovered.

As much as I liked all those guys you listed and all of them were very dangerous, they really don't compare to Tyson's skillset.