BoxRec

One of the best ever, he’d go through this era like a knife through butter

He‘s overrated on this forum. I noticed that a while back. But I‘m not sure this forum reflects what the pundits think in general.

Steveh583 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 12:40 he was absolute class. cleaned out his era with the exception of the bowe who bottled it. his record speaks for itself.

Not to nitpick but Bowe later signed to fight Lewis only for the bout to fall apart when Lewis got KOd by McCall.

For me Lewis’s best wins were vs Mercer, Rahman, Tua and Vitali. All so impressive for different reasons.

I wouldn’t put him above Tyson or Holyfield though.

Or Dempsey.

I think he is a bit overrated but at the same time his mix of size, fluidity, power and punch variety make him dangerous for everyone. That being said, it's alarming how flustered he became when an opponent took away his jab and you have to wonder how he would cope with the great jabbers of the past, especially the ones who also carried serious knockout power in the right. He also struggled with the pace versus Mercer and Mavrovic, so again, what happens versus superior guys who can take/avoid his power and drag him into a gruelling contest?

People became more appreciative of him during the dark, dark years that followed his retirement. It's Fury and AJ who finally brought the division back to life by killing off Klitschko and having some entertaining fights.

Top 5 heavyweight for me behind Foreman, Holmes, Louis and Ali.

Tuan_Jim wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 15:19

Steveh583 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 12:40 he was absolute class. cleaned out his era with the exception of the bowe who bottled it. his record speaks for itself.

Not to nitpick but Bowe later signed to fight Lewis only for the bout to fall apart when Lewis got KOd by McCall.

bowe could have had the lewis fight but was a coward and dumped his belts , he would have been battered anyway .

cfang wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 14:14 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.

Bowe was beating him, stoppage premature. And Bowe was a kid at the time, 18 or 19. Lewis already in his second Olympics.

I'd be hard pressed to pick any HW in history to beat a prime and prepared Lewis head to head. This thread is silly.

Terminator666 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 13:17

coghaugen11 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 12:29

tony1234 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 12:06 Always wish we had got the Bowe fight

He’d have lost.
He would have won that

Tough call . The psychological advantage Lennox had going in having already stopped Bowe could be deciding factor. Then again it may Depends when it took place .... with Pepe in his corner or with Steward .

Bowe is the one who is overrated. His wars with Holyfield were epic to watch but a bloke with his physical attributes shouldn't have needed to get in the trenches against a cruiserweight.

Lennox would have out thought him and knocked him out.

Hence why Bowe ducked Lewis- chicken Bowe I think Lewis used to call him

Neither Lewis, nor Bowe ducked each other. It was being marinated like Mayweather-Pac, Fury-Joshua recently. There just was no internet then and their negitiations didn't have such attention.

DrDuke wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 16:51 Neither Lewis, nor Bowe ducked each other. It was being marinated like Mayweather-Pac, Fury-Joshua recently. There just was no internet then and their negitiations didn't have such attention.

Yep

stevec@france wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 15:42

Tuan_Jim wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 15:19

Steveh583 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 12:40 he was absolute class. cleaned out his era with the exception of the bowe who bottled it. his record speaks for itself.

Not to nitpick but Bowe later signed to fight Lewis only for the bout to fall apart when Lewis got KOd by McCall.

bowe could have had the lewis fight but was a coward and dumped his belts , he would have been battered anyway .

Coward? He signed on the dotted line in 1994 to fight Lewis. Him and HBO later tried to entice Lewis into a fight in 96 but Lewis preferred to fight Mercer for far less money. Sorry that real world facts contradict your bigoted uninformed opinion.

Rock Newman advised him and he did as told. 10m to fight Michael Dokes' corpse is good business, though it was bad for all of us, obviously.

DrDuke wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 16:51 Neither Lewis, nor Bowe ducked each other. It was being marinated like Mayweather-Pac, Fury-Joshua recently. There just was no internet then and their negitiations didn't have such attention.

Yes. The only thing boxing fans can remember is the belt in the bin. They have an almost comical inability to apply nuance or reason to the action, or to intake new information, such as the subsequent efforts Bowe made to fight Lewis. They also overlook Lewis dumping his own belts rather than fight Ruiz or Byrd.

coghaugen11 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 11:43Top 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.

If you take today's top heavy, Fury, and think of all the champs he'd have found hard to beat, starting with Louis (potentially), I'd argue that most of them belong to Lewis' era, in which he was the best. Though I do think he was lucky in letting Holyfield have Tyson first in '96.

Would Fury have beaten Louis? Dunno. Marciano, Patterson, Cooper and Frazier, I think so. But then there's Ali, Foreman, Lyle, Shavers, Holmes, Witherspoon, Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Ruddock, Morrison, Mercer, McCall, Lewis, Tua, Ibeabuchi and Vitali. For me there's no way Fury would dominate any of those given eras, except maybe the lull between Holmes and Tyson.

Lewis undoubtedly fought in very good company, and although that doesn't free him from criticism and accusations of fortuitous timing in certain cases (Holyfield taking his place as mentioned, or Bowe and Ibeabuchi self-destructing), he was clearly exceptional. We've not seen a heavy as good since.

If we're seeing a bit more praise for Lewis of late, it's probably just because we've had 15-odd years of Wlad, Fury and AJ.

Remember Rock Newman - Bowes manager- wonder what happened to him

Rock Newman didn’t want to lose his golden goose . That’s why Bowe v Lewis never happened .

Bowe had perhaps the most woeful title defences of any heavyweight champion Jesse Ferguson and Michael Dokes in first two defences....

I underrated Lennox during his career.

He kept proving me wrong.

In hindsight I think he was a don.

It’s between him and Calzaghe for the best I’ve seen.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 09:22 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.

Delete your account Mick

knockout wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 17:30 Rock Newman didn’t want to lose his golden goose . That’s why Bowe v Lewis never happened .

Bowe had perhaps the most woeful title defences of any heavyweight champion Jesse Ferguson and Michael Dokes in first two defences....

Bowe was still a Rock Newman fighter when Bowe signed in 1994 to fight Lewis. But Lewis got KOd by McCall.

That's why Bowe v Lewis never happened.

Great fighter.

Lennox is a heavyweight legend. It’s fine to not like certain fighters but almost seems irrational to not appreciate the boxer that Lennox was. Mick seems to know his boxing though, I just disagree on Lennox being overrated.

Monte Fisto wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 18:25 Lennox is a heavyweight legend. It’s fine to not like certain fighters but almost seems irrational to not appreciate the boxer that Lennox was. Mick seems to know his boxing though, I just disagree on Lennox being overrated.

Mickey is educated in boxing,