Joshua is good, but nothing like a Lewis.

[Nash out]

At last, the truth. Lest one forgets, he was also being soundly beaten by Frank Bruno before a Hail Mary punch saved him.

Lewis' best win is the Ruddock knockout, when the latter had already been softened by Tyson. Enough said.

Yeah, Bruno was well ahead in that fight, and let's be honest, Bruno, whilst very big and very strong, was hardly a great boxer, so that lewis was losing round after round to Big Frank speaks volumes. I also recall in the Mercer fight (which he definitely lost by the way) Lewis was so one-paced, no other gear at all. He was very good, but in recent years especially he has became insanely overhyped. Would I bat an eyelid if Wilder knocked prime Lewis straight out, or if Usyk or Fury beat him, absolutely not. Even 3rd rate contenders from the oder generation get talked about as though they were world class. Those nostalgic glasses mask the real view. Nash out.

[Tatabanya]

Yeah, Bruno was well ahead in that fight, and let's be honest, Bruno, whilst very big and very strong, was hardly a great boxer, so that lewis was losing round after round to Big Frank speaks volumes. I also recall in the Mercer fight (which he definitely lost by the way) Lewis was so one-paced, no other gear at all. He was very good, but in recent years especially he has became insanely overhyped. Would I bat an eyelid if Wilder knocked prime Lewis straight out, or if Usyk or Fury beat him, absolutely not. Even 3rd rate contenders from the oder generation get talked about as though they were world class. Those nostalgic glasses mask the real view. Nash out.

I realized with my own aging that memory often fails to keep important details. In boxing, AND in many other fields, unfortunately...

[FinitoxDinamita]

Let's be honest the older generation gets overhyped. The reality with Lewis is he was 1-1 with McCall, 1-1 with Rahman, lost in his prime to a finished Mercer (robbery) beat the shell of the ghost of Mike Tyson, and went 1-1-0 with Holyfield who lost tons of fights to mediocre opposition, then took an absolute pasting from Vitali, but got very fortunate with the lucky cut. Cuts are just luck and by chance if we are honest. Quality operator, but those acting like he'd be levels above today are kidding themselves. Any of today's top 10 HW's could on their day beat him. Nash out.

Yea but when we are pitting two fighters in a mythical matchup, we are talking about the best versions of the fighters and Joshua is no match for Lewis.

[QueensburyRules]

Lewis definitely wasn't an unbeatable force. I don't know who thinks that. But Joshua wouldn't do it.

- - AJ defends his unified belts, not Lewie. AJ so far ahead of Lewie on a fight by fight basis that U look like one of the Queen's teasippers.

[Earl-Hickey]

Tua was strong, fearsome, and all the good things people remember about him. But he lacked imagination at times, and would lose steam if he wasn't connecting. I saw him as a Tony Galento who was less busy. That's not an insult.

Like all past fighters, people now literally only remember his highlight reel.

Tua was very immobile and needed his opponent to give him opportunities.

AJ from Ruiz 2 beats Tua without having a glove laid on him.

[Nash out]

Yea but when we are pitting two fighters in a mythical matchup, we are talking about the best versions of the fighters and Joshua is no match for Lewis.

Maybe not, but I'd back the best version of Fury to beat Lewis, 100%. Usyk as well. Nash out.

[buddyr]

Maybe not, but I'd back the best version of Fury to beat Lewis, 100%. Usyk as well. Nash out.

you're on drugs. gotta be..

[PBR Streetgang]

Maybe so, but there's nothing to suggest he'd be anything more than a contender today. And Ike, is widely rated on what could/may have been, rather than what was. Of course, a shame how things worked out for him, but just like Tyson's prison stint, we'll just never know, yet too many people give him an automatic pass with the he would have done this, and he would have done that, but the fact remains, he didn't.

I've said before, and fully believe that modern fighters are held to impossible standards in situations when older fighters got a pass. I mean, we all know the stick Frazier would get today for being knocked down about 10 times in 2 rounds vs Foreman, but cause it's olden era, he gets a pass. Nash out.

I agree that we glorify fighters of the past, it's easier to remember the great moments and forget some of the blemishes. As an example, when I think of Tua my memory brings me back to the explosive guy at 225 whose punches made a thud I can still hear but I forget the 245lb version that labored in the ring swinging at air.

I also think that we can glorify the present and fall victim to hyperbolic praise of things that happen in the now. A year from now, will Usyk still be viewed in the same light that he is now?

Add into the mix that training methods were different, PEDs, PED testing, nutrition, etc.

It's why I almost never engage in mythical matchups. I took the bait on this thread.

[Willow The Wisp]

outside of the most diehard Joshua & Matchroom fans, I think the majority of boxing fans & writers now agree that Joshua was a marketing job, he's a decent HW in this weak era but he should never have been considered a potential ATG.

Some good musings here about waxing nostalgic on past fighters and propping them up a peg or two beyond their station, on the one hand; and on the other; characterizations about today's Heavyweight class as being weak (which is inaccurate). Like always, a mixture of truth and bull about it all. When your career is fighting guys who are all almost as good, just as good or better than you are, your record is inevitably going to showcase your greatest moments AND your worst. A denigrating narrative is always feaseable. If you retire without a scratch, they'll hit you with "He cherry picked opponents in a weak era". Best a fighter can hope for I suppose, whereas the spot breeds critics and criticism.
These guys chose to train for and fight under the big dollar and long history MOQ rules rather than setteling for something less. Then, they met with enough success to rise to the top of their profession. None were perfect in doing that and none were, evidently, required to be.
To be a pick for the IBHOF, you have successfully outran your critics as well as your imperfections.
Those who've campaigned during the past half century who have or will earn mention on the IBHOF ballot are these few:

1. Muhammad Ali. Inducted 1990
2. George Foreman. Inducted 2003
3. Lennox Lewis. Inducted 2009
4. Larry Holmes. Inducted 2008
5. Mike Tyson. Inducted 2011
6. Tyson Fury. Active
7. Wladimir Klitschko. Inducted 2021
8. Joe Frazer. Inducted 1990
9. Deontay Wilder. Active
10. Evander Holyfield. Inducted 2017
11. Ken Norton. Inducted 1992
12. Vitali Klitschko. Inducted 2018
13. Anthony Joshua. Active
14. Rid**** Bowe. Inducted 2015
15. Michael Spinks. Inducted 1994
16. Jerry Quarry. On Ballot
17. Leon Spinks. On Ballot

(A few notes about criteria: There were some contenders thought to have been better than Michael Spinks during the 50 focus years and well more than a dozen who were better than Leon, but points being awarded for historical impact, their respective "night in the sun" earns them great accolade, because; quality is not merely what you were good enough to do, but also what you did with what you had, in proper measure. Regarding that, James Buster Douglas, Shannon Briggs and Michael Moorer receive frequent mention, as does Jimmy Ellis and 2 or 3 others for IBHOF ballot inclusion. Certainly, Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk will too. Inductees Roy Jones Jr and JamesToney won minor title recognition at Heavyweight but were inducted for accomplishments at lower weights, obviously).

[Stuart Chandler]

Let's be honest the older generation gets overhyped. The reality with Lewis is he was 1-1 with McCall, 1-1 with Rahman, lost in his prime to a finished Mercer (robbery) beat the shell of the ghost of Mike Tyson, and went 1-1-0 with Holyfield who lost tons of fights to mediocre opposition, then took an absolute pasting from Vitali, but got very fortunate with the lucky cut. Cuts are just luck and by chance if we are honest. Quality operator, but those acting like he'd be levels above today are kidding themselves. Any of today's top 10 HW's could on their day beat him. Nash out.

If Joshua was Sparked out by one punch by a lesser fighter that Lewis was done by he’d be called a bum even more than he is now .