BoxRec

Tyson & Holyfield above Lewis?! Why? Tyson's best wins were against a shot Holmes, a bloated Spinks & Trevor Berbick. Lewis outclassed Tyson, and I would say Holyfield too as a HW (not counting Holyfield's CW career, though one can argue it was also HW as the old HW weight limits included it).

ThirdPartyView wrote:Tyson & Holyfield above Lewis?! Why? Tyson's best wins were against a shot Holmes, a bloated Spinks & Trevor Berbick. Lewis outclassed Tyson, and I would say Holyfield too as a HW (not counting Holyfield's CW career, though one can argue it was also HW as the old HW weight limits included it).

Holyfield's best wins (Mercer, Foreman, Holmes, Tyson, Moorer) match or are better then anything Lewis did, especially considering Lewis seriously struggled with a washed up Evander in the 2nd fight and deserved no more then a draw against Mercer.

Why is it you say Evander was all washed up? He was the unified title holder and Holy is three years older than Lewis, not ten. Add to that Holyfield's general toughness. Why was Lewis supposed to dispose him with a KO in the opening rounds? They both are tough, they met and Lewis was clearly better in both fights. Read Lewis's list more carefully.

AINTD wrote:Why is it you say Evander was all washed up? He was the unified title holder and Holy is three years older than Lewis, not ten. Add to that Holyfield's general toughness. Why was Lewis supposed to dispose him with a KO in the opening rounds? They both are tough, they met and Lewis was clearly better in both fights. Read Lewis's list more carefully.

Age doesn't matter, even though Holyfield was older. Holyfield was fighting a 15 rd war with Dwight Qawi before Lewis even went to the Olympics. He had his wars with Dokes and Bowe before Lennox had even stepped up to world competition. Holyfield had much more wear and tear on him then Lewis did. Anyone will agree that Holyfield in 1999 was a washed up fighter-he may have been champion but it doesn't mean he wasn't way past it-all he had done recently before that was struggle against Vaughn Bean. Watch Holyfield against Cooper, Bowe 1, Foreman etc. and then Holyfield against Bean, Lewis, and Ruiz. Very different fighter. And even with that, if the 1st fight hadn't happened Holyfield would've gotten the decision against Lewis in the rematch. Holyfield pressed the fight and landed the better punches but after the 1st fight robbery they wern't going to give a close fight to Evander.

Guest wrote:Reasons a lot of people criticise Lennox Lewis.

1) He's not American
2) He's not American
3) He's not American

and most importantly of all........

4) He's not American

Um no sorry you are wrong.

1. He was boring
2. He was boring
3. He was boring

and most importantly of all........

4. He was boring.

For every Lewis-Golota and Lewis-Ruddock theres a Lewis-Tua. THAT fight defined Lewis's career not Rahman or Golota. It was 48 minutes of torture, and I cant believe how bad it must have been to have to wait through the undercard fights for an even worse display. Lewis pawing out his left hand, that's his defining character not the right that knocked out Hasim or Hasbeen or whatever.

And actually the AMerican thing is just an excuse by patriotic Britons. Many British people feel the same way and IM not American just ask the admins, so therefore that proves your logic entirely wrong, and stupid.

As for Holyfield people forget he's a pumped up cruiserweight, not a real heavyweight. Sure he had Dr. Squat Fred Hatfield(world squat record) to help him but that doesnt wipe away the fact that hes a pumped up cruiserweight. Lewis against pumped up Holyfield is like Joe Louis against a pumped up Tommy Hearns.

Um no sorry you are wrong.

1. He was boring
2. He was boring
3. He was boring

and most importantly of all........

4. He was boring.

For every Lewis-Golota and Lewis-Ruddock theres a Lewis-Tua. THAT fight defined Lewis's career not Rahman or Golota. It was 48 minutes of torture, and I cant believe how bad it must have been to have to wait through the undercard fights for an even worse display. Lewis pawing out his left hand, that's his defining character not the right that knocked out Hasim or Hasbeen or whatever.

And actually the AMerican thing is just an excuse by patriotic Britons. Many British people feel the same way and IM not American just ask the admins, so therefore that proves your logic entirely wrong, and stupid.

As for Holyfield people forget he's a pumped up cruiserweight, not a real heavyweight. Sure he had Dr. Squat Fred Hatfield(world squat record) to help him but that doesnt wipe away the fact that hes a pumped up cruiserweight. Lewis against pumped up Holyfield is like Joe Louis against a pumped up Tommy Hearns.

Don't forget though, he weren't American.

Many of the non-Lewis-fans are fans of Nigel Benn. In other words most rre not racist.

"Um no sorry you are wrong.

1. He was boring
2. He was boring
3. He was boring

and most importantly of all........

4. He was boring.

For every Lewis-Golota and Lewis-Ruddock theres a Lewis-Tua. THAT fight defined Lewis's career not Rahman or Golota. It was 48 minutes of torture, and I cant believe how bad it must have been to have to wait through the undercard fights for an even worse display. Lewis pawing out his left hand, that's his defining character not the right that knocked out Hasim or Hasbeen or whatever.

And actually the AMerican thing is just an excuse by patriotic Britons. Many British people feel the same way and IM not American just ask the admins, so therefore that proves your logic entirely wrong, and stupid.

As for Holyfield people forget he's a pumped up cruiserweight, not a real heavyweight. Sure he had Dr. Squat Fred Hatfield(world squat record) to help him but that doesnt wipe away the fact that hes a pumped up cruiserweight. Lewis against pumped up Holyfield is like Joe Louis against a pumped up Tommy Hearns."


I really cannot sympathise with people who critisize Lewis' performance against Tua. It was close to flawless. A KO would have been nice, but Lewis didn't want to take risks, which for me is not a flaw. He landed many flush shots, but Tua has an excellent chin. What Lewis did in this fight was make a No1 contender look like a rank amateur. While doing little to improve it, I think this fight does nothing to damage the Lewis legacy.

I never denied he was a great heavyweight, but I said he was often very very boring, and thats why people didnt like him. Boxing skill is entertaining, when its done like Mayweather, but not when its done like Lewis did that night.

Sherlock wrote:Lennox was a respectable champion. He reigned over his division and beat all contenders and avenged his two defeats. I respect him for that.

I would even have respected him for retiring when he did...but I can't there. The way he talked after the fight with Vitali ( about tearing up the other side of his face) were uncalled for when he had one of the toughest fights of his career and was lucky to get a win. I do think he was afraid to give Vitali a rematch because he couldn't back up what he said. Lewis had always been a talker but those comments were unneeded in my opinion. And for tying up the world championship for about 8 months before he made his announcement, he tied up the rest of the contenders who could take over.

But overall he was a great champion who will be in the hall of fame when his year goes in.

I think he talked that trash because he knew the performance was not spectacular. In fact, he was losing that fight, and should have been knocked out, but Vitali didn't finish him. Then Lennox got a second wind and started to come on when they stopped the fight on cuts.

Lennox is a great fighter and he did beat the two other greats of the era even thought they were both way past their prime. SO WHAT! How many fighters outside of Ali, Foreman and Frazier got to fight the greats of their era while they were all in their prime?

I think had Holyfield been at his peak he would have beaten Lennox. I think Lennox had gotten a piece of Bowe he would have won that one.