Why was Lennox Lewis so feared?

[legacyrecognised]

It annoys me when people rate Mike Tyson "prime" more than Lennox even though Lennox was an amateur in Tyson's "prime" from 85-90. Also Tyson paid Lennox $4 million to avoid fighting him. Doesnt this show Tyson was afraid of Lewis just how Riddick Bowe was when he dumped the belt in the bin?

Why are boxers like Tyson and Holyfield constantly ranked better than Lennox Lewis when he was the best Heavyweight of his generation?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Lewis is definitely more accomplished than Tyson, he and Holyfield is arguable as heavyweights. Overall Evander clearly had the greater career.

[Tuan_Jim]

It annoys me when people rate Mike Tyson "prime" more than Lennox even though Lennox was an amateur in Tyson's "prime" from 85-90. Also Tyson paid Lennox $4 million to avoid fighting him. Doesnt this show Tyson was afraid of Lewis just how Riddick Bowe was when he dumped the belt in the bin?

Why are boxers like Tyson and Holyfield constantly ranked better than Lennox Lewis when he was the best Heavyweight of his generation?

Tyson was far more dynamic in his prime than Lewis. He was thrilling to watch, Lewis rarely was. Tyson also beat Tucker and Bruno more convincingly than Lewis did. Most of what you write is revisionist history. The specific details have been discussed on this forum ad nauseum, but the 4 mil was chump change paid out so King & Tyson could milk his status with easy mega fights against Seldon, Holyfield and Moorer - prior to attending to Lewis and Bowe. No one feared Lewis after Mercer had knocked him around - he was just with a bad manager and the wrong channel. Newman & Bowe similarly ditched the WBC belt in order to milk the title. In June 94 Bowe signed to fight Lewis in early 95 but Bowe got through Donald while Lewis was bumped off by McCall.

[elmersalsa]

Lennox Lewis, to me, was nothing to be awed about. Put him in his prime against a prime Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield or Riddick Bowe, and he gets knocked out.

I don't even consider him a top ten all time heavyweight.

[Bricks]

Lewis fought tyson and holyfield long after their peaks.

In tysons case 11 years....in eh"s case 6 years and even than he struggled badly in two fights.

The motivated bowe of 1995 would have brutalised him

[HomicideHenry]

Feared? I don't think so. Lewis had alot of build up, but his loss to McCall shattered that image of being feared. He did alot to rebuild his image, and started to gain a measure of respect, but then he lost to Rahman. Again, the image was destroyed. He defeats Rahman quickly, and then expects people to believe in him again. What's worse? He divides the championship up into parcels, hoping that Roy Jones would beat Ruiz and Holyfield beat Byrd, so that Lewis could fight Jones in a mega million clash and that fell all to pieces. Then he fights Mike Tyson, an echo of his former self, and then says it solidifies him as an all-time great. When the fight was ten years too late. Then he gets a big head, big ego, decides to defend against Kirk Johnson, gets blubbery fat.... Johnson gets injured in camp, and is substituted with Vitali Klitschko.... Lewis has a life or death brawl with him, and whines about Klitschko getting too much credit. He hangs around for a few months, weighing his options.... Klitschko destroys Johnson inside of two rounds and says "Lewis I want my rematch!" and promoters offer Lewis $45,000,000 and Lewis to the shock of many retires. "I have nothing more to prove!"..... horseshit..... he had alot left to prove. He just woke up to the fact that the moment he defeated Rahman and Tyson he didn't want to be a serious boxer anymore. That he was getting older, that he was getting lazier. Klitschko would have defeated him in the rematch and he knew it.

Feared? No. Respected? Sometimes. Maybe if he wasn't so cocky and demanded people to like him for being such an upitty English prick who preferred to jab his way to victory, instead of being an engaging fighter, people would have liked him. It's only in the decade since his retirement has people given him any real measure of respect. Because let's not revise history.... the sporting public at large did not like Lennox Lewis, did not want him to be the champion, and he was boring.

[elmersalsa]

Lennox Lewis wasn't nothing special. He was just a champion at the right time.

[PredatorHayds]

Lennox was a great athlete.

Great jab, great knockout power and a great reign.
Don't forget how successful Holyfield was after the Lewis loss.
Also Bowe didn't want a piece of him.
He was the best heavy of a generation and deserves a spot in the heavy top 10.

[Bricks]

Cant argue with that Henry

People forget it was Lewis for a considerable part of his career who ushered in the safety first style of wladimir Klitchko

[Tuan_Jim]

Lennox was a great athlete.

Great jab, great knockout power and a great reign.
Don't forget how successful Holyfield was after the Lewis loss.
Also Bowe didn't want a piece of him.
He was the best heavy of a generation and deserves a spot in the heavy top 10.

This isn't true. Bowe signed to fight him in 94, but Lewis got himself KOd. Bowe and HBO tried entice Lewis into a major money fight in 96 but Lewis refused and instead fought the 36 yr old Ray Mercer.

[elmersalsa]

Lennox Lewis has not done nothing great for me to see him as a great top ten ATG heavyweight.

[dr_devious]

Apart from beat everyone in his own strong era apart from Bowe who he'd already beat in the ams and ducked him. He's definitely top 10

[cfang]

There's been some serious crap talked about Lewis on this thread. He fought in a really tough era and beat everybody apart from Bowe. He beat Ruddock, Bruno, morrison, Mercer, McCall, Golota, Briggs, Holyfield, Rahman, Tyson and Klitschko. He lost 2 fights and avenged them both. He was in the top 3 heavys in the world for 11 years and finished 44-41-1-2 with 32 KOs. He's an all time top 10 for sure. At his best, he was a match for anyone.

[Tuan_Jim]

Apart from beat everyone in his own strong era apart from Bowe who he'd already beat in the ams and ducked him. He's definitely top 10

Bowe tried fight him twice and Lewis in one case got himself knocked out (94) and in the other case ducked Bowe (96).

Beating someone in the amateurs means zilch. A man Biggs beat a boy Lewis in the ams. A man Gonzalez beat a boy Bowe in the ams. Those results meant nothing in the unforgiving pro ring. Neither would a man Lewis' beating a boy Bowe in 88.

Lewis made things very hard for himself by signing with such a ridiculous manager and later getting himself splattered by McCall.

Had he beaten McCall he would be bringing what I'm sure would be a very useful Pepe Correra designed strategy to meet an Eddie Futch prepped Riddick Bowe determined to kill him.

Lewis must be among the luckiest heavyweights who ever lived.

[PredatorHayds]

Lennox was a great athlete.

Great jab, great knockout power and a great reign.
Don't forget how successful Holyfield was after the Lewis loss.
Also Bowe didn't want a piece of him.
He was the best heavy of a generation and deserves a spot in the heavy top 10.

This isn't true. Bowe signed to fight him in 94, but Lewis got himself KOd. Bowe and HBO tried entice Lewis into a major money fight in 96 but Lewis refused and instead fought the 36 yr old Ray Mercer.

Nonsense. No-one publicly ducked a opponent more than Bowe ducking Lewis.
Seeing Bowe and Newman put the belt in the bin showed how little they wanted that fight.

[Tuan_Jim]

Lennox was a great athlete.

Great jab, great knockout power and a great reign.
Don't forget how successful Holyfield was after the Lewis loss.
Also Bowe didn't want a piece of him.
He was the best heavy of a generation and deserves a spot in the heavy top 10.

This isn't true. Bowe signed to fight him in 94, but Lewis got himself KOd. Bowe and HBO tried entice Lewis into a major money fight in 96 but Lewis refused and instead fought the 36 yr old Ray Mercer.

Nonsense. No-one publicly ducked a opponent more than Bowe ducking Lewis.
Seeing Bowe and Newman put the belt in the bin showed how little they wanted that fight.

It is not nonsense, it is empirical, unequivocal fact. You being ignorant to the facts does not mean they are not facts.

Bowe signed to fight Lewis in June 94. This was widely covered in the press.

Bowe and HBO wanted Lewis/Bowe for early 96 to close their Bowe/Holy III / Lewis/Morrison tourney. Major money was offered to Lewis. Lewis declined and fought Mercer for less money.

[ElJefe]

in eh"s case 6 years and even than he struggled badly in two fights.

Struggled badly? You must have been watching different fights to the rest of us.

[Rexob]

There's been some serious crap talked about Lewis on this thread. He fought in a really tough era and beat everybody apart from Bowe. He beat Ruddock, Bruno, morrison, Mercer, McCall, Golota, Briggs, Holyfield, Rahman, Tyson and Klitschko. He lost 2 fights and avenged them both. He was in the top 3 heavys in the world for 11 years and finished 44-41-1-2 with 32 KOs. He's an all time top 10 for sure. At his best, he was a match for anyone.

Yeah, his career is impressive, I remember Lewis demolishing Ruddock when people thought that there was a high chance of Ruddock ruining Lewis, which there was! Lewis showed what he was all about that night, great display!

[cfang]

There's been some serious crap talked about Lewis on this thread. He fought in a really tough era and beat everybody apart from Bowe. He beat Ruddock, Bruno, morrison, Mercer, McCall, Golota, Briggs, Holyfield, Rahman, Tyson and Klitschko. He lost 2 fights and avenged them both. He was in the top 3 heavys in the world for 11 years and finished 44-41-1-2 with 32 KOs. He's an all time top 10 for sure. At his best, he was a match for anyone.

Yeah, his career is impressive, I remember Lewis demolishing Ruddock when people thought that there was a high chance of Ruddock ruining Lewis, which there was! Lewis showed what he was all about that night, great display!

Aye dam right Rex. I remember listening to that fight on the radio back then. Ruddock had given Tyson two rough nights and nobody expected Lewis to spark him in 2. That's the thing with Lewis (and I was guilty of it at the time), sometimes he didn't look impressive but the facts are there to see. When he was fit and motivated, he'd take almost anyone.

[dr_devious]

Apart from beat everyone in his own strong era apart from Bowe who he'd already beat in the ams and ducked him. He's definitely top 10

Bowe tried fight him twice and Lewis in one case got himself knocked out (94) and in the other case ducked Bowe (96).

Beating someone in the amateurs means zilch. A man Biggs beat a boy Lewis in the ams. A man Gonzalez beat a boy Bowe in the ams. Those results meant nothing in the unforgiving pro ring. Neither would a man Lewis' beating a boy Bowe in 88.

Lewis made things very hard for himself by signing with such a ridiculous manager and later getting himself splattered by McCall.

Had he beaten McCall he would be bringing what I'm sure would be a very useful Pepe Correra designed strategy to meet an Eddie Futch prepped Riddick Bowe determined to kill him.

Lewis must be among the luckiest heavyweights who ever lived.

Bowe chucked his belts in the bin rather than fight Lewis

[Tuan_Jim]

Apart from beat everyone in his own strong era apart from Bowe who he'd already beat in the ams and ducked him. He's definitely top 10

Bowe tried fight him twice and Lewis in one case got himself knocked out (94) and in the other case ducked Bowe (96).

Beating someone in the amateurs means zilch. A man Biggs beat a boy Lewis in the ams. A man Gonzalez beat a boy Bowe in the ams. Those results meant nothing in the unforgiving pro ring. Neither would a man Lewis' beating a boy Bowe in 88.

Lewis made things very hard for himself by signing with such a ridiculous manager and later getting himself splattered by McCall.

Had he beaten McCall he would be bringing what I'm sure would be a very useful Pepe Correra designed strategy to meet an Eddie Futch prepped Riddick Bowe determined to kill him.

Lewis must be among the luckiest heavyweights who ever lived.

Bowe chucked his belts in the bin rather than fight Lewis

I'm sorry that facts inconvenience your lazy statement.

Bowe wanted to milk title. Bowe in 94 signed to fight Lewis in mega fight for 95. Lewis blew it. Bowe chased Lewis in 96. TVKO mega fight. Lewis declined. Bowe recognised as world number 1. Lewis needed to prove he number 1 to force Tyson fight. Lewis avoided Bowe mega fight and went life & death with Mercer for chump change.

When Lewis beat Holyfield for - at last - the undisputed title he vacated the WBA title rather than fight John Ruiz. Do we make a lazy sweeping statement like Lewis ducked Ruiz, or do we apply logic like rational adults and accept that there is more to stories like this than meets the eye?

[dr_devious]

[Tuan_Jim]

You can't bear to admit you're wrong.

[PredatorHayds]

You can't bear to admit you're wrong.

Your wrong and I've got a feeling your a troll.

Bowe ducked everyone in 96 to fight Golota even though Lewis offered more money.

We all know what happened next. He struggles against Golota and Bye Bye Bowe. Lewis just happens to rule the division the next 8 years.

[PredatorHayds]

Bowe tried fight him twice and Lewis in one case got himself knocked out (94) and in the other case ducked Bowe (96).

Beating someone in the amateurs means zilch. A man Biggs beat a boy Lewis in the ams. A man Gonzalez beat a boy Bowe in the ams. Those results meant nothing in the unforgiving pro ring. Neither would a man Lewis' beating a boy Bowe in 88.

Lewis made things very hard for himself by signing with such a ridiculous manager and later getting himself splattered by McCall.

Had he beaten McCall he would be bringing what I'm sure would be a very useful Pepe Correra designed strategy to meet an Eddie Futch prepped Riddick Bowe determined to kill him.

Lewis must be among the luckiest heavyweights who ever lived.

Bowe chucked his belts in the bin rather than fight Lewis

I'm sorry that facts inconvenience your lazy statement.

Bowe wanted to milk title. Bowe in 94 signed to fight Lewis in mega fight for 95. Lewis blew it. Bowe chased Lewis in 96. TVKO mega fight. Lewis declined. Bowe recognised as world number 1. Lewis needed to prove he number 1 to force Tyson fight. Lewis avoided Bowe mega fight and went life & death with Mercer for chump change.

When Lewis beat Holyfield for - at last - the undisputed title he vacated the WBA title rather than fight John Ruiz. Do we make a lazy sweeping statement like Lewis ducked Ruiz, or do we apply logic like rational adults and accept that there is more to stories like this than meets the eye?

You'd full of lies yet again.

Bowe had just lost to Holyfield and had no belts or major money to offer Lewis in 1994.