BoxRec

Terry D wrote:When the news came through that Wlad-Haye was off I did what any man would do, I cried for a while then dug out my Lennox Lewis DVDs. Ended up watching a big chunk of the big man's career. His IBHOF induction is coming up, so that was also a good excuse to write about his glorious career, not that I need an excuse to talk about Lennox.

My girlfriend is a big Haye fan, she finds Lewis boring, we are working our way through that gulf, but she had to admit that Lewis' steady style is a cut above anything we have today.

Haye himself said that he would have to beat a stack of Wlads to match Lewis' achievements. The jacking in of the fight now means that Haye has a big hill to climb, and a tweaked timetable in which to climb it.

I hope he does it though, but Lewis is still the hallmark when it comes to British heavies.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=1165

Terry D wrote:OK, voting for Belinda is fair enough, but he never fought the real Mike Tyson?! Tyson never fought the real Lewis.

Terry D wrote:We should all meet up, watch Lewis-Butler, and cry.

I'm with you, Carbo, Lewis is the last of a dying breed. No one has come close.

Hatton lost focus in his defining nights in the US.

Calzaghe messed about when he should have been making a KO statement versus Jones.

Lewis showed what to do with a faded legend. Break him down and put him away, as he did with Tyson, defeating the ref in the process. Forget Cortez, Cotton is the poster boy for biased refs. At one point he looked like he was going to pick Mike up, thread his arms through Mike's armpits, and have a go himself.

Terry D wrote:

youngrell wrote:Great article, and I have to admit I was never a big Lewis backer, found him boring and it really blinded me to how good he was, I was always watching for the other guy to get him into a brawl rather than marvel at his skill.

I think the ease with which he beat his opponents is what put me off, always looked like he could go up a gear and just KO the other guy but kept safe instead.

Great career though, and I can admit now that I shouldn't have been so harsh on him back when he was active.

I appreciate anyone who found him boring, as he could be, so no arguments there Youngrell. I edited a little bit out but the commentary used to always be based around what he was not doing, as opposed to what he was doing. Even Darkie and Jim were tough on him. These days a guy gets a huge fanfare, incessant praise, and a 10 mill purse just for throwing a decent shot.

I get the point though, he was an acquired taste. I quite like boring fighters, gives me a chance to relax, no need for sudden movements of any kind, just watch him club the guy down.

Lewis-Tua was a masterpiece, but Harold was giving Tua bits of the first half of the fight, how does repeatedly hitting a guy's right glove with a swiped left hook = 'positive aggression.'

After Lewis went Lederman said, I am not sure where, "Lennox would often walk past me in the corridor and not say a word, on the other hand Wlad and Vitali always stop to say 'hello'." I like Harold, but Lewis was not there to social network, he was there to do a job, and did it time and again. Vitali got insanely overrated after that Lewis bout, it was sickening, he got the praise that Lewis worked years to get. I am very annoyed just thinking about it. They chased Lewis out of the sport. Lewis could have battered Sanders and Williams every day of the week, and he wouldn't have got a fraction of the acclaim Vitali received.

Hatton and Joe went to the USA and took on big fights, fair play, but they wanted red carpet treatment, a big fanfare, and stacks of dosh, Lewis used to go over there and hammer people, no fuss, no seeking of praise for fighting abroad, he was one of a kind.

My fondest Lewis memory is the Mercer fight. Tough brawl. Lewis bruised up. Scores come in and Lewis actually cheers, looks excited, and raises his hands, then realises he has shown some emotion, and starts cooly nodding his head, I remember thinknig, "Yeah, he does care!"

Carbo wrote:

Terry D wrote:When the news came through that Wlad-Haye was off I did what any man would do, I cried for a while then dug out my Lennox Lewis DVDs. Ended up watching a big chunk of the big man's career. His IBHOF induction is coming up, so that was also a good excuse to write about his glorious career, not that I need an excuse to talk about Lennox.

My girlfriend is a big Haye fan, she finds Lewis boring, we are working our way through that gulf, but she had to admit that Lewis' steady style is a cut above anything we have today.

Haye himself said that he would have to beat a stack of Wlads to match Lewis' achievements. The jacking in of the fight now means that Haye has a big hill to climb, and a tweaked timetable in which to climb it.

I hope he does it though, but Lewis is still the hallmark when it comes to British heavies.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=1165

I think you're awesome, Terry.

Lewis was, by my estimates, about 5 levels above what we have today.

When you look at the quality of his opposition, he was beating better guys than Wlad three times a year for about eight years.

I weep for the heavyweight division.

Old bones Ian wrote:Someone will come along, might take 10 years , might take 2 years, but with all sport their is always another great one around the corner.

Best slugging match was versus Shannon Briggs.
Hard match made easy was Andrew Golota
This guy is the next big thing , oh maybe not versus Michael Grant
Best boxing display versus David Tua
Most brutal beatdown Justin Fortune

big lennox wrote:I think the evander that beat bowe in their rematch or bested tyson would probably have beaten lennox, truth be told.

Terry D wrote:Don't be fooled by Holy's heart, he was patchy at best as a heavyweight. The 2nd Bowe win was hugely flattering, and he never really found consistency. His chief weapon, that left, would never catch Lewis off-guard, not with power enough to stop him.

As for Tyson, he never KO'd anyone of note late on, if he struggled with you early he either lost the fight, lost the plot, or went through the motions on route to a tepid win on points. Lewis would back him up, negate him, and then knock him out, but we have all been here before

Terry D wrote:

youngrell wrote:Great article, and I have to admit I was never a big Lewis backer, found him boring and it really blinded me to how good he was, I was always watching for the other guy to get him into a brawl rather than marvel at his skill.

I think the ease with which he beat his opponents is what put me off, always looked like he could go up a gear and just KO the other guy but kept safe instead.

Great career though, and I can admit now that I shouldn't have been so harsh on him back when he was active.

I appreciate anyone who found him boring, as he could be, so no arguments there Youngrell. I edited a little bit out but the commentary used to always be based around what he was not doing, as opposed to what he was doing. Even Darkie and Jim were tough on him. These days a guy gets a huge fanfare, incessant praise, and a 10 mill purse just for throwing a decent shot.

I get the point though, he was an acquired taste. I quite like boring fighters, gives me a chance to relax, no need for sudden movements of any kind, just watch him club the guy down.

Lewis-Tua was a masterpiece, but Harold was giving Tua bits of the first half of the fight, how does repeatedly hitting a guy's right glove with a swiped left hook = 'positive aggression.'

After Lewis went Lederman said, I am not sure where, "Lennox would often walk past me in the corridor and not say a word, on the other hand Wlad and Vitali always stop to say 'hello'." I like Harold, but Lewis was not there to social network, he was there to do a job, and did it time and again. Vitali got insanely overrated after that Lewis bout, it was sickening, he got the praise that Lewis worked years to get. I am very annoyed just thinking about it. They chased Lewis out of the sport. Lewis could have battered Sanders and Williams every day of the week, and he wouldn't have got a fraction of the acclaim Vitali received.

Hatton and Joe went to the USA and took on big fights, fair play, but they wanted red carpet treatment, a big fanfare, and stacks of dosh, Lewis used to go over there and hammer people, no fuss, no seeking of praise for fighting abroad, he was one of a kind.

My fondest Lewis memory is the Mercer fight. Tough brawl. Lewis bruised up. Scores come in and Lewis actually cheers, looks excited, and raises his hands, then realises he has shown some emotion, and starts cooly nodding his head, I remember thinknig, "Yeah, he does care!"

The same Tyson who massacred Smith and Tucker eh?

Try again

exittored wrote:LEWIS was probably the luckiest Boxer in History during his time in boxing!

TYSON went to Jail and came out a shell of his former self, by the time he faced Lewis he was just there for a payday! a Focused Tyson would have massacred Lewis between 1986-1992

HOLYFIELD was 37 by the time he faced Lewis and a good 5 years past his peak but was still competitive in the 2 fights against Lewis and yes i'll say it now, deserved at least a draw in the 2nd Fight. If they had faced each other around 1990-95 i would go with Holyfield all the way!

IKE IBEABUCHI went Crazy and was sent to Jail.......Would have pushed Lewis all the way if not beat him if they ever did fight

RIDDICK BOWE was only 20 compared to a 23 year old Lewis at the 1988 Olympics so was still very raw and young.....If that same Fight had taken place professionally 5 years later when Bowe had just beaten Holyfield, i would have gone for Bowe in a very close Fight.

The fact that LEWIS never faced a Peak Version of any of his 4 closest rivals will always leave a Big Question mark for me about his Greatness....a Very Good boxer though for sure.