Lennox Lewis Versus Larry Holmes

[polecateddy]

Sometimes it's easier to get a clearer idea by looking at the respective opponents. Larry seemed to have had life and death with a succession of boxers Lennox would have beaten with ease.

You mean like how a very old Holmes beat up Ray Mercer when Lennox barely beat him? Or an old man Holmes gave a prime Holyfield a tough fight where as Lennox has a fight w/past prime Holyfield that could arguably be a draw? Or when old man Holmes BARELY BY A HAIR loses to McCall and Lennox has a fight where he gets stopped by him?

Nice

Very few serious pundits or boxing journalists would pick Holmes over Lewis these days. There is clearly a bias in this thread.

[Counter-puncher]

I think we need more ex-policemen posting in here, that would certainly get the thread credibility up to scratch.

[Syntax Error]

Larry on points.

Considering Lewis was known for his jab, he couldn't handle jabbers himself.

Even Frank Bruno with his ponderous jab was able to outjab Lewis, although, to be fair to Lewis, it was the reckless & Right hand happy Lewis of 1993 & not the more cultured & cautious Lewis of 1995 onwards.

Larry Holmes had one of the best jabs in HW; in fact, in boxing history & he used to control fights with that jab.

I just can't envisage Lewis being able to deal with that jab.

and the fact that Holmes could jab multiple times without having to re-set

Hear hear.

The Larry Holmes jab was almost a work of art. 8)

[Dart340]

Yeah, his jab was a work of art, but I remember him getting outjabbed and outboxed by Lorenzo Zanon of all people before Holmes used his right to crash Zanon's china chin. Let's not get overly romantic about Holmes boxing ability here and start saying Lewis would be completely befuddled and get schooled.

[dempseyfire]

Sometimes it's easier to get a clearer idea by looking at the respective opponents. Larry seemed to have had life and death with a succession of boxers Lennox would have beaten with ease.

You mean like how a very old Holmes beat up Ray Mercer when Lennox barely beat him? Or an old man Holmes gave a prime Holyfield a tough fight where as Lennox has a fight w/past prime Holyfield that could arguably be a draw? Or when old man Holmes BARELY BY A HAIR loses to McCall and Lennox has a fight where he gets stopped by him?

Nice

Very few serious pundits or boxing journalists would pick Holmes over Lewis these days. There is clearly a bias in this thread.

? Umm no. I would bet a large amount of money Holmes wins clearly in any widespread poll of boxing journalists, unless by "pundit" you mean the posters at Eastside Boxing.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Sometimes it's easier to get a clearer idea by looking at the respective opponents. Larry seemed to have had life and death with a succession of boxers Lennox would have beaten with ease.

You mean like how a very old Holmes beat up Ray Mercer when Lennox barely beat him? Or an old man Holmes gave a prime Holyfield a tough fight where as Lennox has a fight w/past prime Holyfield that could arguably be a draw? Or when old man Holmes BARELY BY A HAIR loses to McCall and Lennox has a fight where he gets stopped by him?

Nice

There is clearly a bias in this thread.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to healing. Good for you.

[polecateddy]

I would go back to who Larry struggled with. The reality is Holmes would have not just struggled with the size and power of Lewis. I think Holmes struggles mightily with the speed and athleticism too. He is just over-matched and lacking in big equalising hitting power. And Lewis defenses although not off the charts brilliant, but were still respectable. He was certainly never open to repeated right handers over and over, which is the only way Larry could wear him down. And I've seen plenty of historical match ups discussed in the two best boxing mags in the world - Boxing News and Boxing Monthly - Lewis always comes ahead of Larry Holmes!

[SaadOffTheDeck]

LOL at Holmes struggling with Lennox' speed. I disagree that it's a landslide for Holmes, Lewis would give him hell, but this guy is clearly just a troll having fun.

He would take Hughie Fury to dismantle Holyfield.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I can see the frustration of someone that sees any newer fighter picked against and sometimes we do it with far too much conviction. I was messing around with sim the other day and Gamboa beat Sanchez. While we would all pick Sal, that isn't out of the realm of possibilities. However, he has been at this too long for someone trying to make a point.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

LOL at Holmes struggling with Lennox' speed. I disagree that it's a landslide for Holmes, Lewis would give him hell

This fight would be evenly contested up til about round 8 where Larry starts to take over and if it's a 15 rounder, Lennox gets stopped in the 13th.

Is what I said, but I wouldn't be surprised if Larry did easier than I expected.

Bruno was doing much better until he got taken out and Mercer arguably got a draw.

Both boxers clearly inferior to a peak/prime Holmes. Both did their work behind the jab,

Ok, I was just talking about the overwhelming numbers in his favor. Larry had some problems too, though none of them were with Lorenzo Zanon.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I can see the frustration of someone that sees any newer fighter picked against and sometimes we do it with far too much conviction. I was messing around with sim the other day and Gamboa beat Sanchez. While we would all pick Sal, that isn't out of the realm of possibilities. However, he has been at this too long for someone trying to make a point.

I could see Gamboa beating Sanchez if he stayed constantly moving, but knowing Gamboa he'd probably get too careless and pay for it.

BUT if he played it smart I could see him outpointing Sanchez, Yuri's fast as FVCK

Sanchez is also overrated defensively, great as he was he wasn't hard to hit. Almost impossible to hurt.

[polecateddy]

Let me test something.

Hey PCE or PCT w/e.

Who wins :

Muhammad Ali vs. Tyson Fury?

Feck off! You're trying to paint me as someone who thinks Tyson Fury and Ricky Hatton would have beaten all the greats. I've been a boxing fan since in the late 80s. I've been involved in boxing journalism and written articles for Saddo Boxing. I once interviewed Clinton Woods. I'm sorry there aren't more Lennox Lewis fans on here. I always thought as a UKer we were always very lucky to have such a talent.

[polecateddy]

Surely watching Holmes v Cooney, should give you guys some 'inkling' just how much Larry would have struggled against Lewis.

[ThatOne]

I stand by assertion that the fight goes the distance and I am uncertain of the winner. However it seems some people here are dismissing Lennox as some sort of fringe champion. The cat was legit.

[ThatOne]

If you knew more about Larry you could also bring up his fight against Leroy Jones where Holmes had some problems against a taller opponent.

If it's twelve rounds I would bet the house it goes the distance unless Lewis is caught sleeping like he was against Rahman and McCall which I don't think is likely.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Surely watching Holmes v Cooney, should give you guys some 'inkling' just how much Larry would have struggled against Lewis.

LOL, that was a butchering.

[dempseyfire]

If you knew more about Larry you could also bring up his fight against Leroy Jones where Holmes had some problems against a taller opponent.

Are you being serious? Jones-Holmes was a one-sided beating. To the point of where you almost feel sorry for Jones.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I haven't watched them since they aired live, but I don't recall Jones or Zanon coming close to winning a round. Please don't make me dust off those DVD's!

[Syntax Error]

I stand by assertion that the fight goes the distance and I am uncertain of the winner. However it seems some people here are dismissing Lennox as some sort of fringe champion. The cat was legit.

I don't think anybody is dismissing Lewis as a fringe champion.

Lewis was a great HW; in fact, he is the last great HW champion (unless Evander Holyfield as finally retired), but in Holmes, he would have been up against a top 5 ATG HW in my opinion & as has been pointed out, Lewis did seem to struggle against master jabbers & there were few, if any, who were better than Holmes at that.

[ThatOne]

I don't think Leroy Jones is a useful surrogate for Lennox Lewis.

[dempseyfire]

If you knew more about Larry you could also bring up his fight against Leroy Jones where Holmes had some problems against a taller opponent.

Are you being serious? Jones-Holmes was a one-sided beating. To the point of where you almost feel sorry for Jones.

Course I am. The fvck you think?

Jones got at least two rounds

And which rounds were those?

Anyone can watch the fight on Youtube, or just read the next day news reports: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=40 ... ones&hl=en

"Larry Holmes took target practice with Leroy Jones's head"

"Holmes remained the main man in the heavyweight division with his one-sided victory over the outgunned Jones"

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yf ... ones&hl=en

"Holmes dominated and finally destroyed Jones . . . .the outcome was never in doubt"

[polecateddy]

Larry Holmes was dropped multiple times and stopped horribly against Tyson. Power-wise he couldn't put a dent in Spinks. Lewis when confronted with a good jabber with questionable power is well capable of bullying them to death - see the Henry Akinwande fight for one example.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

[polecateddy]

Ha. Now it's ridiculous. Ignore time

Go ahead and find a boxing journalist who supports that view. Show me an article.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Boxing Journalist? LOL, that's a term of the past.