Does Lennox Lewis have the greatest HW resume?

[Hydrated RDA]

IMO Lewis is a top 3 all time HW. I mean look at the names he’s beaten. He’s beaten Evander Holyfield( really twice ), Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison, Tony Tucker, David Tua, Michael Grant( At the time he had a lot of hype surrounding him ), Vitali Klitschko, Andrew Golota, Oliver McCall, Shannon Briggs, Hasim Rahman, Riddick Bowe in the olympics, and Mike Tyson( I get it he was out of his prime but so was Lennox). Even his losses he eventually avenged. With the exceptions of Golota and Grant, everyone there had won one of the major sanctioning bodies’ titles

 

[City_Lights]

I think most people here have him in their top 5 if not top 3.

 

[Seano]

I have him in the top 3.I don't think his resume is better than Ali's though.

 

[XThe GreatestX]

Ali's is relatively clearly better

But Lennox is top 3 imo

 

[spacetime]

I have him in the top 3.I don't think his resume is better than Ali's though.

Alis win over Foreman tops pretty much anything. Unparallelled to see a fighter past his prime beat a prime monster. And even though Foreman faded early, Ali took Foremans best shots first two rounds, got rocked (in the legs) and just carried on. Foreman lost his head hunting precision early due to fatigue and Ali could win quite comfortably. But it it's still insane to do what he did

 

[Hagler]

Doesn't beat Ali, but a lock in top 5, and arguably top 3.

 

[ccm22]

I liked Lennox as a champion but I don’t know if his resume is any better than Holmes’s or Tyson’s. Im not knocking it because there are a lot of recognizable names there, I just don’t think it’s better or necessarily the best.

 

[Seano]

I liked Lennox as a champion but I don’t know if his resume is any better than Holmes’s or Tyson’s. Im not knocking it because there are a lot of recognizable names there, I just don’t think it’s better or necessarily the best.

It is miles better than both Holmes and Tyson and this is coming from a guy who was a huge Tyson fan back in the day.

 

[ccm22]

It is miles better than both Holmes and Tyson and this is coming from a guy who was a huge Tyson fan back in the day.

I disagree. Like every other good heavyweight champ he fought the best guys available to him from a very small pool of accomplished fighters. Some of those guys, like Tucker and Ruddock, were badly shop worn from drugs and getting beaten up by Tyson already. Others - Morrison and Grant, for instance -weren’t that great to begin with. The Golotas, McCalls, Rahmans aren’t really any better than Witherspoon or James Smith or Carl Williams.

But I’m not knocking him. I really liked Lennox Lewis. He never ducked anyone, and that Klitchko win was special. If you could drop him into the 1970s I think he’d have beaten everyone from that era.

 

[svmVR2097]

I disagree. Like every other good heavyweight champ he fought the best guys available to him from a very small pool of accomplished fighters. Some of those guys, like Tucker and Ruddock, were badly shop worn from drugs and getting beaten up by Tyson already. Others - Morrison and Grant, for instance -weren’t that great to begin with. The Golotas, McCalls, Rahmans aren’t really any better than Witherspoon or James Smith or Carl Williams.

But I’m not knocking him. I really liked Lennox Lewis. He never ducked anyone, and that Klitchko win was special. If you could drop him into the 1970s I think he’d have beaten everyone from that era.

Tyson didn't beat Holyfield and yes, he did even duck him before jail too, so no, he didn't beat the best of everyone available.

 

[spacetime]

I disagree. Like every other good heavyweight champ he fought the best guys available to him from a very small pool of accomplished fighters. Some of those guys, like Tucker and Ruddock, were badly shop worn from drugs and getting beaten up by Tyson already. Others - Morrison and Grant, for instance -weren’t that great to begin with. The Golotas, McCalls, Rahmans aren’t really any better than Witherspoon or James Smith or Carl Williams.

But I’m not knocking him. I really liked Lennox Lewis. He never ducked anyone, and that Klitchko win was special. If you could drop him into the 1970s I think he’d have beaten everyone from that era.

You left out Holyfield. Lewis beat everyone of his generation, can't ask for more.

 

[ccm22]

Tyson didn't beat Holyfield and yes, he did even duck him before jail too, so no, he didn't beat the best of everyone available.

I said “fought” and not “beat.” I wouldn’t say he ducked him either. He was going to jail for rape and no one was going to risk having a champ who couldn’t defend because he was behind bars. I believe prime Holyfield beats prime Tyson.

I’m just saying I don’t think Lewis fought guys who were any better than the guys that Tyson or Holmes fought. If you’re going by names alone, Holmes beat Norton and Ali, two of the best heavyweights ever.

 

[ssx]

Ali is clearly #1 as far as resumes go. I’d say Lewis has a slightly better resume than Holmes for #2.

 

[mozfonky]

Ali fought everyone around except for a couple of the unknowns like leroy williams who he had as a sparring partner and was supposedly deadly, jeff merrit is another who was supposedly amazing. the seventies were truly the deepest era for heavyweights. Joe Louis' era wasn't all that strong, Marciano had the old guys to beat up on, Patterson avoided anyone with a chance, Holmes was a great fighter without any real rival to challenge him in his era. So, maybe after Ali, Lewis has a great case, and he definitely, definitely gets all the credit in the world for never fighting any "mickey mouse" fighters as he called them, during his reign. Even ali avoided Shavers as long as he could and fought no hopers like evangelista and dunn in the second reign and brian london in his first.

 

[ironfist05]

Ali #1

Holyfield #2 if you're just looking at who they fought. But Lewis is a solid choice for #2 if you're just looking at wins.

 

[Seano]

Ali is clearly #1 as far as resumes go. I’d say Lewis has a slightly better resume than Holmes for #2.

I'd put Joe Louis over Holmes.

 

[mozfonky]

Ali #1

Holyfield #2 if you're just looking at who they fought. But Lewis is a solid choice for #2 if you're just looking at wins.

ya, holyfield is a great choice too, he fought everyone and had a long stint at heavyweight, he woulda even fought klitschko if given the chance.

 

[mozfonky]

I'd put Joe Louis over Holmes.

Holmes was possibly the second greatest heavyweight in my mind but i was around during his reign and he started fighting no hopers after he got a little money and a little freedom from king, and his reign was full of drug addicts and fat guys too, just about all of them. David Bey, Bonecrusher Smith, Randall tex cobb and many others shouldn't have even been there really.

 

[JayE]

As many have said, Ali's is clearly better. I think Louis's is better, taking everything into account, as well. No one else, though. I have Lewis at #3.

 

[Seano]

As many have said, Ali's is clearly better. I think Louis's is better, taking everything into account, as well. No one else, though. I have Lewis at #3.

My top 3 is Ali, Louis and Lewis. In that order. Lewis and Louis are a coin toss, IMO.