jamesmcdonnell wrote:Yep, I agree, Lewis usually went for the big guys aggressively, it's notable that against shorter opponents he tended to break them down or box them to a standstill. He liked big, immobile opponents best as he could just leather the shit out of them. Shorter guys like Tua, Tyson, even Morrison he didn't go for straight away.
Byrd would have probably made for a very boring fight with Lewis jabbing his way in and busting Byrd up late on, but looking ordinary in doing so.
Thats a fair point but i was basing my thoughts of lewis blowing byrd away early on the fact that byrd did'nt have the power to really trouble lewis.The shorter guys u mention all have serious power,and to fight a toe-to-toe slug out with them would be stupid,as it would suit their style of fighting.
Byrd is a boxer,not a slugger type.Surely he would be ripe for the taking for a pumped up,fit,eager lewis.
Max and Buddy Baer were incredibly strong heavyweights, Louis flattened both of them, Buddy was 6'6 1/2 and 250 lbs and could certainly punch.
I'd love to have seen Louis in with today's modern heavyweights, to see how well he would have fared in say the Lewis, Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield era. Louis might not have been big by modern standards, but boy could he punch.
Yep, Bowe was like concert pianist wearing boxing gloves, had all the tools at his disposal but didn't make the most of them.
Marciano was like a tub-bass player, only one string, but boy could he play with that ol' thumb of his.
Maricano made the best of what really were poor physical attributes for a heavyweight, even in his era, and had an almost infinite capacity for pain.
Have you seen the Moore fight? I've always wanted to see the Moore knockdown as Archie claimed that Marciano was absolutely ga-ga when the ref administered the incorrect 8 count and bought Rocky some time.
Lennox would have swatted Byrd like a fly, wouldnt surprise me if hed knocked him out in 1 round.
The problem is that a lot of Americans dislike Lennox cos he isnt American; just read the tripe people write about him on "boxers of the past" on here. Its jealousy that one of the best heavyweights ever isnt American, which is strange as all the others are!
viciousmaussa wrote:never mind that he had riddick bowe running away from him all his career, and never mind that he beat Holyfield twice. Lewis gets nowher enear the respect he deserves from yank writers. farhood did a piece of whether mayweather jr is an all time great, which he approaches from the "adversity" angle. i.e. he hasn't come thru much adversity. then he gives an example from other modern day notable, of course one of them being Lewis. i.e. that 'i remember Lewis getting stopped twice'
now, didn't lewis rally through some deep shit vs shannon briggs and a 6' 8 monster who could fight called vitali klitschko? doesn't the klitschko fight in particular show how Lewis - in atrocious shape vs the man everyone decided could be the besy heavy since Holmes - can come through trouble?
anyhow, that isn't the examle that really took the piss. check out Katz' article on TSS. he's done another lovey dovey piece on Byrd, here's an extract:
"let us stop now and praise Byrd for his amazing accomplishments so far, to have gone up against the biggest and baddest for all these years – the only ones he missed were Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, neither of whom wanted to be embarrassed by the stylish southpaw – with the foreknowledge that he would be unable to really dent his opponent. For an Olympic middleweight to take on such as both Klitschko brothers, Ibeabuchi, David Tua, Holyfield, Foul Pole Golota et al, knowing he couldn’t hurt them, says reams about his bravery."
jamesmcdonnell wrote:I've never seen Liston v Cleveland Williams, heard it was a real barn burner. Liston had a serious beard on him and could take it as well as dish it out. ali's style was horrible for Liston though because he couldn't really get a bead on him.
Ive got it on DVD. They are both awesome, but Liston moreso.
jamesmcdonnell wrote:Max and Buddy Baer were incredibly strong heavyweights, Louis flattened both of them, Buddy was 6'6 1/2 and 250 lbs and could certainly punch.
I'd love to have seen Louis in with today's modern heavyweights, to see how well he would have fared in say the Lewis, Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield era. Louis might not have been big by modern standards, but boy could he punch.
Louis stood nearly 6'2 and had an optimum weight of about 200lbs.
I think its fair to say that Louis was a bigger man than Holyfield, not much but a bit bigger
With modern nutrition and a bit of weight traning Louis could bulk up to 220 without hinderance.
He may even hit harder at 220. It doesnt bear thinking about does it.
jamesmcdonnell wrote:I've never seen Liston v Cleveland Williams, heard it was a real barn burner. Liston had a serious beard on him and could take it as well as dish it out. ali's style was horrible for Liston though because he couldn't really get a bead on him.
Ive got it on DVD. They are both awesome, but Liston moreso.
Think it's the first Liston/Williams fight that there's no film of ( last time I looked ) but the 2nd shows Liston at his fearsome best: Williams was an awesome hitter, but his punches bounce off Sonny like there's nothing there.
The Big Cat was shot to pieces, literaly, when he faced Ali. He still had 2 or 3 bullets lodged in him from a police shooting and was lucky to be alive, let alone facing up to a peak Ali.
Ali would have found a way to beat any heavyweight who ever lived.
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