Lennox Lewis: All-Time Great or Average Fighter?

[ProBox1]

Since the current crop of heavyweights are significantly below average, let’s play my favorite game, “talk about the old guys”. In particular, let’s talk about former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. The heavyweight journey of Lewis is an interesting story to me. He won Olympic gold in 1988 by stopping another former champion, Riddick Bowe. Lewis turned pro in June of 1989 and put together twenty-one straight wins, which earned him a high profile fight with Donovan “Razor” Ruddock on Halloween night in 1992. Ruddock was just about everybody’s pick to be the next champ due to his outstanding showings against Mike Tyson. On this Hallow’s eve, Lennox Lewis had a trick up his sleeve and it was no treat for Donovan Ruddock. Lewis came out quickly and landed his famous right hand early in the first round. Ruddock never had a chance. Lewis put Ruddock on the canvas three times in the bout, once in the first round and twice in the second. The referee mercifully stopped the fight in round two. The bout with Ruddock was a WBC eliminator for the right to face undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.

Two weeks after Lewis defeated Ruddock, rising star Riddick Bowe defeated Holyfield to become the heavyweight champion in a thrilling bout. A rematch from the 1988 Olympics for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world between Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis was the obvious next step. In a move that haunted Lennox Lewis for the rest of his career, he was awarded the WBC version of the heavyweight title without throwing a single punch. Riddick Bowe tossed the WBC title in a garbage can in an ill-advised publicity stunt. Lewis was champ, but like Kenny Norton before him, he didn’t earn it in the ring. The stigma of not earning the title seemed to stay with him and his detractors would always bring up the subject. In reality, Lewis beat a top contender in Ruddock and lobbied for a fight with Bowe. It is my humble opinion, Bowe might have remembered the beating he took from Lewis in the Olympics and decided to look elsewhere for a fight. The fight we needed to make us forget about the Tyson era would never materialize. Riddick Bowe would have a couple of rematches with Holyfield, losing one and winning the rubber match. He was not able to stay in physical or mental shape and quickly faded away. [details]

[uncle_rico]

my 2 cents:

he's a good (let's say very good) fighter who not only fought in one of the worst heavyweight era's in history, but had 2 extremely severe lapses.
His performance against klitchko didn't help, but let's be honest, forget
the score cards, this is a fight and lewis busted klitchko up.
Lewis would have beat him that night and with a trainer like steward, he would have easily beat klitchko in a rematch.

He came back and crushed both of the guys that beat him (btw, his ko punch on rahman was unreal), but there was this feeling about lewis that something was missing.
maybe it's cuz i am in the states and didn't see much of him?
maybe it's cuz of how he lost his two fights?
At the very least, you can say he was the best heavy of his time and for the most part was well spoken and a class act, but the great heavies of the past lost to other champions, not fighters like mccall and rahman.

conclusion?
great fighter, good champion, but doesn't deserve to ranked with any of the heavies in the 70's or 50's (but sadly, could have been).