Lewis vs. prime Tyson... who would have won?

[PATO 1]

holmes didnt have the handspeed at that point among other things

Lewis chin isnt as bad as american people who dislike that it was a british fighter who dominated heavyweight boxing for 10years

Lewis has took far harder punches than the one that dropped him vs McCall, cant really say bout Rahman because that was a helluva shot

So does he deserve no credit for beating them?
Compared to other heavywieghts records its a great acheivement.

I saw - and I'm not seriously comparing Tyson to Matt Skelton, but roll with me - someone saying that they thought Matt Skelton was a hard puncher because before he met My Boy he was something like 18-0 (17 KOs). But most of those KOs were really TKOs and push-downs against ropey opposition like John "D Cup" McDermott.

Look, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Tyson, but I can't look at his fights anymore and say he fought a good standard of opposition. Big Len's wasn't that great either, but someone like Rahman was better than a Hell of a lot of Tyson's prime foes, for one.

Incidentally, apropos of nothing at all, I saw Larry Holmes on a TV show the other day saying he was going for an uppercut on Tyson before he was stopped, but his arm became trapped under the rope. If you watch it, it actually DOES, but it still seemed a disingenuous thing for Larry to say...

[Truth]

Right, so Tyson's first 19 opponents were of a high calibre.


Muhammad Ali had the best resume for a heavyweight IMO.

I'm not saying that all Tyson's opponents were great, but to say they were ALL tin cans is going a little too far. Thanks Anorak, you gave me a good thread idea now...its going to be the top 10 fighters that beat good opponents.

I'm not saying that all Tyson's opponents were great, but to say they were ALL tin cans is going a little too far. Thanks Anorak, you gave me a good thread idea now...its going to be the top 10 fighters that beat good opponents.

No, you misunderstood me... I was saying (as a generalisation, perhaps) that his first NINETEEN opponents were tin cans.

I'm not saying that the likes of Tubbs, Bruno, etc., were tin cans. They weren't greats, but they weren't tin cans.

[Truth]

No, you misunderstood me... I was saying (as a generalisation, perhaps) that his first NINETEEN opponents were tin cans.

I'm not saying that the likes of Tubbs, Bruno, etc., were tin cans. They weren't greats, but they weren't tin cans.

Oh ok, my bad.

[La_Vibora]

he outboxed a 42year old holmes though , fact is he beat a holmes who was a shell of his prime self , i dont doubt tyson was a great fighter but i dont see him on the level of lewis

and im sure a lewis-tyson fight would end up with lewis knockin him out

First of all Larry was 38 not 42. Furthermore, yes Larry was a shell of himself, however, it is still an impressive feat that Mike knocked him out in 4 rounds, especially since if I am not mistaken Larry wouldn't even taste the canvas again for the rest of his career after taking on fighters like Holyfield, Mercer(who Lewis got a gift decision over), and Oliver McCall(who also kicked Lewis' ass). Also, please point me to all these great fighters that Lewis has beaten that even suggest that he could defeat a prime Tyson. And please don't mention fights against near 40 year olds Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield since we can't mention Larry Holmes(who was closer to his prime than either Holyfield or Tyson were). You guys keep spouting off as if Lewis has some resume that rivals Muhammed Ali or something, when his resume is right on par with Tyson's, except the difference is that Tyson DOMINATED he division, as well as captured fight fans imagination of what a heavyweight champion should be. Tyson reminds me quite a bit of Marciano in this regard, Rocky should get so much more credit for what he accomplished, but people insist that he didn't beat anyone but blown up light heavyweights and over the hill fighters.

as well as captured fight fans imagination of what a heavyweight champion should be.

Sorry, but that point is irrelevant to this discussion. I'm sure there's no one that would argue Tyson was the more crowd pleasing and exciting fighter of the two...

[PATO 1]

First of all Larry was 38 not 42. Furthermore, yes Larry was a shell of himself, however, it is still an impressive feat that Mike knocked him out in 4 rounds, especially since if I am not mistaken Larry wouldn't even taste the canvas again for the rest of his career after taking on fighters like Holyfield, Mercer(who Lewis got a gift decision over), and Oliver McCall(who also kicked Lewis' ass). Also, please point me to all these great fighters that Lewis has beaten that even suggest that he could defeat a prime Tyson. And please don't mention fights against near 40 year olds Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield since we can't mention Larry Holmes(who was closer to his prime than either Holyfield or Tyson were). You guys keep spouting off as if Lewis has some resume that rivals Muhammed Ali or something, when his resume is right on par with Tyson's, except the difference is that Tyson DOMINATED he division, as well as captured fight fans imagination of what a heavyweight champion should be. Tyson reminds me quite a bit of Marciano in this regard, Rocky should get so much more credit for what he accomplished, but people insist that he didn't beat anyone but blown up light heavyweights and over the hill fighters.

bull**** explain what rounds you actually give mercer to win that fight, lewis clearly won 7rounds

lewis dominated a stronger division.

[La_Vibora]

I'm not saying that all Tyson's opponents were great, but to say they were ALL tin cans is going a little too far. Thanks Anorak, you gave me a good thread idea now...its going to be the top 10 fighters that beat good opponents.

Agreed, another thing that works against Tyson is the fact that he is a career ruiner, I mean look at guys like Tyrell Briggs and Razor Ruddock, those guys were never the same after the beatings they took at the hands of Tyson imo.

[The Noose]

Also Tyson was able to beat opponents who had all the advantages over him.
Height, reach, weight, so i dont see Lewis's size being a real factor.