Lennox Lewis: Best Win?

[Boxing Writer]

I would rate his wins this way:

Holyfield UD 12 ..............this win made him him the universally recognized champion, unified all the belts needed at that time to called be undisputed and established him as the best of his era. This was his career defining win, he loses this fight, he's not in the hall of fame now and we wouldn't be talking about him.




Rahman KO 4..............................getting right back in the ring with a man who had knocked you out is a very hard thing to do, many times we've seen boxers get back in there with that guy and show us they don't really want to be in there with THAT man again. That's not what Lennox did.

Ruddock..................for the same reasons everybody else is saying

Tyson......................yes Mike was spent but Lennox was near the end too and Tyson was by far the biggest on the era............if the biggest name in the sport is in your division and you beat him that is always a big win

Klitchko..................Lennox showed us his heart in this fight more than any other. He was 38 and at the end, not even motivated enough to train seriously, he came to the ring visibly out of shape. Vitali was in his prime and as always in great shape. The fight started bad for the unmotivated Lewis, it would have been easy to concede he no longer had the desire to be champ, go safety first so he could finish on his feet and retire after the fight. That's not at all what Lennox did, he looked at his challenger with his usual arrogance and went to battle, if Lennox was going to be dethroned he was going out on his shield and no other way. Old, out of shape faced with a prime, hungry opponent he still only needed half a fight to turn the challenger's face to a disgusting mess, get the win and ride off into retirement as champ.

Tyson? No way! I'd definitely rank his wins over Tua (very boring but very dominant), Mercer over his win over Tyson. Tyson was a big name, yes, but it doesn't make him one of the best Lewis' wins. ODLH was the biggest name among Pac's victims, but nobody ever would rank him among Pacquiao best 5 wins. Yes, Pac has deeper resume comparing to Lewis' one, but I think there is now way to rank win over that version of Tyson ahead of wins over Mercer and Tua.

[Matt the Master]

Best fighter he ever fought was Vitali Klitschko, and with absolutely no doubt ! Both Lennox and Vitali retired with 2 defeats on their record, Lewis of course avenged both his defeats (both KO losses) to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, yet the 2 fights in which history has recorded Vitali as the loser he lost both due to sports injuries, the first against Chris Byrd when he tore his rotator cuff, and of course the cut above the eye where the doctor stopped the fight against Lewis. Most people seem to conveniently forget that Vitali was ahead on the scorecards before the fight got stopped, am I saying he would definitely have won ? No, but I will say that he had as much chance as Lennox of closing out the win, in fact if not more ! As if either were to tire towards the closing stages, it would much more likely to have been Lennox gassing, as Vitali was much younger and fitter ! But that's conjecture ! What's not, and is more than evident, is the fact that Vitali presented Lennox with the toughest fight of his career, all six rounds of it ! Some people look towards finesse, how good a fighter looks in the ring etc when deciding on who is the best, Vitali had so much going for him, but amongst his many attributes its his inherent toughness that makes him the formidable fighter he was (and still is, I bet my last pound he could come back tomorrow and clean up the Heavyweight division, the only fighter I would exclude from that is Tyson Fury, but he's inactive at this precise moment, and to me that fight would be highly competitive ! And yes that means I'd see him beating Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, and certainly in his prime whatever the weather !) His brother Wladimir didn't receive an equal portion of this inherent toughness, and so it was a great thing for the Klitschko legacy that he wasn't the one who fought Lennox Lewis ! The shots that Vitali took off Lennox in that fight, including that infamous uppercut, would have been more than enough to grab a culminating ko against almost anyone, and the same can be said vice versa in Lennox's favour, two great great battle hardened warriors ! But in terms of who was the best fighter Lennox Lewis ever fought, the toughest, the hardest, the man who beats all others, well its the man who would have beaten him had he not opened up a great gash above his left eye, Vitali Klitschko ! I see others in this thread saying Evander Holyfield, do you seriously think Vitali, even the same young age he was against Lewis, couldn't beat Evander Holyfield ??? Vitali would have played around with him for the opening few rounds, feel his range, set some traps, do his "homework", and then started the softening up process between rounds 3-7, before mercilessly bludgeoning him into a TKO or KO (depends on who gets there first, the ref, or Vitali's finisher) somewhere before the 10th. And that folks is what I mean when I say that it's the toughest man who is best, not the fanciest or most liked, but the last man standing, and Vitali has never lost a fight in his life in professional gloved boxing, his only two 'defeats' coming by way of sports injuries !

[Matt the Master]

And why doesn't anyone ever mention that he beat Gary Mason early in his career ? That was the only time Mason would ever go on to lose, becoming European Heavyweight Champion before retiring.

[Kalan]

You know Vitali Klitschko was his best opponent... And you know he didn't really win that one -- it was a gift.

I like the way Lewis was posing for this picture -- trying very hard to look like The Predator... He could be a dipwad... He probably took a hundred photos before he came up with this one that had the lighting and effect he wanted.

Do you genuinely not like/hate Lennox Lewis? If so, Why?

I like Lewis... He was a fun guy. He was easily the master of Tyson, Bowe, and Holyfield.. He was the best until the Klitschkos came along -- and they both would have beaten him.. Wladimir by easy decision if he had 4 years of Emmanuel Steward behind him -- and Vitali by KO if he got his rematch as promised.. Lewis was awarded the 1st Vitali Klitschko fight, when he was trailing on all scorecards, by a corrupt referee who let Lewis foul the crap out of Vitali.. VK land many more punches despite the fact that he had blood streaming into his left eye for much of the fight.

[DrDuke]

Which was his best and/or defining win?

If we talk about the most defining win, it is a victory over Ruddock, because it has made him a contender.
If we talk about the best win in general, I'll name a victory over Klitschko, because then Lennox has defeated the future of the division in a great fight, while Lewis was past prime.

What was his best KO win?

Vs Rahman. It was just beautiful.

Who was his best opponent?

Holyfield.

[Syntax Error]

Ruddock - Yes, I know Ruddock was one dimensional & overrated, but no-one was saying that at the time.

Everyone thought he was the most dangerous HW on the planet & even Riddick Bowe made sure that he avoided Razor, thus meaning Lewis had to face him.

Lewis decimated Ruddock without even breaking sweat & no-one had done that to Razor prior to that.

Also, the poster who cited the Gary Mason victory is spot on; that was a very underrated victory.

Lewis was still a novice & Mason was much more experienced & was no mug.

[Ruthless-RKO]

And why doesn't anyone ever mention that he beat Gary Mason early in his career ? That was the only time Mason would ever go on to lose, becoming European Heavyweight Champion before retiring.

He wss 3 years older, had a record of 35 wins, 32 KOs and no losses.

He didn't become EU champion after this..

[Matt the Master]

You know Vitali Klitschko was his best opponent... And you know he didn't really win that one -- it was a gift.

I like the way Lewis was posing for this picture -- trying very hard to look like The Predator... He could be a dipwad... He probably took a hundred photos before he came up with this one that had the lighting and effect he wanted.

Do you genuinely not like/hate Lennox Lewis? If so, Why?

I like Lewis... He was a fun guy. He was easily the master of Tyson, Bowe, and Holyfield.. He was the best until the Klitschkos came along -- and they both would have beaten him.. Wladimir by easy decision if he had 4 years of Emmanuel Steward behind him -- and Vitali by KO if he got his rematch as promised.. Lewis was awarded the 1st Vitali Klitschko fight, when he was trailing on all scorecards, by a corrupt referee who let Lewis foul the crap out of Vitali.. VK land many more punches despite the fact that he had blood streaming into his left eye for much of the fight.

I agree with you that had it not been for the cut then Vitali would have won that fight against Lewis, but Wladimir beating Lennox ??? You said "if he had four years of training with Emmanuel Steward" well he hadn't had at that point, at that point he was getting knocked down all over the ring by Purrity, Sanders, and Brewster, I can say "if I had this or that I could beat Tyson" ! Doesn't mean shit ! This goes back to my point of inherent toughness, Vitali had it in spades, Wladimir did not recieve an equal portion from his forbears, Wladimir needed the expertise of Steward in order to teach him how to deal with hard hitting heavyweights by grabbing and holding and coming in and out of range, Lennox was long retired by that point, so your saying Wladimir would have beaten him is not only absurd, but complete conjecture ! The Wladimir at the time of his brothers fight with Lennox Lewis would have received the most embarrassing KO imaginable from Lennox ! You also think that just a few years of training with Steward would have enabled him to beat Lewis on points, well you seem to forget that to win on points you still have to hit your opponent, and if you can hit your opponent your opponent can hit you, and we're talking about one of the greatest boxer/punchers since Muhammad Ali in Lennox Lewis !!! Yes Vitali had everything needed as a young hungry heavyweight to just about beat a faded Lewis, but then again it's extremely possible that Lewis could have held on and edged out a points win, just using his superior ringcraft and experience, so that one I will leave to the history books, but Wladimir beating Lennox ???

[Matt the Master]

And why doesn't anyone ever mention that he beat Gary Mason early in his career ? That was the only time Mason would ever go on to lose, becoming European Heavyweight Champion before retiring.

He wss 3 years older, had a record of 35 wins, 32 KOs and no losses.

He didn't become EU champion after this..

I stand corrected, though I'm sure he was due to fight for it ? Anyway I'm on boxrec of all places, very easy to find out

[Matt the Master]

And why doesn't anyone ever mention that he beat Gary Mason early in his career ? That was the only time Mason would ever go on to lose, becoming European Heavyweight Champion before retiring.

He wss 3 years older, had a record of 35 wins, 32 KOs and no losses.

He didn't become EU champion after this..

I stand corrected, though I'm sure he was due to fight for it ? Anyway I'm on boxrec of all places, very easy to find out

So that fight with Lennox was for the EBU title, so Lewis became European champion in that fight against Mason.

Rather interestingly I noticed that Mason shares no fewer than eight common opponents with Mike Tyson. These are the early Mike Tyson fodder Mark Young, Lorenzo Boyd (that body shot followed up with the uppercut KO from Tyson lives long in the memory !) Donnie Long, Eddie Richardson, Sammy Scaff, James Tillis, Tyrell Biggs, and of course Lennox Lewis.

[Perseus]

I would rate his wins this way:

Holyfield UD 12 ..............this win made him him the universally recognized champion, unified all the belts needed at that time to called be undisputed and established him as the best of his era. This was his career defining win, he loses this fight, he's not in the hall of fame now and we wouldn't be talking about him.




Rahman KO 4..............................getting right back in the ring with a man who had knocked you out is a very hard thing to do, many times we've seen boxers get back in there with that guy and show us they don't really want to be in there with THAT man again. That's not what Lennox did.

Ruddock..................for the same reasons everybody else is saying

Tyson......................yes Mike was spent but Lennox was near the end too and Tyson was by far the biggest on the era............if the biggest name in the sport is in your division and you beat him that is always a big win

Klitchko..................Lennox showed us his heart in this fight more than any other. He was 38 and at the end, not even motivated enough to train seriously, he came to the ring visibly out of shape. Vitali was in his prime and as always in great shape. The fight started bad for the unmotivated Lewis, it would have been easy to concede he no longer had the desire to be champ, go safety first so he could finish on his feet and retire after the fight. That's not at all what Lennox did, he looked at his challenger with his usual arrogance and went to battle, if Lennox was going to be dethroned he was going out on his shield and no other way. Old, out of shape faced with a prime, hungry opponent he still only needed half a fight to turn the challenger's face to a disgusting mess, get the win and ride off into retirement as champ.

Tyson? No way! I'd definitely rank his wins over Tua (very boring but very dominant), Mercer over his win over Tyson. Tyson was a big name, yes, but it doesn't make him one of the best Lewis' wins. ODLH was the biggest name among Pac's victims, but nobody ever would rank him among Pacquiao best 5 wins. Yes, Pac has deeper resume comparing to Lewis' one, but I think there is now way to rank win over that version of Tyson ahead of wins over Mercer and Tua.

No.
If the Tua and Mercer fights never happen nobody cares.
If Lewis/Tyson never happens it gets debated forever as to who ducked whom and what would have happened if they fought.
Tyson wasn't just the biggest name in boxing he was one of the biggest names in sports period. If that guy is in your division you have to get that fight.
Regardless of how spent Tyson was his chance of beating Lennox was the same as Tua................a lottery punch.
Tua was never going to outbox Lewis.
Going into that fight all of us........including you.............. knew it was either Tua lands the big punch or loses wide.

[Matt the Master]

I would rate his wins this way:

Holyfield UD 12 ..............this win made him him the universally recognized champion, unified all the belts needed at that time to called be undisputed and established him as the best of his era. This was his career defining win, he loses this fight, he's not in the hall of fame now and we wouldn't be talking about him.




Rahman KO 4..............................getting right back in the ring with a man who had knocked you out is a very hard thing to do, many times we've seen boxers get back in there with that guy and show us they don't really want to be in there with THAT man again. That's not what Lennox did.

Ruddock..................for the same reasons everybody else is saying

Tyson......................yes Mike was spent but Lennox was near the end too and Tyson was by far the biggest on the era............if the biggest name in the sport is in your division and you beat him that is always a big win

Klitchko..................Lennox showed us his heart in this fight more than any other. He was 38 and at the end, not even motivated enough to train seriously, he came to the ring visibly out of shape. Vitali was in his prime and as always in great shape. The fight started bad for the unmotivated Lewis, it would have been easy to concede he no longer had the desire to be champ, go safety first so he could finish on his feet and retire after the fight. That's not at all what Lennox did, he looked at his challenger with his usual arrogance and went to battle, if Lennox was going to be dethroned he was going out on his shield and no other way. Old, out of shape faced with a prime, hungry opponent he still only needed half a fight to turn the challenger's face to a disgusting mess, get the win and ride off into retirement as champ.

Tyson? No way! I'd definitely rank his wins over Tua (very boring but very dominant), Mercer over his win over Tyson. Tyson was a big name, yes, but it doesn't make him one of the best Lewis' wins. ODLH was the biggest name among Pac's victims, but nobody ever would rank him among Pacquiao best 5 wins. Yes, Pac has deeper resume comparing to Lewis' one, but I think there is now way to rank win over that version of Tyson ahead of wins over Mercer and Tua.

No.
If the Tua and Mercer fights never happen nobody cares.
If Lewis/Tyson never happens it gets debated forever as to who ducked whom and what would have happened if they fought.
Tyson wasn't just the biggest name in boxing he was one of the biggest names in sports period. If that guy is in your division you have to get that fight.
Regardless of how spent Tyson was his chance of beating Lennox was the same as Tua................a lottery punch.
Tua was never going to outbox Lewis.
Going into that fight all of us........including you.............. knew it was either Tua lands the big punch or loses wide.

Yes, but the Tyson fight left as many questions than it solved, i.e would the result have been any different had they fought in their primes, i.e had Lewis fought the pre incarceration Tyson...

[Kalan]

Do you genuinely not like/hate Lennox Lewis? If so, Why?

I like Lewis... He was a fun guy. He was easily the master of Tyson, Bowe, and Holyfield.. He was the best until the Klitschkos came along -- and they both would have beaten him.. Wladimir by easy decision if he had 4 years of Emmanuel Steward behind him -- and Vitali by KO if he got his rematch as promised.. Lewis was awarded the 1st Vitali Klitschko fight, when he was trailing on all scorecards, by a corrupt referee who let Lewis foul the crap out of Vitali.. VK land many more punches despite the fact that he had blood streaming into his left eye for much of the fight.

I agree with you that had it not been for the cut then Vitali would have won that fight against Lewis, but Wladimir beating Lennox ??? You said "if he had four years of training with Emmanuel Steward" well he hadn't had at that point, at that point he was getting knocked down all over the ring by Purrity, Sanders, and Brewster, I can say "if I had this or that I could beat Tyson" ! Doesn't mean poo ! This goes back to my point of inherent toughness, Vitali had it in spades, Wladimir did not recieve an equal portion from his forbears, Wladimir needed the expertise of Steward in order to teach him how to deal with hard hitting heavyweights by grabbing and holding and coming in and out of range, Lennox was long retired by that point, so your saying Wladimir would have beaten him is not only absurd, but complete conjecture ! The Wladimir at the time of his brothers fight with Lennox Lewis would have received the most embarrassing KO imaginable from Lennox ! You also think that just a few years of training with Steward would have enabled him to beat Lewis on points, well you seem to forget that to win on points you still have to hit your opponent, and if you can hit your opponent your opponent can hit you, and we're talking about one of the greatest boxer/punchers since Muhammad Ali in Lennox Lewis !!! Yes Vitali had everything needed as a young hungry heavyweight to just about beat a faded Lewis, but then again it's extremely possible that Lewis could have held on and edged out a points win, just using his superior ringcraft and experience, so that one I will leave to the history books, but Wladimir beating Lennox ???

Well all of that is nonsense because Lennox-Wladimir never happened -- and Wladimir wanted it to happen and Lewis didn't... Wladimir isn't the only guy who lost by KO -- Lewis lost as well and Wladimir had a terrific right hand... You can't say if he would have nailed Lewis with it or not.

I'm talking about who was the better fighter at their BEST... Wladimir Klitschko reworked his game and became a better Heavyweight than Lennox Lewis ever was because he worked a lot harder for many years getting rid of his flaws.. It took him a while, but he stayed at it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Who was his best opponent?

Holyfield.

Who did he fight that was in their prime?

I'd say Vitali was.

Rahman, Grant, Tua, Golota, Briggs, McCall?

[DrDuke]

Who did he fight that was in their prime?

Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis, Alex Stewart. And I'd say, Qawi, Dokes and Mercer were still there. Foreman and Holmes were old, but they were special. Btw, Tyson was past prime, but far from being washed up yet.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Btw, Tyson was past prime, but far from being washed up yet.

At the time who fought him? Lewis or Holyfield?

[DrDuke]

At the time who fought him? Lewis or Holyfield?

Holyfield, as we were talking about Evander.

[Ruthless-RKO]

At the time who fought him? Lewis or Holyfield?

Holyfield, as we were talking about Evander.

When I was talking about Vitali, Rahman, Grant, Tua, Golota, Briggs, McCall.. I was referring to Lewis.

I'd say Holyfield beat more opponents in their prime than Lewis.

[DrDuke]

When I was talking about Vitali, Rahman, Grant, Tua, Golota, Briggs, McCall.. I was referring to Lewis.

I'd say Holyfield beat more opponents in their prime than Lewis.

Oh, I got it now. Well, I think, Ruddock should be added to your list.

[Ruthless-RKO]

When I was talking about Vitali, Rahman, Grant, Tua, Golota, Briggs, McCall.. I was referring to Lewis.

I'd say Holyfield beat more opponents in their prime than Lewis.

Oh, I got it now. Well, I think, Ruddock should be added to your list.

You're right, He wasn't on the decline when he fought Lewis.

[Bodyshot3]

And why doesn't anyone ever mention that he beat Gary Mason early in his career ? That was the only time Mason would ever go on to lose, becoming European Heavyweight Champion before retiring.

Matt...it has been raised a number of times on the forum in discussions about Gary and Lennox, so fear not they both get their props

But ultimately, the win over Gary (who was decent) was domestic/European business and the wins of Vitali, Ruddock, Tyson and Evander simply have more value attached to them....more on the line, opponents who were of global status.

I think the Mason fight was Lewis coming off age and showing that he could deal with the pressure and move on from being a guy with a dazzling amateur career and with loads of potential. Gary was the acid test Lennox had to face and pass.

[Kalan]

At the time who fought him? Lewis or Holyfield?

Holyfield, as we were talking about Evander.

When I was talking about Vitali, Rahman, Grant, Tua, Golota, Briggs, McCall.. I was referring to Lewis.

I'd say Holyfield beat more opponents in their prime than Lewis

I'd say Lewis beat more top, prime opponents...and lost to fewer...and the reasons LL-EH didn't happen earlier are all on Holyfield.

[littlepug]

He wss 3 years older, had a record of 35 wins, 32 KOs and no losses.

He didn't become EU champion after this..

I stand corrected, though I'm sure he was due to fight for it ? Anyway I'm on boxrec of all places, very easy to find out

So that fight with Lennox was for the EBU title, so Lewis became European champion in that fight against Mason.

Rather interestingly I noticed that Mason shares no fewer than eight common opponents with Mike Tyson. These are the early Mike Tyson fodder Mark Young, Lorenzo Boyd (that body shot followed up with the uppercut KO from Tyson lives long in the memory !) Donnie Long, Eddie Richardson, Sammy Scaff, James Tillis, Tyrell Biggs, and of course Lennox Lewis.

I'm sure Lennox was European and Commonwealth champ and Mason was British champ when they met, that's how I remember it

[littlepug]

Just looked it up, Lewis eruo champ Mason British, Lewis fought for commonwealth 5 fights later

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Ruddock - Yes, I know Ruddock was one dimensional & overrated, but no-one was saying that at the time.

Everyone thought he was the most dangerous HW on the planet & even Riddick Bowe made sure that he avoided Razor, thus meaning Lewis had to face him.

Lewis decimated Ruddock without even breaking sweat & no-one had done that to Razor prior to that.

Also, the poster who cited the Gary Mason victory is spot on; that was a very underrated victory.

Lewis was still a novice & Mason was much more experienced & was no mug.

How in the world did riddick avoid razor?