Lennox was overrated

[mickey1975]

How does he get away with being sparked by two fringe heavyweights, going life and death with Ray Mercer and never gets accused of getting a gift in the Holyfield rematch?
It’s like he can’t do anything wrong.

[polecateddy]

I think it’s simply accepted that he was underprepared in his two loses. In McCall he had a awful coach. And against Rahman it was the altitude and probably slightly inferior prep. Holyfield did okay in the rematch but I don’t think many pundits really had him winning. I think overall Lennox was just very dominant against some really decent fighters.

[Boxerbeetle]

No he wasn’t.

[ThereByTheGrace]

How does he get away with being sparked by two fringe heavyweights, going life and death with Ray Mercer and never gets accused of getting a gift in the Holyfield rematch?
It’s like he can’t do anything wrong.

He was very talented. Had some flaws yes but he avenged all his defeats.

Bit of politics involved also as don king was around and trying to keep him out

[tonyevs]

He was very frustrating to watch in many of his fights; almost Wlad like in a safety first approach which has gotten overlooked over the years.

[coghaugen11]

Bruno was outboxing him nicely to be fair. Vitali beating him. He found ways to win though man.

[mickey1975]

How does he get away with being sparked by two fringe heavyweights, going life and death with Ray Mercer and never gets accused of getting a gift in the Holyfield rematch?
It’s like he can’t do anything wrong.

He was very talented. Had some flaws yes but he avenged all his defeats.

Bit of politics involved also as don king was around and trying to keep him out

I’m not denying he was very good. Just don’t get how everyone today is useless and Lennox is The Messiah. I watched his entire career. As for being under prepared, anyone can say that.

[cormack]

utter crap

[mickey1975]

I think it’s simply accepted that he was underprepared in his two loses. In McCall he had a awful coach. And against Rahman it was the altitude and probably slightly inferior prep. Holyfield did okay in the rematch but I don’t think many pundits really had him winning. I think overall Lennox was just very dominant against some really decent fighters.

But that’s my point. Very dominant champs don’t get knocked out, twice.

[TheLeprechaun]

Terrible thread.

[DrDuke]

Lewis is the best HW ever. He just had everything. His losses are "bad night" type of bouts. He has shown, what he's really capable of, when he returned after those fights.

[coghaugen11]

Lewis is the best HW ever. He just had everything. His losses are "bad night" type of bouts. He has shown, what he's really capable of, when he returned after those fights.

Not even close.

[DrDuke]

Lewis is the best HW ever. He just had everything. His losses are "bad night" type of bouts. He has shown, what he's really capable of, when he returned after those fights.

Not even close.

Of course, all those are opinions, but, anyway, putting him out of top-5 is a farce, so he should be close in any case.

[coghaugen11]

Lewis is the best HW ever. He just had everything. His losses are "bad night" type of bouts. He has shown, what he's really capable of, when he returned after those fights.

Not even close.

Of course, all those are opinions, but, anyway, putting him out of top-5 is a farce, so he should be close in any case.

Top 5? Wow.

Joe Louis is way out on his own of course.

Then you have Holmes who beat better boxers a lot easier and got up to win v Shavers. Guys like Frazier, Ali and Dempsey were icons in this sport.

[high tower 1]

Every champ has off nights. He also showed his mettle to avenge both defeats , which many dominant champs can’t do.

A boring fighter with no charisma but still an all time great.

[DrDuke]

Not even close.

Of course, all those are opinions, but, anyway, putting him out of top-5 is a farce, so he should be close in any case.

Top 5? Wow.

Joe Louis is way out on his own of course.

Then you have Holmes who beat better boxers a lot easier and got up to win v Shavers. Guys like Frazier, Ali and Dempsey were icons in this sport.

To put Dempsey higher than Lewis is outrageous.

How the icon status should affect the ranking?

[handsofstone]

Ive heard a few people saying how can Lewis be great, he got iced by 2 average Heavyweights but i think getting outboxed is worse if your talking terms of abilty, sure getting KO'd is damaging but i personally always thought getting outboxed is worse, we're literally talking 2 punches with McCall and Rahman


The Holyfield rematch was a lot closer than the first fight but I wouldn't say gift, as for Mercer, Lewis always say Mercer gave him one of his toughest fights

[tony1234]

Always wish we had got the Bowe fight

[TheGman]

How does he get away with being sparked by two fringe heavyweights, going life and death with Ray Mercer and never gets accused of getting a gift in the Holyfield rematch?
It’s like he can’t do anything wrong.

Because thats boxing,he had 2 off days,Muhammad Ali lost to a 7 fight novice but is still considerd the greatest,he also had a couple of nightmare bouts with Ken Norton.

Look at Mike Tyson,who did he beat? An old Larry Holmes,Tony Tubbs,Pinklon Thomas,then gets knocked out by a guy no one outside of hardcore fans knew in buster douglas,buster douglas then shows his real self in the holyfield fight but still mike tyson is considered the worlds most dangerous man.

Wlad? Loses to guys no one outside of boxing have ever heard of,an old corrie sanders,knocked out by Brewster but still went on to become the 2nd most successful heavyweight in history.
We could go on with Louis,Marciano patterson etc but like i say its boxing.

Lewis on his day would of gave any heavyweight in history a problem and yes he did get a gift in the rematch with holyfield but the rematch wouldnt of have had to happen if he didnt get robbed of the victory in his first fight. And the 2 defeats where avenged.

[coghaugen11]

Always wish we had got the Bowe fight

He’d have lost.

[Steveh583]

he was absolute class. cleaned out his era with the exception of the bowe who bottled it. his record speaks for itself.

[Terminator666]

Always wish we had got the Bowe fight

He’d have lost.
He would have won that

[keirw]

People do have a tendancy to look at past fighter through rose tinted glasses.

But Lennox was an excellent fighter who achieved great things and faced the best in a good era for heavyweights.

He was not unbeatable, but came back from his losses stronger. He also had a few stinkers, but found a way to win in many tough fights.

I remember him getting a bit of stick at the time of his losses, but as the years have passed people seem to only want to remember his big wins, which I can understand.

Fury still gets stick for sub par performances early in his career as they are still quite fresh in the mind, but if he beats Joshua next year and then retires undefeated I am pretty sure that in ten years time people will only talk about his three (almost four) big wins and the likes of John McDermott will be on nobody's lips.

Joshua on the other hand, has his work cut out trying to force the memory of the first Ruiz fight out of people's minds. But if he beats Fury, then Usyk for example maybe ha can achieve it.

[high tower 1]

Lewis has become much more rated as the years go on. I despised him as he beat Tyson and used to think he was garbage. Now with the passing of time I appreciate him much more. He pretty much had it all.

[cfang]

He got the better of every other man of his era overall. Beat bowe in Olympics, got revenge on the two guys who beat him, beat Holyfield twice, tyson and even vitali. He ducked nobody. Great fighter.