I respect Lewis, but this is B.S. Beating Tyson in 2002 means absolutely nothing. Beating him in 1985-1989 would mean everything. Even if Tyson was one-dimensional (which he is not), nobody could cope with his speed, agility, head movement and power. Tyson knocked people out because they couldn't see his punches coming. Tyson threw a 3 punch combo and the opponent didn't even see one punch coming. Prime Tyson also had excellent chin. Tyson didn't jab, every punch he threw had mean intentions. He was like a raptor hunting down big and slow dinosaurs. He was not a staller, he never coasted to victory, he fought to finish the fight as soon as possible. He is everything the boxing is not today. He was one of a kind.
Corsa15DT Marciano would have destroyed Tyson , lewis was past the prime when he gave Tyson a boxing lesson my friend ,lewis prime would have knocked out Tyson prime.
lol agahahah good fuckin one man! I say mike tyson is the best not boxer but fighter using boxing to fight, look at him he is 5'1 and knocked everyone out, look at Hollyfield, Lewis these are very big guys, by the time Tyson fought Lewis he used alot of drugs and was not the same anymore, and say what you like but Tyson rly could have beaten Hollyfield he was always more determined to win, and that made him lose his discipline when Holly-molly headbutted him. such a small fighter for a heavyweight, unstoppable and relentless, huge spiritual and physical preparation,said he never studies his opponents just trains for 10 rounds. fighting like Achilles he always says that the spirit makes you a great fighter. most exciting style of all time
Tyson was the heavyweight champion while lewis was still in the olympics lol. How do you duck someone who is 0-0 as a pro and Tyson was 37-0 as a pro? And Tyson lost the year Lewis went pro lol. Lewis acts like he beat the prime Tyson.
I know. As intelligent as Lewis is, he's also a one pompous prick pretending to be the best there ever was. Lets not forget who put him to sleep on more than one occasion. He refuses to acknowledge M. Tyson's skills because he's jealous that Tyson is the one generations to come will be learning/talking about as being the youngest champ in history and famous KO king, not him.
+Cory Flavell Absolute rubbish, Tyson didn't duck Lewis for one minute. Tyson was contractually progressing with frank Bruno at the time. Your trying to tell me Mike Tyson was scared of Lewis? Absolutelyno chance, think youll find its Lewis who waited and waited and waited. Fighting a bankrupt, overweight, slow, past prime Tyson makes more sense for Lewis. Every boxing fan should know Lewis vs Tyson in their Prime= Lewis gets Knocked out in 4 rounds
Im not 100% sure Lennox would beat a Prime Mike Tyson..... it took him 8 rounds to beat a terrible version of Tyson way past his prime.... Tyson at 23 was fast , great stamina , great chin , fast hands and bombs...he would only need to land once
Tyson never had great stamina. Besides Lewis could have ended that fight way earlier he punished Tyson for his behaviour. So that theory goes out the window. Both fighters had slowed down. Lewis had bombs in his hands also. He finished the same opponents as tyson quicker & in more devastating fashion.
tony bennett Yes Tyson did used to have good stamina when he wont the undisputed world title he was going 12 rounds easy with the likes of Bonecrusher Smith & Mitch Blood Green , when Lewis beat Tyson he was out of him prime by a good decade even Lewis said after the fight Tyson peaked at 19 ... Lewis finished Razor Ruddock quicker, but Tyson finished Bruno quicker...that comes down to styles...if you want to talk about it like that Tyson had more 1 round finishes at the top level then anyone... a 22 year old would have to fight a 33 year old Lewis for them both to be at there prime.... Heavyweights tend to reach there peak in there early to mid 30s , Tyson was a freak of nature who peaked at 19 - 23 before going to prison.... he didnt box a single round for 3 years in prison...while guys like Lennox and Holyfield remained active. Prison ruined Tyson
Khaos969 Are you for real you have just hit the nail on the head. Tyson went all 12 rounds with Bonecrusher who Marvis Frazier beat hardly impressive & 10 rounds with Mitch fucking green. If that had been Lennox neither man would have lasted near those rounds. It is a known fact stated from Tyson own mouth he had severe asthma problems. That is why he always tried to finish fights as early as possible. You can never say this fighter would have won over that fighter when the fought Tyson was second best end of.
Even Mike Tyson way past his prime still Lennox is scared he hugged him the whole fight and u r asking me what if he fought 1988 Tyson with Kevin Rooney ? Two letters KO
I seem to recall that Tyson kept whining at the Ref during his fight with Lewis... I also recall Tyson was saying; 'I Can't! I Can't!' when his corner were telling him to take the fight to Lewis... You're obviously ignoring aspects to favour your guy.
Jackal Fox right..tyson said that..I heared it too...he was not able to punch...he almost stand in the ring like a Heavybag and take 8 rounds hard punches...no movement no skills....this fight i dont really interested in this fight..i want to see fighters in grteat shape and not someone who fight just for the money...tyson was out of prime still few years and no real fighter anymore and not Interested at the Title..just the money to pay his liabilities...Lennox talking to big...he is not so a great champion like Tyson was...
Martin Klobschinsky All Boxers talk big, Ali did, as did Frazer, Foreman, Lewis, Tyson etc., it's a natural aspect of the sport. To say Lewis was not a great champion like Tyson was, that's just utter bull shite. At least when Lewis had a championship fight he didn't try to bite his opponents ears off, head-butt, break their arms, throw a tantrum in the middle of the ring (and during weigh-ins and press conferences) and probably most importantly, he didn't fight just for the money like Tyson did. Now, take that into account and think again about Lewis not being a great champion like Tyson was.
Absolute nonsense Lewis was destroying him the further the fight was going on, his punches were landing big time in his face. The fight would have been over within a round or two anyway.
***** And yet you`re making uncertain assumptions also. You use likelihood based on pure speculation without any evidence , your entire premise is based on fatigue and a claim to know better than a professional trained doctor. My claim is backed up by evidence in terms of the way the fight was going in the last few rounds and the fact that Klitchko`s face was a bloody mess. A boxer with Lewis power was going to do far more damage regardless of his fatigue. You can buy what you like.
***** I`m not making any claims of absolute fact or certainty at all, I`m making a claim of probability given the evidence of what was happening in the latter rounds. Lewis was increasingly breaking through Klitchko`s defense with piledrivers to his head, given the damage to Klitchko`s head already its highly unlikely he would`ve survived much longer. You`re simply claiming that through fatigue Lewis power would be reduced and Klitchko`s endurance would be fine. The power generated by Lewis in his punches regardless of fatigue is incredible and their was no evidence of reduced power. Some doctors do let fights go on too long, this doctor stopped it when it needed to be, if anything it should`ve been sooner. If he hadn`t it would only add to the probability of Lewis getting in more piledrivers and knocking him out and causing permanent and extreme damage to Klitchko`s eye and brain. Nothing is guaranteed, the probability, given the evidence, is the .issue.
***** A split nose and a split eye are totally separate issues, if you can`t see properly you have no chance of avoiding piledrivers from certain angles, piledrivers he was consistently receiving toward the end of the fight and piledrivers that caused the split in the first place along with the rest of his mashed up face. Its not my problem that I didn`t see any power drop in Lewis punches because there wasn`t any, again Lewis punches are devastating even when tired. You make a claim of absurdity even though the fact is his eye and face as a whole was shot and Lewis was continually landing heavily, the doctor knew it was time or the damage would be untenable. What happened before that time in terms of points gained is irrelevant, what is happening in the moment is the only thing relevant and that is why Lewis won the fight and Klitchko lost. No one had knocked Klitchko out before because no one had punished him like that before. The division was full of journeymen up until he got so old Fury beat him. Lewis was of a much higher standard than Klitchko`s future opponents, not even comparable. there aren`t too many improbabilities for you to accept the reality, you simply refuse to. You have a good day also.
Tyson can't box? Maybe the old Tyson Lewis fought couldn't box anymore but the young Tyson could move like a gazzel people only remember his punch but his speed and movement were amazing
+Christopher Blankley Haha it makes me laugh people STILL only see Tyson as a puncher. They don't seem to realise he was the fastest HW since ALI with arguably the best defensive movement. Put it this way. Every single HW in history at their absolute best, Tyson comes out on top against 99% of them. lewis on the other hand wouldn't even be in top 10.
+Cryer24597 Tyson is severely over-rated, Lewis definitely would have beat him, but I think Lewis would have lost had the Klitchsko fight continued. Lewis fell into his stool at the end of that round. Klitchsko played a large part in making Lewis look so bad in that fight.
It's funny, I spoke to Lennox Lewis on the phone, great guy.. and he said near word for word the same thing he said in this interview about Klitschko, him being at his worst he was the better fighter, apparently he only had two weeks to prepare for the fight. Gotta respect how honest he is, clearly doesn't care about offending people like Tyson when calls them one dimensional
Lewis had this rare combination of skill and power,.Perhaps the most complete boxer post 1980,. But Tyson Under cus team appeared to be unbeatable,.It was only when he left that team that he started losing matches and temper,.
Tyson is the toughest of all time....there was noone betta than him. Take the Tyson of 1985-1990 or 1995-1996, he wouldve whupped anyone but women,drugs, relationships n especially Don King screwed him ova. Lennox is good but he doesnt realize that he didnt fight Iron Mike, he jus fought a depressed neurotic lunatic
"If you push him back,he doesnt know what to do"--Lennox Lewis @3:00 said it...Buster Douglas did it,heart problem Holyfield did so as did Lewis during Mike's early,mid and twilight years...otherwise we are cherry picking or curve fitting fantasy predictions which wernt reality...im sure Foreman and Vitali would have done the same...heck Ruddock also pushed Tyson around but couldnt even last the 2nd round against Lewis.
"At my worst I beat Vitali." Prove it. You could just as easily say pre-prime Vitali dominated near prime Lewis. What is a fact is Vitali dominated Lewis in that fight landing 157 punches to Lewis's 102, and Vitali beating him on the score cards but two rounds. Lewis promised Vitali a rematch, then thought better of it when Vitali knockout out his next opponents in only two rounds. The look on Lewis's face after the fight was of a badly beaten man. Vitali retired Lewis.
David Keir lewis was 38 years old and took the fight on short notice and if the fight had continued klitchko would have never been able to fight again. lewis won they had to stop it = tko keep dreaming
+Toon Talk with Mina & Moby Wrong, Lewis was actually training for a world heavyweight fight, and his opponent got injured, so Vitali took the fight with only 10 days notice. Vitali landed over 50% more punches against Lewis, and won twice as many rounds as Lewis. Lewis was rocked and hurt twice, and was the more tired at the end of the fight, Lewis was ready to get TKO'ed. Lewis promised Vitali a rematch after the fight, but after Vitali knocked out his next opponent in only 2 rounds, Lewis chickened out. Vitali dominated Lewis so bad he retired. Vitali retired Lennox Lewis.
+David Keir I respect Lewis as a hell of a fighter. But he's definitely changed his story. The fight before Vitali (against Tyson) he was talking about how he aged like fine wine and was just getting better. Then, after his poor showing against Vitali, he starts talking about how he was at his worst. Can't have it both ways.
+David Keir "'At my worst I beat Vitali.' Prove it." ???????? He did prove it. Did you not see the fight? "You could just as easily say pre-prime Vitali dominated near prime Lewis." -- Yeah, you can say those words. Nothing is stopping from saying stupid stuff. ---- "pre-prime Vitali" ------ He was 31 years old. That is prime. That was the last fight he lost. ---- "dominated" ------ WHAT? It was 4 rounds to 2. [should have been 3 -3] All that means is he won one more round. 6 rounds to 0 is dominating. Lewis turned the tide anyway. Lewis was landing huge uppercuts in the 6th while slapped his punches. Vitali was done. ---- "near prime Lewis" ------ Again, WHAT?!? Apparently you have never seen the man fight before. He was in great shape against Tyson and he has no where near prime. In his fight against Klitschko he was, as Jim Lampley put it, "flagrantly out of shape." "What is a fact is Vitali dominated Lewis in that fight landing 157 punches to Lewis's 102, and Vitali beating him on the score cards but two rounds." -- LOL "but two rounds" It was 4 rounds to 2. He only won one more round and Lewis has doing the heavy damage late while Vitali faded. "Lewis promised Vitali a rematch, then thought better of it when Vitali knockout out his next opponents in only two rounds." -- 1. What was he supposed to say when the disrespectful knuckle-head was bugging him in the ring after the fight? 2. Lewis doesn't owe anyone a thing. -- "Vitali knockout out his next opponents in only two rounds." ---- Thanks for mentioning that, because, it proved that Lewis at his worst beat a prime Vitali. "The look on Lewis's face after the fight was of a badly beaten man." -- Do you know what confirmation bias is? Because, you need to look it up. -- Oh the sweet sweet irony, did you see Vitali's face? He had the look of a man who had been through a train wreck. "Vitali retired Lewis." -- Lewis beat all best heavyweights of his era and he beat the best one of the next era, when he pounded Vitali's face in. And he did it when he was a his worst. Class Dismissed ! *mic drop*
Lara Ilara stupid you are go look at the fight it was abvious. Lenox ducked Vitali after promising him rematch. Fight was stopped for a medical reason Vitali was winning cards can tell. On top of everything after lenox saw how he whipped Kirk Johnson he slowly walkes to sunset Larry Merchants words. Ohh lets not forget What Manny Steward Lenoxs trainer said lol whn he was training Wladimir. One way or another Lenox would of folded. Before u attack me get ur facts together.
Ellier Dov amir khan was winning before canelo blew him out. the "medical" reason you mentioned was caused by a punch from lewis. vitali was in his prime and lewis was washed. lets not just look at score-card because we have to also look at the damages. be honest! are you seriously going to rank vitali over lewis in terms of greatest of all times?
hhahaah KO vs stoppage come on, yes I would and not just me. Lenoxx Trainer and many more, watch Vitali VS Kirk johnson you know what I am talkin about. And if you had any brain you wouldnt compare any other division to heavyweights, Diff ball game, As of all time greatest ROCKY MARCIANO is.
Lewis is great, amazing boxer for sure. Tyson was a one dimensional fighter, but that one dimension in his prime would have knock him out easily, we all know it. You lose speed, head movement and stamina with age, you don´t loose technique, height and range. Prime tyson would have killed him.
How the hell was Tyson a one dimensional fighter? He hit hard, he was fast, he was unparalleled at dodging blows, his movement was excellent, and he was fantastic at creating opportunities for knock out blows.
Lui M And Prime lewis got ktfo by Oliver McCall who was Tyson’s sparring partner. Even past prime Tyson was beating him in every hard sparring. Lewis is the guy who beat past prime legends. Only casual fans call him the best
I dont care what anyone says, Tyson in his prime would kill Lewis at his best. Plus he's not fooling anyone, he was scared shitless of Vitali and Vitali was winning every single round of that fight before he got the cut. he was lucky to escape that fight due to stoppage and quickly retired right after so he didnt have to do it again.
+Rhyme Oddysey Tyson always struggled with Big heavyweights, even in his prime, James smith, mitch green, Jose ribalta, tony tucker, james douglas all took him the distance, Even if tyson won every round he couldn't dominate them like he could the smaller heavyweights, Lewis was bigger, stronger, heavier and far more skilled then any of those guys just mentioned, So if Tyson at his pinaccle, couldn't k.o bonecrusher smith, how would he ko lewis
look at it this way, vitali klitschko was winning every round against lewis before they stopped the fight due to a cut. lewis retired right after even though he promised a rematch. Tyson in his prime would have had a very good shit at vitali and would have definitely made it a much closer fight than when klitschko was whoopin lewis BiggieBigLnPac
Rhyme Oddysey oh please, both k brothers would of slaughtered Tyson, People seem caught up on this four year stint that Tyson had in the 80's, he really wasn't that impressive because 90% of the guys he fought where bums. He even lost to a bum (James Douglas)
You probably haven't watched the Lennox Lewis documentary here on youtube, where it becomes clear that Lewis and Tyson were sparring frequently when both were younger and Tyson only won once (in their first encounter when he overwhelmed an unprepared Lewis with his animal ferocity - after that it was all Lewis. That's why Tyson and lots of others ducked Lennox all the time. Why do you think he paid him 4 million bucks NOT to fight him?).
Tyson was in bad shape and lost many fights to low-class heavyweights. If Tyson was mentaly and physically preped like the twenties. Then no chance for any boxer in the ring. Most ppl dont agree with Lewis.
Controversial fight but it could've gone either way and it's purely speculation, I still rate the Klitschko fight as one of Lewis' most memorable as he was approaching 40 yet still had the heart and desire to go out on his shield like a true warrior! 💯🥊💪🏾
Does anybody know where can I watch the whole Ringside Special on Lennox. All over the net the only thign i can find is this extrait. Thank you in advance.
Tyson was a very limited fighter. He had power & speed. Had no stamina past the 5th round. Your simply wrong Lewis knew how to dea\l with Tyson he was not hard to figure out. Holyfield beat him pretty easy also.
My favorite fighter of all time is Ali. But my favorite fighter to watch during my lifetime, that I ALWAYS rooted for was Lennox Lewis. I started watching his fights when he was skinny and had a nappy ass flattop. The first fight of his I saw was against a guy named Phillip Jackson. Lewis' hand speed and combination punching was scary-good. Needless to say, he dominated Jackson, but there was this sequence at the end of one of the mid-late rounds where Lewis did a Bruce Lee impersonation, complete with high pitched vocalization, and fired off like a ten punch combination which dropped Jackson (unfortunately after the bell). From that moment, I felt like I was a boxing insider because while everyone was saying 'Tyson this, Riddick that, Holyfield whatever' at that point I was sure he was better than all three of them. And I was right. He KO'd Tyson, beat Holyfield, and Bowe was scared to fight him. I couldn't care less that he wasn't American; him being freakin awesome was enough for me.
I don't believe it mate. I think the reason Lewis didn't get a rematch with Vitali is because he wants to be fully fit to fight Vitali. But as God might have it, he retired
Moron - Tyson ducked Lewis. Lewis beat much better fighters that Klitchko in his prime. Tyson was nothing next to Lewis as Lewis wreaked every fighter that gave Tyson problems.
@Hal 2k19 You must be joking - Lewis still smashed Bruno into a stoppage, he got Rekt. Tyson struggled BIG time against Donovan Ruddock, so much so they had to have two fights. Lewis destroyed Donovan Ruddock in the first round and put him to sleep! Tyson lost to Kevin McBride, Danny Williams, Buster Douglas and then got smashed hard by a much better fighter - Evander Holyfield. Evander Holyfield was the best of the best, better than any other American fighter until he fought lewis. Guess what - Lewis beat Evander Holyfield.. Then later when they did fight after Tyson ducking Lewis as Bowe did! They fought and Tyson at the same age as Lewis got Destroyed with a KO. Tysin is over rated and Lewis underrated. The facts speak for themselves. Facts - Deal with it. Lewis lost to no one in any pro-fight worth talking about. He through re-match undefeated.
The longer the fight was going on Lennox was getting the upper hand, he was landing massive blows to his head and it was bloody mess, he wouldn`t have lasted much longer with that punishment, Lennox was totally unfit and ill prepared and yet still served him a severe beating. A truly awesome boxer.
Lewis was an excellent boxer, with knockout power, and so many skills. Tyson could never beat Lewis, unless Lewis had an off day. He had two of those, and avenged them.
He didn't want to know anything about the Vladimir rematch, as he really lost the first fight or would've lost it, put it that way.. The cut to Vladimir saved Lennox
Lennox is the man. Intelligent brutal fighter. At his worst, heaviest of his career, he did what none else has ever done...beat a young prime Vitali klitscho to a pulp.Would have liked to see them fight again
kristof dessel "He took the coward way out by continuing to pound Vitali's cuts or otherwise he'd get KO'd." That's what every Boxer does. Boxing is about exploiting your opponent's weaknesses. If one guy develops a cut, the other is obviously going to make it a priority to work on. Seriously lame argument to suggest that it's a "coward's way out" to do so.
Jackal Fox By a Cut. It was a good fight, by modern Heavyweight standards. And Vitali was winning on the scorecards by all Judges. We dont know how that fight would have ended, and remember that Vitali had serious power in his punches. Things could have ended abrutly imo.
Jesse Cole Its as if you are reading the comments but not comprehending it. Yes Lewis was past his prime, Tyson was past his prime (waaaaay past), Yes Lewis was a year older, but this has no relevance to my statement. You say Lewis was a better fighter in 89? Tyson unified the titles and was heavyweight champ at the age of 20, at his prime. So, like I said, Tyson in his prime was too fast and powerful for Lewis. But hey, this is just an opinion.
Tyson knocked out Berbeck to win his first heavy weight title. In fact, he knocked him down 3 times with one punch. And he had a TKO over Ruddock. Actually I am an Ali fan, even have a signed gloved. So I'm not a Tyson 'fan boy'.... I just say it how I see it. As a Tyson 'hater', you see it differently.
wow Lewis is such a troll. He was great but he portrays himself as invincible. Did he forget he got KTFO by Rahman and Cokehead? They could do it yet prime Tyson was too 1-dimensional :spit:
Absolutely agree with him. In the day I was a massive Tyson fan, but looking back at it from a more mature perspective I realise that what Lewis said was true: Tyson was a KO specialist who overwhelmed club fighters. At 21 he was as good as he was going to get. Why? Which of the greats can you say that about? A heavyweight continues to improve until he's almost 30, and sometimes beyond. Not Tyson, because the standard of the fighters he faced got better, and he couldn't adapt his style to incorporate this. In boxing, like many other sports, you only look as good as the opponent allows. Therefore when you see film of a 19-20 year old Tyson smashing oldish guys with overall negative records and hear his clearly deluded fans call him the greatest ever you have to laugh. Amateur experience does count for something. Lewis fought in two Olympics and was a well-rounded fighter. In spite of the repeated insults about some fictional mental deficiency in Lewis, he clearly is a man of character who knows his own mind, makes a decision, and follows through on it. My admiration for him keeps climbing.
+Cecil Morgan He got fucked up mentally and was screwed over royally by everyone around him like his ex wife, don king etc etc. His passion for fighting burned out and he didnt train as serious as he did under Cus.
+aedivian These are the same old "poor Mike" excuses Tyson fans have been making for years. "If Cus hadn't died... yah-de-yah-de-yah." I begin to wonder who was doing the actual fighting. Every fighter is exploited, to a greater or lesser degree, that's the nature of the business. Imagine what it was like for those people 50 and more years ago, esp. With organised crime involved, esp. for black fighters. Yet with all that, they still remained great fighters, they still had the dedication. Tyson was not great. Compared to true greats he was barely adequate. His character was weak: when things go wrong, that's when you need to stand up and show yourself a man. Tyson imploded. The second Holyfield fight showed him for what he was. Championship boxing is the one sport above all others that shows before the whole world who you are. Look at Ali-Frazier, III in particular. No-One who saw those two can have any doubt about their character or greatness.
+Vasil Krumov Since my opinion counts for so little, what are you getting so upset about, bitch? I've been following boxing since the early 70s, so I know what the hell I'm talking about, life included. Clearly that doesn't apply to an ignoramus like you.
Vitali Klitschko would destroy you and end your career if that fight did not stop. Even with one eye he was ahead in everything and was physically better than Lewis. And the prove of all this, Lewis retired just after this fight so he wont fight his master of boxing again.
Falterzan if if if.... the reality is that vitali got cut open by a cut from a right hand and could not continue. So he lost fair and square. Klitschko was not robbed. He’s openly made his peace with it in numerous interviews since, so maybe you should too.
Well for one Lewis is being honest he had no real desire left. He had accomplished everything he set out to do. He beat Klitschko at his very worst he was fat out of shape older. Lewis still took care of him get real & live on your what if's.
Well, what do you expect the guy to say? "Nah, Vitali would've won the rematch." "Nah, Tyson would've beat me if we fought earlier." Come on, he's got to answer that way. It doesn't prove anything, one way or the other.
Lennox is talking to big...he was not so a great champion like Tyson was...Tyson in prime would knock him out...easily like Hassim rachma did, in infight lewis is without a chance...Lewis Talking about his win against Tyson like Holmes about Ali...That is to sickening...Both fought old fat Mens out of prime and skills....A real great Sportman would never talk in this way...
"I knew I wasn't ready for Tyson back in 91,when I first saw this guy ,I thought damn this guy hits hard,hes scary" L.Lewis ....Funny when someone wins a fight when they should ,how quickly they forget why they avoided it in the first place,when you knew you couldn't win then? and vitali would be the favorite in the rematch as well,when someone uses their "MOTHER TOLD" me not to fight excuse.....REALLY???????
Lewis was a great heavyweight and he fought vitali at the end of his career. But he was losing against vitali and he cant accept even now he was getting a beat down
Lewis talking like he destroyed Vitali Klitschko: "Look what I did to his face!" Um...you got created a cut over his eye from the stitching of your glove; it's one of the oldest moves in boxing. Klitschko wasn't deteriorating after five rounds like Lewis said he was. Yes, Lewis was gaining a little bit of momentum before the fight was stopped, but Klitschko had won almost every round beforehand on the all judges' scorecards. The Klitschko's don't tire in the later rounds of boxing; not then, not now. That fight could have gone either way in my opinion, but I'll never consider Lennox Lewis a better champion that Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. Last thing: Vitali took that fight with Lewis on a couple weeks notice, so Lennox can take that out-of-shape excuse elsewhere...
Lennox owned him in the 6th round. Peep that uppercut he hit him with just as the round was ending. Vitali had the early lead but the tide was changing in that fight.
Anthony Anderson Emotional and biased observations aside, Klitschko was winning on all judges scorecards and was still landing punches. Could have gone either way, but I think that Klitschko would have won by points if the injury didn't happen..
Based on what, being two rounds ahead? The punch Lewis landed that opened the first of Vitali's cuts was effectively a TKO. But you don't want to give Lewis credit for that. Lewis was out of shape and an old man in boxing terms, but he still beat a prime Vitali Klitschko.
Lewis did get the win, it was stopped after round 6 when they checked his eye they decided it was too bad of a cut to continue. Klitschko was winning on the scorecards and if it went to decision I wouldn't have been surprised if klitschko had won. Lewis said he would rematch klitschko twice but just decided to retire instead.
Another stupid comment from a Bitchschko fanboy, Lewis was out of shape, didn't train properly for the fight and he still beat the crap out of your hero. Facts are he did have that cut and it was Lewis who caused it.
I respect Lewis, but Vitali was leading on all judges' scorecards for a reason. Also, Lewis backed out of the rematch for a reason. Vitali, best heavyweight of the past twenty years, imo.
Sullen Morbius A fight is over 12 rounds not 4 or 6. Klitschko was beaten fair and square by an out of shape Lennox Lewis. Klitschko looked like he`d been run over by a truck.
david macleod Regarding rounds: No shit, Sherlock. You wanna tell me the sun rises from the east, too? Vitali was beat by a doctor who called the match, not by Lewis.
The right that openen the cut at Klitschkos eye was delivered by Lewis not the referee. Accept it. Lewis could have retired after he beat Tyson but chose to take on the up and coming heavyweight. Klitschko got his opportunity and lost.
david macleod Vitali was still fighting. The ref stopped the fight. Simple. Dude was ahead on all scorecards, and you hinge it on gawdamn cut. Someone was winning the fight. Wasn't Lewis.
So what. Klitschko was gassed. If he had somehow made it to the final bell would he have still been ahead on the cards, doubt it. Lewis could have retired after beating Tyson but chose to fight the up and coming heavyweight. Despite being out of condition he still won. Deal with it.
Cujo Jowels Except Buster Douglas had already beaten Tyson before he went to prison. Tyson lost all his title belts to Douglas in 1990, Tyson went to prison over 2 years After the Douglas fight.
Jason Phillips Yes indeed. Douglas fought the fight of his life and it's been well documented that Tyson trained like a fool. A few heavyweight fights I would've loved to have seen but didn't happen because Tyson went to the clink: Tyson-Holyfield '91 Tyson-Foreman Tyson-Bowe Tyson-Morrison Tyson-McCall Bowe-Lewis Bowe-Ruddock Bowe-Mercer Ruddock-Foreman Holyfield-Ruddock Holyfield-Morrison Ruddock-Bruno Ruddock-Moorer Moorer-Mercer ...and on and on and on...
What's sad is he's judged mostly by his Douglas debacle and his legacy fights against Holyfield and Lewis. People forget his legacy fights pre prison against Berbick, Tucker, Holmes and Spinks.
Cujo Killjooh and they were all good fighters in their era. Tyson came in the Era with a animal and monster vibe with him and make the opposition look like crap because of how he faught. If he man can make a division look like shit against boxers who were considered good or decent then idk what else you can call him. these haters are real and bring up Douglas like fighters have never had a bad fight and not train their hardest for it. just because he lost against Douglas doesent mean he wasn't still a great boxer
I've watched his fight with Vitali from the opening bell to the cut stoppage a dozen times and Lennox was getting his ass kicked and he retired because he knew he did not ever want to fight Vitali again.
Lewis shows a lack of class, normally fighters are humble and respectful of opponents that were great champions who after fading badly took a hammering. Lewis likes to boast about beating washed up ex champions.
+wayne gilroy its only one year but still you are right about him thats why i dont like him he is not stupid tho he said the right things about styles all round boxers are nightmares for knock out killers if you fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee you destroy them if they dont knock you in the wonderland of what happend
I have the upmost respect for Lennox, but I don't think he's being totally honest saying he never had the rematch with Vitali because he wasn't hungry. Lennox makes reference to his uppercut and how 'Klitschko felt it." Yes he did, but to Lewis's shock, after that bomb landed flush on Vtali's jaw, Vitali was still stood in front of him. Vitali was ahead on all three judges cards at the time the fight was stopped because of the cut. Like Vitali said after the fight, 'He knows I will beat him."
Shoulda, woulda, coulda is bullshit. I had a serious right hook in the school playground, had I been introduced to the ring instead of my good friend beer, I could have had a record of 100-0. It means nothing. Lewis finished his career beating every man he came up against. He is without question in straight fact, the greatest heavyweight of the modern era, or as George Foreman himself has attested to; the greatest of all time.
after the 1st tyson fight there was a rematch clause in favor of lewis choice. lewis chose the rematch date because the 1st fight did so well money wise, but tyson backed out because he wasnt ready to fight again competitively so soon so vitali was the last minute replacement. vitali was originally on the undercard of the tyson lewis 2 fight and was well trained while lewis didnt train becuase tyson pulled out. last minute they made vitali fight at the main event against lewis instead of tyson
Mike tyson would have knocked the fuck out of lenox 86-1990 fitness when he was hungry for it. It was proven nobody could contain tyson when he was in his prime
Correct me if I'm wrong but during the time of the fight Tyson was already on the meds that took away most of his anger and explosiveness?? I remember in one interview Mike said that the meds took the edge out of his boxing and he didn't feel like he wanted to "kill" the opponent so it affected his training and power in the ring in a bad way. He didn't have the desire to train hard or knock his opponent down like he had before. Mike Tyson before taking the meds was the ideal boxer full of ADRENALINE but that didn't work in life outside the ring.
Everybody says that Tyson was better in his prime but Lewis was a complete fighter, Tyson an excellent finisher, a beast, whatever you want but Lewis, huh, power puncher, tactics, speed. The only tactic Tyson knows is to kill everybody staying in the ring, that doesnt make you a complete fighter
The best heavyweight of all time. Fighters peak at different ages, just like in any sport. Tyson peaked a lot earlier than Lewis. The best Lennox lewis was when Emanuel Steward started working with him, developing an authoritative jab and a diverse range of punches. I personally believe that Lewis in his prime would have beaten any heavyweight in history.
I really like Lewis, but when he fought Tyson, tyson was a shadow of himself, a year later he was beat by Danny Williams and Kevin Mcbride...lol.. In late 80s Tyson would have cleaned Lewis out. KO 4th round!
Lennox is my favourite fighter and I'm telling you his chin was weak . Hasim and Oliver McCall both exposed it. Tyson in his prime would have destroyed him.
Funny, around the 2:00 mark Lennox says Tyson paid him step aside money to fight Holyfield instead. The TRUE story was that Don King offered Lennox $13 million to fight Tyson but turned it down. So Lennox went to court for a second time to sue for another belt. The court fees cost $4 million, so King took the $9 million left over and offered Holyfield the Tyson fight, and Holyfield accepted. So why did Holyfield accept the offer, FOR LESS MONEY, but Lennox turned it down?
Lennox was a great champion and he may have taken out Klitschko but Klitschko had plenty left in the tank. He was not going to run out of gas and it would have taken a lot to stop him. Lewis won the last round but lets face it Klistchko shook off those uppercut bombs that Lewis landed. The truth is that the fight was up for grabs. But Lewis did finish the 6th on top. Lewis was many levels above what Tyson knocked out as routine. In ten fights Lewis probably takes 7wins against Tyson.
gmonkey808 klitchko had nothing left in the tank because lewis incapacitated him he ripped his face to shreds had they kept fihting lewis would have been hitting solid bone right above klitchkos eye and would have ruined the man for good
It would of been interesting to see a prime Tyson vs a prime Lewis, I agree when Lewis fought him Tyson was past his best, he had been since he got released from prison and fired his trainer Kevin Rooney. I wonder how a prime Tyson would of faired against the much bigger 6ft 5 dynamic opponent that was Prime Lewis? Tyson mainly seemed to specialise in knocking out fighters between 6'1 ft - 6ft 3.
when Tyson was a young champ Lewis was in amateurs. i just don't get him in this interview. he assumes people are retarded or not following the sport. how can a guy in his position be such a prick and pretend he fought Tyson at his best years ? even the post-jail period of Tyson was miles away from 2002. i love this sport and i respect all the good boxers - Lewis is a great overall fighter but no way in my book he could beat Tyson at his better times. this interview is a joke to anyone that follows the sport and been around since the 80's. love or hate Tyson one thing for sure - Lewis will never be remembered as a Boxer the way Tyson will.
Lennox Lewis is a boxing legend he will never get the respect he deserves because he is British. He was better than Tyson better than Klitschko. Lennox Lewis a true champion he defended any loss ever to appear on his record in devastating fashion a all time great for sure :)
tony bennett nobody knows Lewis but everyone knows tyson. Ask some old guy who never watched single boxing match in his life who is Lewis? He won't know him but everyone knows tyson..
This interview is frustrating. Tyson was very honest in his assessment of his skills during different time periods of his career and provided non-biased analysis. Klitschko was dominating Lewis, but, because of a bloody nose or eye -- whatever -- the fight was stopped. Because of the doubt, Lewis should have offered a rematch -- just like Tyson did with Ruddock. Tyson had nothing to gain and everything to lose with the rematch. Tyson also was not the same fighter post-prison.
Lennox tried to fight Mike Tyson in his prime but, as he said there, Tyson paid him to step aside. Thus Tyson ducked him. Lennox didn't duck Tyson. After Lennox beat Tyson, George Foreman said Lennox Lewis is undoubtedly the greatest heavyweight in history. Regarding the fight against Vitali, I don't agree. Everyone keeps saying Lennox was out of shape etc etc and took the fight on two weeks notice. What they fail to mention is he already had a training camp for his other fight before that guy (not going to bother doing research now) pulled out. Vitali is the one that was at the biggest disadvantage, not Lennox. Vitali came in at 2 weeks notice and didn't have a full training camp like Lennox had. I like Lennox, but he knows, deep down that he ducked that rematch and it will always leave a stain on his legacy. If he took that rematch and beat Klitschko, I'd say, "Okay, well done, you've beaten Vitali and showed you're the best." But he never did. That's why he'll always over exaggerate how easily he'd beat Vitali. In all his interviews he says Holyfield was the best he ever fought, when it was clearly Vitali. Holyfield never had him in the kind of trouble Vitali had him in. Lennox says, "Look what I did to his face." But that wasn't because of punches, it was because he used a dirty tactic and cut Vitali's eye with the laces of his glove in the clinch. I personally think, in terms of pure achievements, Lennox is up there with Ali, but that Vitali rematch will haunt him forever.
Holyfield had a hell of a career and carried himself with class and dignity. Lennox Lewis obviously is a man who does not have those characteristics. Who else will Lennox trash in future interviews. What a jerk.
Lennox is nothing in comparison to Tyson, hes tall, hes arrogant, but he has nowhere near the talent or legendary status. Sure he could beat Mike Tyson after hes been in prison for 3 years has lost his coach and guidance and has emotional and drug problems and isnt anywhere near his peak condition. if u have have e ref. that lets him tie him up and tire him down using a ll the cheap tricks a taller man can use. At the end of the day it's about fighting, being 6.4 and holding the arms of a man 5.11 making them tired isnt something history will remember as great. Lennox Lewis was a great fighter but not a legend. Mike Tyson is the goat, no question about that, but when he lost his coach Cus he lost the edge, the stuff that made him and will always make him the Legend, the greatest of all time. At only 5.11 and similar reach he had nowhere near the phisical attributes to become the hw champion, but he defied all odds, because of his speed and use of perfect body movement behind every punch and combination was at another level then any other boxer to this day. At his peak the bigger oppoent just meant easer target to hit.
gunnar samuelsson hahaha Lewis beat every heavyweight in his era. You little casual to say he is not an all-time great is laughable. He was the King in the 90s and everyone who knows anything about boxing would tell you that. Only casuals like you would ever consider Mike Tyson as the goat.
Lennox Lewis is the only fighter who gave Vitali Klitschko more punches than he has ever received in a solid fight even though Vitali was ahead on the judges' scorecards. He made Klitschko's eye bloodied. Vitali would have been one-eyed by now.
Mayor Fergie shit was dirty, he pulled off a headbutt and glove scrape to get that eye cut. fact is if he would have given Klitschko the rematch he promised and didnt run off into retirement he would have got beat. Vitali was a heavier puncher with a more solid chin who had never been knocked down in his whole career. the only fights he lost were stoppages.
Rhyme Oddysey It wasn't a headbutt, it was reviewed over and over again and proved the Cut was caused by a legitimate punch czcams.com/video/wtdOteT5G0Q/video.html www.boxinglatest.co.uk/2008/05/vitali-klitschko.html
Azte ka Lewis nver fought a good fighter in his prime. he fought old holyfield and old tyson and outta shape Morrison the only good fighter he fought was vital who beat him every round until that cut and even Lewis was knocked out win wining every round
Gervon Mcintyre no Tyson never fought and beat a top fighter in his prime- he always lost or ducked fighters INCLUDING Lewis! Lewis beat a very good roided up evander twice! Destroyed a prime Ruddock who had a life and death battle with Tyson the fight before, beat the two up and coming American hypes who beat foreman - Morrison and a prime Briggs, beat the giant undefeated top contender and American hype (Micheal grant), eventually beat up and knocked out Tyson after beating him in sparring in the 80s, he knocked out bowe in the Olympics. He faced and beat tua- who Tyson didn't face, he beat golota, he beat McCall (who knocked Tyson out in sparring) he beat Rahman,he beat Bruno, he beat Botha, he beat tony tucker, he bet tyrell Biggs, he beat Gary mason, ray mercer, akinwande, he beat the best fighter of the next generation - a prime vitali Klitschko- legitimately by smashing his face up to be stopped . He faced and beat everyman who would face him.
During the last Round of the Lewis/Klitschko match, Klitschko was almost dead on his feet, he threw very little at Lewis and kept held of him while Lewis was smacking him with Uppercuts. Lewis knew he was in danger, especially in that last round, and up'd his game. Another Round or two Klitschko would have been on the deck or would have been stopped by the Ref. He was done for, but he showed a lot of Heart & had a few Rounds on Lewis, and no one can take that away from Vitali.
Lewis was not ahead on the scorecards when the Klitschko fight ended. I also thought Vitali only got better after that fight, so it would have been an interesting rematch. Vital was never knocked out I don't even think in his career. He lost two bouts due to injury, that's it.
Lennox didn't care about Vitaly, it was a big deal for Vitaly and for people who wanted a rematch...but he didn't care at that time and what he is saying here is pure logic. Period 2.0.
Peak Tyson had skills. Peek a boo defense, movement and feet. It looks like he took punches and knew he could handle. He had timing. He's been described as a power counter-puncher. Doesn't seem like a brawler, he broke his opponents down.
One moment he says he brought Klitschko in the "deep end" and after 5 rounds, that was it. And that most heavyweights only train for 5 rounds. Next moment, he says that after the first few rounds the Klitschko's usually come out on top because they're always in great shape. So which one is it? Sorry Lennox, you're a legend but your analysis of the Klitschko fight just doesn't hold up. I watched it back a thousand times and Klitschko was clearly bossing it completely before the cut, when he could still see, and also even for much of it afterwards, and at the end of the last round you looked totally gassed walking back to your corner to be honest. It was a fair win no question, but not one which satisfactorily and conclusively established who was the better fighter. That's why there was such a big noise for the rematch.
I respect Lewis, but this is B.S. Beating Tyson in 2002 means absolutely nothing. Beating him in 1985-1989 would mean everything. Even if Tyson was one-dimensional (which he is not), nobody could cope with his speed, agility, head movement and power. Tyson knocked people out because they couldn't see his punches coming. Tyson threw a 3 punch combo and the opponent didn't even see one punch coming. Prime Tyson also had excellent chin. Tyson didn't jab, every punch he threw had mean intentions. He was like a raptor hunting down big and slow dinosaurs. He was not a staller, he never coasted to victory, he fought to finish the fight as soon as possible. He is everything the boxing is not today. He was one of a kind.
Amen !
Well said.
Spot on
Well you' know better than Lennox so I'll take your word for it. #toomanyexperts
Corsa15DT Marciano would have destroyed Tyson , lewis was past the prime when he gave Tyson a boxing lesson my friend ,lewis prime would have knocked out Tyson prime.
"I'm a five dimensional fighter. That means I'm a
1. Boxer
2. Puncher
3. Mover"
Well, no one ever said boxers needed to know how to count...
boxer has more than one dimension
+watsupjew We all exaggerate sometimes to get our point across.
+Rayan ALQurashi time and gravity
You might think he could manage to count to ten!!
lol agahahah good fuckin one man! I say mike tyson is the best not boxer but fighter using boxing to fight, look at him he is 5'1 and knocked everyone out, look at Hollyfield, Lewis these are very big guys, by the time Tyson fought Lewis he used alot of drugs and was not the same anymore, and say what you like but Tyson rly could have beaten Hollyfield he was always more determined to win, and that made him lose his discipline when Holly-molly headbutted him. such a small fighter for a heavyweight, unstoppable and relentless, huge spiritual and physical preparation,said he never studies his opponents just trains for 10 rounds. fighting like Achilles he always says that the spirit makes you a great fighter. most exciting style of all time
Tyson was the heavyweight champion while lewis was still in the olympics lol. How do you duck someone who is 0-0 as a pro and Tyson was 37-0 as a pro? And Tyson lost the year Lewis went pro lol. Lewis acts like he beat the prime Tyson.
I know.
As intelligent as Lewis is, he's also a one pompous prick pretending to be the best there ever was.
Lets not forget who put him to sleep on more than one occasion.
He refuses to acknowledge M. Tyson's skills because he's jealous that Tyson is the one generations to come will be learning/talking about as being the youngest champ in history and famous KO king, not him.
kristof dessel Lewis is the best. Tyson is overrated. Lewis fought all the great fighters. Tyson only beat bums.
" Lewis acts like he beat the prime Tyson"
Prime Lewis would have beaten prime Tyson any time.
He beat the name and he knows that.. His ego would never allow him to say it in an interview but he understands that inside..
mymentor
Maybe but we'll never know.. It would have been a dream fight for 1988 Mike to fight Lewis..
Mike tyson at 20 years old is like Tiger woods at 20 years old... Unbeatable, Lennox got him when he was on the decline and any boxing fan knows this.
+Stuart Grant mike ducked him for years mate lennox wouldnt retire till he foaught him, besides, lewis wasnt exactly in his prime either.
+Cory Flavell Absolute rubbish, Tyson didn't duck Lewis for one minute. Tyson was contractually progressing with frank Bruno at the time. Your trying to tell me Mike Tyson was scared of Lewis? Absolutelyno chance, think youll find its Lewis who waited and waited and waited. Fighting a bankrupt, overweight, slow, past prime Tyson makes more sense for Lewis. Every boxing fan should know Lewis vs Tyson in their Prime= Lewis gets Knocked out in 4 rounds
exactly no one could have beat Tyson in his prime!
MadMax in his late career yes
***** what year was that?
Im not 100% sure Lennox would beat a Prime Mike Tyson..... it took him 8 rounds to beat a terrible version of Tyson way past his prime.... Tyson at 23 was fast , great stamina , great chin , fast hands and bombs...he would only need to land once
Tyson never had great stamina. Besides Lewis could have ended that fight way earlier he punished Tyson for his behaviour. So that theory goes out the window. Both fighters had slowed down. Lewis had bombs in his hands also. He finished the same opponents as tyson quicker & in more devastating fashion.
tony bennett
Yes Tyson did used to have good stamina when he wont the undisputed world title he was going 12 rounds easy with the likes of Bonecrusher Smith & Mitch Blood Green , when Lewis beat Tyson he was out of him prime by a good decade even Lewis said after the fight Tyson peaked at 19 ... Lewis finished Razor Ruddock quicker, but Tyson finished Bruno quicker...that comes down to styles...if you want to talk about it like that Tyson had more 1 round finishes at the top level then anyone... a 22 year old would have to fight a 33 year old Lewis for them both to be at there prime.... Heavyweights tend to reach there peak in there early to mid 30s , Tyson was a freak of nature who peaked at 19 - 23 before going to prison.... he didnt box a single round for 3 years in prison...while guys like Lennox and Holyfield remained active. Prison ruined Tyson
Khaos969 Are you for real you have just hit the nail on the head. Tyson went all 12 rounds with Bonecrusher who Marvis Frazier beat hardly impressive & 10 rounds with Mitch fucking green. If that had been Lennox neither man would have lasted near those rounds. It is a known fact stated from Tyson own mouth he had severe asthma problems. That is why he always tried to finish fights as early as possible. You can never say this fighter would have won over that fighter when the fought Tyson was second best end of.
Agree! Prime Mike is a different animal, skilled like very few!
Khaos969 Lennox handed tyson beatings in sparring when mike was in his prime lol..tyson cant fight guys like lewis.
Even Mike Tyson way past his prime still Lennox is scared he hugged him the whole fight and u r asking me what if he fought 1988 Tyson with Kevin Rooney ? Two letters KO
I seem to recall that Tyson kept whining at the Ref during his fight with Lewis... I also recall Tyson was saying; 'I Can't! I Can't!' when his corner were telling him to take the fight to Lewis...
You're obviously ignoring aspects to favour your guy.
Jackal Fox right..tyson said that..I heared it too...he was not able to punch...he almost stand in the ring like a Heavybag and take 8 rounds hard punches...no movement no skills....this fight i dont really interested in this fight..i want to see fighters in grteat shape and not someone who fight just for the money...tyson was out of prime still few years and no real fighter anymore and not Interested at the Title..just the money to pay his liabilities...Lennox talking to big...he is not so a great champion like Tyson was...
agreed tyson was a machine .Tyson waited way to long to fight a top active fighter . was never the same since he got out of jail
Martin Klobschinsky All Boxers talk big, Ali did, as did Frazer, Foreman, Lewis, Tyson etc., it's a natural aspect of the sport. To say Lewis was not a great champion like Tyson was, that's just utter bull shite. At least when Lewis had a championship fight he didn't try to bite his opponents ears off, head-butt, break their arms, throw a tantrum in the middle of the ring (and during weigh-ins and press conferences) and probably most importantly, he didn't fight just for the money like Tyson did. Now, take that into account and think again about Lewis not being a great champion like Tyson was.
Jackal Fox They caught up in the hype
He fought a shadow of a tyson even if he won against him in his prime its still a shadow of a man.
+Reza Michael against vitali he was not robbed. the referee stopt it at the right time. you seen klits eye?
Absolute nonsense Lewis was destroying him the further the fight was going on, his punches were landing big time in his face. The fight would have been over within a round or two anyway.
***** And yet you`re making uncertain assumptions also. You use likelihood based on pure speculation without any evidence , your entire premise is based on fatigue and a claim to know better than a professional trained doctor. My claim is backed up by evidence in terms of the way the fight was going in the last few rounds and the fact that Klitchko`s face was a bloody mess. A boxer with Lewis power was going to do far more damage regardless of his fatigue. You can buy what you like.
***** I`m not making any claims of absolute fact or certainty at all, I`m making a claim of probability given the evidence of what was happening in the latter rounds. Lewis was increasingly breaking through Klitchko`s defense with piledrivers to his head, given the damage to Klitchko`s head already its highly unlikely he would`ve survived much longer.
You`re simply claiming that through fatigue Lewis power would be reduced and Klitchko`s endurance would be fine. The power generated by Lewis in his punches regardless of fatigue is incredible and their was no evidence of reduced power.
Some doctors do let fights go on too long, this doctor stopped it when it needed to be, if anything it should`ve been sooner. If he hadn`t it would only add to the probability of Lewis getting in more piledrivers and knocking him out and causing permanent and extreme damage to Klitchko`s eye and brain.
Nothing is guaranteed, the probability, given the evidence, is the .issue.
***** A split nose and a split eye are totally separate issues, if you can`t see properly you have no chance of avoiding piledrivers from certain angles, piledrivers he was consistently receiving toward the end of the fight and piledrivers that caused the split in the first place along with the rest of his mashed up face.
Its not my problem that I didn`t see any power drop in Lewis punches because there wasn`t any, again Lewis punches are devastating even when tired.
You make a claim of absurdity even though the fact is his eye and face as a whole was shot and Lewis was continually landing heavily, the doctor knew it was time or the damage would be untenable. What happened before that time in terms of points gained is irrelevant, what is happening in the moment is the only thing relevant and that is why Lewis won the fight and Klitchko lost.
No one had knocked Klitchko out before because no one had punished him like that before. The division was full of journeymen up until he got so old Fury beat him. Lewis was of a much higher standard than Klitchko`s future opponents, not even comparable.
there aren`t too many improbabilities for you to accept the reality, you simply refuse to.
You have a good day also.
Tyson can't box? Maybe the old Tyson Lewis fought couldn't box anymore but the young Tyson could move like a gazzel people only remember his punch but his speed and movement were amazing
+Cryer24597 sparing is not a game where you try to knock each other out though
+Dave Jones thanks for making me aware of what I am but what prompted you to do so?
+Christopher Blankley Haha it makes me laugh people STILL only see Tyson as a puncher. They don't seem to realise he was the fastest HW since ALI with arguably the best defensive movement. Put it this way. Every single HW in history at their absolute best, Tyson comes out on top against 99% of them. lewis on the other hand wouldn't even be in top 10.
Thank you
+Cryer24597 Tyson is severely over-rated, Lewis definitely would have beat him, but I think Lewis would have lost had the Klitchsko fight continued. Lewis fell into his stool at the end of that round. Klitchsko played a large part in making Lewis look so bad in that fight.
It's funny, I spoke to Lennox Lewis on the phone, great guy.. and he said near word for word the same thing he said in this interview about Klitschko, him being at his worst he was the better fighter, apparently he only had two weeks to prepare for the fight.
Gotta respect how honest he is, clearly doesn't care about offending people like Tyson when calls them one dimensional
I truly believe that if Lewis was American, he would be more greatly appreciated as a great champion.
Lewis had this rare combination of skill and power,.Perhaps the most complete boxer post 1980,. But Tyson Under cus team appeared to be unbeatable,.It was only when he left that team that he started losing matches and temper,.
Lewis is right about Tyson here.
Tyson was great , but I think Lewis would have beaten him at any point
PAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Tyson is the toughest of all time....there was noone betta than him. Take the Tyson of 1985-1990 or 1995-1996, he wouldve whupped anyone but women,drugs, relationships n especially Don King screwed him ova. Lennox is good but he doesnt realize that he didnt fight Iron Mike, he jus fought a depressed neurotic lunatic
"If you push him back,he doesnt know what to do"--Lennox Lewis @3:00 said it...Buster Douglas did it,heart problem Holyfield did so as did Lewis during Mike's early,mid and twilight years...otherwise we are cherry picking or curve fitting fantasy predictions which wernt reality...im sure Foreman and Vitali would have done the same...heck Ruddock also pushed Tyson around but couldnt even last the 2nd round against Lewis.
That you think Tyson of the 90s was a good Boxer shows how incredible dumb you are.
The only good Tyson was from 85 to 88. At maximum.
Tyson paid lennox 4mp to not fight him in 95 btw.
"At my worst I beat Vitali." Prove it. You could just as easily say pre-prime Vitali dominated near prime Lewis. What is a fact is Vitali dominated Lewis in that fight landing 157 punches to Lewis's 102, and Vitali beating him on the score cards but two rounds. Lewis promised Vitali a rematch, then thought better of it when Vitali knockout out his next opponents in only two rounds. The look on Lewis's face after the fight was of a badly beaten man. Vitali retired Lewis.
David Keir lewis was 38 years old and took the fight on short notice and if the fight had continued klitchko would have never been able to fight again. lewis won they had to stop it = tko keep dreaming
+Toon Talk with Mina & Moby
Wrong, Lewis was actually training for a world heavyweight fight, and his opponent got injured, so Vitali took the fight with only 10 days notice. Vitali landed over 50% more punches against Lewis, and won twice as many rounds as Lewis. Lewis was rocked and hurt twice, and was the more tired at the end of the fight, Lewis was ready to get TKO'ed. Lewis promised Vitali a rematch after the fight, but after Vitali knocked out his next opponent in only 2 rounds, Lewis chickened out. Vitali dominated Lewis so bad he retired. Vitali retired Lennox Lewis.
+David Keir The loser " retired" the winner? That's a new one. Maybe you could be a professional commentator. . lol!
+David Keir I respect Lewis as a hell of a fighter. But he's definitely changed his story. The fight before Vitali (against Tyson) he was talking about how he aged like fine wine and was just getting better. Then, after his poor showing against Vitali, he starts talking about how he was at his worst. Can't have it both ways.
+David Keir "'At my worst I beat Vitali.' Prove it."
???????? He did prove it. Did you not see the fight?
"You could just as easily say pre-prime Vitali dominated near prime Lewis."
-- Yeah, you can say those words. Nothing is stopping from saying stupid stuff.
---- "pre-prime Vitali"
------ He was 31 years old. That is prime. That was the last fight he lost.
---- "dominated"
------ WHAT? It was 4 rounds to 2. [should have been 3 -3] All that means is he won one more round. 6 rounds to 0 is dominating. Lewis turned the tide anyway. Lewis was landing huge uppercuts in the 6th while slapped his punches. Vitali was done.
---- "near prime Lewis"
------ Again, WHAT?!? Apparently you have never seen the man fight before. He was in great shape against Tyson and he has no where near prime. In his fight against Klitschko he was, as Jim Lampley put it, "flagrantly out of shape."
"What is a fact is Vitali dominated Lewis in that fight landing 157 punches to Lewis's 102, and Vitali beating him on the score cards but two rounds."
-- LOL "but two rounds" It was 4 rounds to 2. He only won one more round and Lewis has doing the heavy damage late while Vitali faded.
"Lewis promised Vitali a rematch, then thought better of it when Vitali knockout out his next opponents in only two rounds."
-- 1. What was he supposed to say when the disrespectful knuckle-head was bugging him in the ring after the fight? 2. Lewis doesn't owe anyone a thing.
-- "Vitali knockout out his next opponents in only two rounds."
---- Thanks for mentioning that, because, it proved that Lewis at his worst beat a prime Vitali.
"The look on Lewis's face after the fight was of a badly beaten man."
-- Do you know what confirmation bias is? Because, you need to look it up.
-- Oh the sweet sweet irony, did you see Vitali's face? He had the look of a man who had been through a train wreck.
"Vitali retired Lewis."
-- Lewis beat all best heavyweights of his era and he beat the best one of the next era, when he pounded Vitali's face in. And he did it when he was a his worst.
Class Dismissed !
*mic drop*
Lewis is a coward for not fighting Klitschko again
check the cards
Lara Ilara stupid you are go look at the fight it was abvious. Lenox ducked Vitali after promising him rematch. Fight was stopped for a medical reason Vitali was winning cards can tell. On top of everything after lenox saw how he whipped Kirk Johnson he slowly walkes to sunset Larry Merchants words. Ohh lets not forget What Manny Steward Lenoxs trainer said lol whn he was training Wladimir. One way or another Lenox would of folded. Before u attack me get ur facts together.
Ellier Dov amir khan was winning before canelo blew him out. the "medical" reason you mentioned was caused by a punch from lewis. vitali was in his prime and lewis was washed. lets not just look at score-card because we have to also look at the damages. be honest! are you seriously going to rank vitali over lewis in terms of greatest of all times?
hhahaah KO vs stoppage come on, yes I would and not just me. Lenoxx Trainer and many more, watch Vitali VS Kirk johnson you know what I am talkin about. And if you had any brain you wouldnt compare any other division to heavyweights, Diff ball game, As of all time greatest ROCKY MARCIANO is.
i bet u feel better now, trash
Lewis is great, amazing boxer for sure. Tyson was a one dimensional fighter, but that one dimension in his prime would have knock him out easily, we all know it. You lose speed, head movement and stamina with age, you don´t loose technique, height and range. Prime tyson would have killed him.
Joshua Stam
How the hell was Tyson a one dimensional fighter? He hit hard, he was fast, he was unparalleled at dodging blows, his movement was excellent, and he was fantastic at creating opportunities for knock out blows.
Would have could have should have but didn't. What happened was a late round knockout by Lewis m. AND still UNDISPUTED
Lui M And Prime lewis got ktfo by Oliver McCall who was Tyson’s sparring partner. Even past prime Tyson was beating him in every hard sparring. Lewis is the guy who beat past prime legends. Only casual fans call him the best
Hell yeah , a hungry & prime Tyson would've annihilated Lewis .
I dont care what anyone says, Tyson in his prime would kill Lewis at his best. Plus he's not fooling anyone, he was scared shitless of Vitali and Vitali was winning every single round of that fight before he got the cut. he was lucky to escape that fight due to stoppage and quickly retired right after so he didnt have to do it again.
+Rhyme Oddysey Tyson always struggled with Big heavyweights, even in his prime, James smith, mitch green, Jose ribalta, tony tucker, james douglas all took him the distance, Even if tyson won every round he couldn't dominate them like he could the smaller heavyweights, Lewis was bigger, stronger, heavier and far more skilled then any of those guys just mentioned, So if Tyson at his pinaccle, couldn't k.o bonecrusher smith, how would he ko lewis
look at it this way, vitali klitschko was winning every round against lewis before they stopped the fight due to a cut. lewis retired right after even though he promised a rematch. Tyson in his prime would have had a very good shit at vitali and would have definitely made it a much closer fight than when klitschko was whoopin lewis
BiggieBigLnPac
Rhyme Oddysey
oh please, both k brothers would of slaughtered Tyson, People seem caught up on this four year stint that Tyson had in the 80's, he really wasn't that impressive because 90% of the guys he fought where bums.
He even lost to a bum (James Douglas)
You probably haven't watched the Lennox Lewis documentary here on youtube, where it becomes clear that Lewis and Tyson were sparring frequently when both were younger and Tyson only won once (in their first encounter when he overwhelmed an unprepared Lewis with his animal ferocity - after that it was all Lewis. That's why Tyson and lots of others ducked Lennox all the time. Why do you think he paid him 4 million bucks NOT to fight him?).
Tyson was in bad shape and lost many fights to low-class heavyweights. If Tyson was mentaly and physically preped like the twenties. Then no chance for any boxer in the ring. Most ppl dont agree with Lewis.
he fought tyson when tyson was way behind his prime . if he faced the tyson in his 20s he would have been knocked out in the firsts rounds
If the fight with Klitchko would've continued, he would’ve destroyed Lewis' ego apart
100 пудово,Віталька йому давав страшне
Controversial fight but it could've gone either way and it's purely speculation, I still rate the Klitschko fight as one of Lewis' most memorable as he was approaching 40 yet still had the heart and desire to go out on his shield like a true warrior! 💯🥊💪🏾
Someone would've been blind.
Does anybody know where can I watch the whole Ringside Special on Lennox. All over the net the only thign i can find is this extrait. Thank you in advance.
Lennox really put boxing on the map during his career, many memorable bouts against the biggest names #respect 💪🏾💯✅
Tyson beats Lewis when both at their prime.
Fact is he didn't get over it he got beat the fuck up
" i'm 5 dimensional " continues to list 3 basic styles of boxing lool
boxer, puncher, mover he saying it like none other boxers has those attributes
Tyson in his prime would win. And in a hundred years the only one they will talk about is Tyson
Ali?
Prince Naseem Hamed?
Frank Bruno?
Tyson was a very limited fighter. He had power & speed. Had no stamina past the 5th round. Your simply wrong Lewis knew how to dea\l with Tyson he was not hard to figure out. Holyfield beat him pretty easy also.
Hahahahaha limited he says hahaha
Y'all on crack.
***** I've only ever sucked one huge penis. Usually prefer vagina, but needs must
#yolo
My favorite fighter of all time is Ali. But my favorite fighter to watch during my lifetime, that I ALWAYS rooted for was Lennox Lewis. I started watching his fights when he was skinny and had a nappy ass flattop. The first fight of his I saw was against a guy named Phillip Jackson. Lewis' hand speed and combination punching was scary-good. Needless to say, he dominated Jackson, but there was this sequence at the end of one of the mid-late rounds where Lewis did a Bruce Lee impersonation, complete with high pitched vocalization, and fired off like a ten punch combination which dropped Jackson (unfortunately after the bell).
From that moment, I felt like I was a boxing insider because while everyone was saying 'Tyson this, Riddick that, Holyfield whatever' at that point I was sure he was better than all three of them. And I was right. He KO'd Tyson, beat Holyfield, and Bowe was scared to fight him. I couldn't care less that he wasn't American; him being freakin awesome was enough for me.
His flat top wasn’t that nappy
Prime Tyson would've ruined Lewis lol and ducking rematch with Klitchko was a real coward move.
I don't believe it mate. I think the reason Lewis didn't get a rematch with Vitali is because he wants to be fully fit to fight Vitali. But as God might have it, he retired
Moron - Tyson ducked Lewis. Lewis beat much better fighters that Klitchko in his prime. Tyson was nothing next to Lewis as Lewis wreaked every fighter that gave Tyson problems.
Fuck Tyson
@Hal 2k19 You must be joking - Lewis still smashed Bruno into a stoppage, he got Rekt.
Tyson struggled BIG time against Donovan Ruddock, so much so they had to have two fights.
Lewis destroyed Donovan Ruddock in the first round and put him to sleep!
Tyson lost to Kevin McBride, Danny Williams, Buster Douglas and then got smashed hard by a much better fighter - Evander Holyfield. Evander Holyfield was the best of the best, better than any other American fighter until he fought lewis.
Guess what - Lewis beat Evander Holyfield.. Then later when they did fight after Tyson ducking Lewis as Bowe did! They fought and Tyson at the same age as Lewis got Destroyed with a KO. Tysin is over rated and Lewis underrated. The facts speak for themselves.
Facts - Deal with it.
Lewis lost to no one in any pro-fight worth talking about. He through re-match undefeated.
Both great fighters both undisputed in what was a great time for heavyweight boxing if Tyson didn't go to prison who knows.
XD kiltchko would have KILLED Lenox if he didn't get that cut. He knows it too lol
+The Mysterious He had 5 rounds to accomplish that and FAILED.
Romulan2469 as if 5 rounds is plenty of time XD 5 rounds in boxing is a warm up. Your an idiot
who made that cut you stupid chicken head
Lewis Mpangala Lennox did. But that wasn't the point...
The longer the fight was going on Lennox was getting the upper hand, he was landing massive blows to his head and it was bloody mess, he wouldn`t have lasted much longer with that punishment, Lennox was totally unfit and ill prepared and yet still served him a severe beating. A truly awesome boxer.
Lewis was an excellent boxer, with knockout power, and so many skills. Tyson could never beat Lewis, unless Lewis had an off day. He had two of those, and avenged them.
I totally agree well said.
Klitsko? Man this dude mad disrespectful
He didn't want to know anything about the Vladimir rematch, as he really lost the first fight or would've lost it, put it that way.. The cut to Vladimir saved Lennox
Lennox never fought Wlad 😆
@@dirtyandnasty9011 Apologies Vitali I meant.
@@MsREDCIVIC 👍
@@MsREDCIVICHe was gonna TKO him either way because Vitali was slowing down as the match went on and Lennox was waking up.
Lennox is the man. Intelligent brutal fighter. At his worst, heaviest of his career, he did what none else has ever done...beat a young prime Vitali klitscho to a pulp.Would have liked to see them fight again
Vitali was winning, but yes, it was the toughest fight Vitali has had in his career imo
kristof dessel "He took the coward way out by continuing to pound Vitali's cuts or otherwise he'd get KO'd."
That's what every Boxer does. Boxing is about exploiting your opponent's weaknesses. If one guy develops a cut, the other is obviously going to make it a priority to work on.
Seriously lame argument to suggest that it's a "coward's way out" to do so.
So what if he retired... He still beat Vitali. Get over it.
Jackal Fox
By a Cut.
It was a good fight, by modern Heavyweight standards.
And Vitali was winning on the scorecards by all Judges.
We dont know how that fight would have ended, and remember that Vitali had serious power in his punches. Things could have ended abrutly imo.
Yet, a prime Klitschko couldn't beat an out of shape Lewis, whom of which was in his worst shape of his entire boxing career.
Yep, Tyson was waaaaaay past it when he fought Lewis. If they fought in their prime Tyson wins.
Jesse Cole Its as if you are reading the comments but not comprehending it.
Yes Lewis was past his prime, Tyson was past his prime (waaaaay past), Yes Lewis was a year older, but this has no relevance to my statement.
You say Lewis was a better fighter in 89? Tyson unified the titles and was heavyweight champ at the age of 20, at his prime.
So, like I said, Tyson in his prime was too fast and powerful for Lewis. But hey, this is just an opinion.
Tyson knocked out Berbeck to win his first heavy weight title. In fact, he knocked him down 3 times with one punch. And he had a TKO over Ruddock.
Actually I am an Ali fan, even have a signed gloved. So I'm not a Tyson 'fan boy'.... I just say it how I see it.
As a Tyson 'hater', you see it differently.
You don't even kn ow who Trevor Berbeck is? Beat it troll!
Grasping at straws buddy, grasping............
Watch the Razor Ruddick fight. Then tell me he would beat lewis the fact is Tyson ducked Lewis for years. His camp knew he would not win that fight.
Can I just say that Tyson rant is the best boxing soundbite to get pumped up to.
wow Lewis is such a troll. He was great but he portrays himself as invincible. Did he forget he got KTFO by Rahman and Cokehead? They could do it yet prime Tyson was too 1-dimensional :spit:
Absolutely agree with him. In the day I was a massive Tyson fan, but looking back at it from a more mature perspective I realise that what Lewis said was true: Tyson was a KO specialist who overwhelmed club fighters. At 21 he was as good as he was going to get. Why? Which of the greats can you say that about? A heavyweight continues to improve until he's almost 30, and sometimes beyond. Not Tyson, because the standard of the fighters he faced got better, and he couldn't adapt his style to incorporate this. In boxing, like many other sports, you only look as good as the opponent allows. Therefore when you see film of a 19-20 year old Tyson smashing oldish guys with overall negative records and hear his clearly deluded fans call him the greatest ever you have to laugh. Amateur experience does count for something. Lewis fought in two Olympics and was a well-rounded fighter. In spite of the repeated insults about some fictional mental deficiency in Lewis, he clearly is a man of character who knows his own mind, makes a decision, and follows through on it. My admiration for him keeps climbing.
+Cecil Morgan He got fucked up mentally and was screwed over royally by everyone around him like his ex wife, don king etc etc. His passion for fighting burned out and he didnt train as serious as he did under Cus.
+aedivian
These are the same old "poor Mike" excuses Tyson fans have been making for years. "If Cus hadn't died... yah-de-yah-de-yah." I begin to wonder who was doing the actual fighting. Every fighter is exploited, to a greater or lesser degree, that's the nature of the business. Imagine what it was like for those people 50 and more years ago, esp. With organised crime involved, esp. for black fighters. Yet with all that, they still remained great fighters, they still had the dedication. Tyson was not great. Compared to true greats he was barely adequate. His character was weak: when things go wrong, that's when you need to stand up and show yourself a man. Tyson imploded. The second Holyfield fight showed him for what he was. Championship boxing is the one sport above all others that shows before the whole world who you are. Look at Ali-Frazier, III in particular. No-One who saw those two can have any doubt about their character or greatness.
+Vasil Krumov
Since my opinion counts for so little, what are you getting so upset about, bitch? I've been following boxing since the early 70s, so I know what the hell I'm talking about, life included. Clearly that doesn't apply to an ignoramus like you.
Hollyfield is 45,46, and 47.
Vitali Klitschko would destroy you and end your career if that fight did not stop.
Even with one eye he was ahead in everything and was physically better than Lewis.
And the prove of all this, Lewis retired just after this fight so he wont fight his master of boxing again.
Falterzan if if if.... the reality is that vitali got cut open by a cut from a right hand and could not continue. So he lost fair and square. Klitschko was not robbed. He’s openly made his peace with it in numerous interviews since, so maybe you should too.
Andrew he got split from over 15 head butts when lewis tried clenching every time he got rocked... weak, coward, bitchmade
Delusional
😂
Lennox not being honest here about Klitschko, he knew it was a really close fight against him and he could lose the belt in a following rematch.
Well for one Lewis is being honest he had no real desire left. He had accomplished everything he set out to do. He beat Klitschko at his very worst he was fat out of shape older. Lewis still took care of him get real & live on your what if's.
tony bennett At his worst yeyee excuses over and over. Nigga was lucky knew he was lucky and retired coz of it.
Well, what do you expect the guy to say? "Nah, Vitali would've won the rematch." "Nah, Tyson would've beat me if we fought earlier." Come on, he's got to answer that way. It doesn't prove anything, one way or the other.
Thank you. He beat a prime klitcschko at his worst! Ppl ignore this why? I dunno
Lennox is talking to big...he was not so a great champion like Tyson was...Tyson in prime would knock him out...easily like Hassim rachma did, in infight lewis is without a chance...Lewis Talking about his win against Tyson like Holmes about Ali...That is to sickening...Both fought old fat Mens out of prime and skills....A real great Sportman would never talk in this way...
This is Boxing and you don't have a clue about it!
Yes man
"I knew I wasn't ready for Tyson back in 91,when I first saw this guy ,I thought damn this guy hits hard,hes scary" L.Lewis ....Funny when someone wins a fight when they should ,how quickly they forget why they avoided it in the first place,when you knew you couldn't win then? and vitali would be the favorite in the rematch as well,when someone uses their "MOTHER
TOLD" me not to fight excuse.....REALLY???????
Lewis was a great heavyweight and he fought vitali at the end of his career. But he was losing against vitali and he cant accept even now he was getting a beat down
Lewis rocked him with uppercuts all night and dat cut was from a straight right at Lewis worst he beat Klitschko
Lewis talking like he destroyed Vitali Klitschko: "Look what I did to his face!" Um...you got created a cut over his eye from the stitching of your glove; it's one of the oldest moves in boxing. Klitschko wasn't deteriorating after five rounds like Lewis said he was. Yes, Lewis was gaining a little bit of momentum before the fight was stopped, but Klitschko had won almost every round beforehand on the all judges' scorecards. The Klitschko's don't tire in the later rounds of boxing; not then, not now. That fight could have gone either way in my opinion, but I'll never consider Lennox Lewis a better champion that Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. Last thing: Vitali took that fight with Lewis on a couple weeks notice, so Lennox can take that out-of-shape excuse elsewhere...
Actually, I think it was 9 days notice that Vitali took that fight with Lennox Lewis...
Lennox owned him in the 6th round. Peep that uppercut he hit him with just as the round was ending. Vitali had the early lead but the tide was changing in that fight.
Anthony Anderson That upper cut was nice, but Vitali ate it. Nothing too special.
GetSchanked he was hanging on for dear life the last minute of the round. Lennox had figured out his right hand.
Anthony Anderson Emotional and biased observations aside, Klitschko was winning on all judges scorecards and was still landing punches. Could have gone either way, but I think that Klitschko would have won by points if the injury didn't happen..
Klitschko would have beat Lewis if not for the cut. Thats for sure. If you havent seen that fight go and watch it
Based on what, being two rounds ahead? The punch Lewis landed that opened the first of Vitali's cuts was effectively a TKO. But you don't want to give Lewis credit for that. Lewis was out of shape and an old man in boxing terms, but he still beat a prime Vitali Klitschko.
Lewis did get the win, it was stopped after round 6 when they checked his eye they decided it was too bad of a cut to continue. Klitschko was winning on the scorecards and if it went to decision I wouldn't have been surprised if klitschko had won. Lewis said he would rematch klitschko twice but just decided to retire instead.
Your right. Klitschko was beating the shit out of him.
Another stupid comment from a Bitchschko fanboy, Lewis was out of shape, didn't train properly for the fight and he still beat the crap out of your hero. Facts are he did have that cut and it was Lewis who caused it.
I respect Lewis, but Vitali was leading on all judges' scorecards for a reason. Also, Lewis backed out of the rematch for a reason. Vitali, best heavyweight of the past twenty years, imo.
Sullen Morbius A fight is over 12 rounds not 4 or 6. Klitschko was beaten fair and square by an out of shape Lennox Lewis. Klitschko looked like he`d been run over by a truck.
david macleod Regarding rounds: No shit, Sherlock. You wanna tell me the sun rises from the east, too? Vitali was beat by a doctor who called the match, not by Lewis.
The right that openen the cut at Klitschkos eye was delivered by Lewis not the referee. Accept it. Lewis could have retired after he beat Tyson but chose to take on the up and coming heavyweight. Klitschko got his opportunity and lost.
david macleod Vitali was still fighting. The ref stopped the fight. Simple. Dude was ahead on all scorecards, and you hinge it on gawdamn cut. Someone was winning the fight. Wasn't Lewis.
So what. Klitschko was gassed. If he had somehow made it to the final bell would he have still been ahead on the cards, doubt it. Lewis could have retired after beating Tyson but chose to fight the up and coming heavyweight. Despite being out of condition he still won. Deal with it.
If Mike Tyson never went to prison - Lennox Lewis never would've had a career!
Cujo Jowels Except Buster Douglas had already beaten Tyson before he went to prison. Tyson lost all his title belts to Douglas in 1990, Tyson went to prison over 2 years After the Douglas fight.
Jason Phillips Yes indeed. Douglas fought the fight of his life and it's been well documented that Tyson trained like a fool.
A few heavyweight fights I would've loved to have seen but didn't happen because Tyson went to the clink:
Tyson-Holyfield '91
Tyson-Foreman
Tyson-Bowe
Tyson-Morrison
Tyson-McCall
Bowe-Lewis
Bowe-Ruddock
Bowe-Mercer
Ruddock-Foreman
Holyfield-Ruddock
Holyfield-Morrison
Ruddock-Bruno
Ruddock-Moorer
Moorer-Mercer
...and on and on and on...
and Tyson came and won every fight up until lennox/holyfield when he became a total fucking idiot.
What's sad is he's judged mostly by his Douglas debacle and his legacy fights against Holyfield and Lewis. People forget his legacy fights pre prison against Berbick, Tucker, Holmes and Spinks.
Cujo Killjooh and they were all good fighters in their era. Tyson came in the Era with a animal and monster vibe with him and make the opposition look like crap because of how he faught. If he man can make a division look like shit against boxers who were considered good or decent then idk what else you can call him. these haters are real and bring up Douglas like fighters have never had a bad fight and not train their hardest for it. just because he lost against Douglas doesent mean he wasn't still a great boxer
3:57 holy shit that's the highest def clip of that interview ever
I've watched his fight with Vitali from the opening bell to the cut stoppage a dozen times and Lennox was getting his ass kicked and he retired because he knew he did not ever want to fight Vitali again.
Lewis shows a lack of class, normally fighters are humble and respectful of opponents that were great champions who after fading badly took a hammering. Lewis likes to boast about beating washed up ex champions.
+wayne gilroy its only one year but still you are right about him thats why i dont like him he is not stupid tho he said the right things about styles all round boxers are nightmares for knock out killers if you fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee you destroy them if they dont knock you in the wonderland of what happend
To say "Tyson can't box" is pathetic...Lewis is just jealous because a younger Mike Tyson would have fucking destroyed him.
When Lewis fought him he couldn't box anymore.
I have the upmost respect for Lennox, but I don't think he's being totally honest saying he never had the rematch with Vitali because he wasn't hungry. Lennox makes reference to his uppercut and how 'Klitschko felt it." Yes he did, but to Lewis's shock, after that bomb landed flush on Vtali's jaw, Vitali was still stood in front of him. Vitali was ahead on all three judges cards at the time the fight was stopped because of the cut. Like Vitali said after the fight, 'He knows I will beat him."
When he says that nowadays heavyweights train only for five rounds he means they actually train for three? I'm a bit confused..
Vitali beat Lennox Lewis.
vitali got his ass kicked
@Samuel Fagbemi Yes he did blackboy
No he didn’t Vitali got tko’d, Lennox won that
Lennox destroyed Vitali’s face
Shoulda, woulda, coulda is bullshit. I had a serious right hook in the school playground, had I been introduced to the ring instead of my good friend beer, I could have had a record of 100-0. It means nothing. Lewis finished his career beating every man he came up against. He is without question in straight fact, the greatest heavyweight of the modern era, or as George Foreman himself has attested to; the greatest of all time.
after the 1st tyson fight there was a rematch clause in favor of lewis choice. lewis chose the rematch date because the 1st fight did so well money wise, but tyson backed out because he wasnt ready to fight again competitively so soon so vitali was the last minute replacement. vitali was originally on the undercard of the tyson lewis 2 fight and was well trained while lewis didnt train becuase tyson pulled out. last minute they made vitali fight at the main event against lewis instead of tyson
Mike tyson would have knocked the fuck out of lenox 86-1990 fitness when he was hungry for it. It was proven nobody could contain tyson when he was in his prime
agreed 100 percent tyson waited way to long to fight him
Lennox Lewis is one of the greatest and one of the smartest boxers of all time.
he cant count to 5, so ye the chickenest boxer
Correct me if I'm wrong but during the time of the fight Tyson was already on the meds that took away most of his anger and explosiveness?? I remember in one interview Mike said that the meds took the edge out of his boxing and he didn't feel like he wanted to "kill" the opponent so it affected his training and power in the ring in a bad way. He didn't have the desire to train hard or knock his opponent down like he had before. Mike Tyson before taking the meds was the ideal boxer full of ADRENALINE but that didn't work in life outside the ring.
Good point Gunndy
Mike Tyson in his prime would have beaten Lennox tbh, but it would have been a good fight.
Lennox was a very good Heavyweight boxer.
tyson never fought a really good fight in his prime though..
Mike Tyson is Boxsport
Not Luis or glitschgo
Everybody says that Tyson was better in his prime but Lewis was a complete fighter, Tyson an excellent finisher, a beast, whatever you want but Lewis, huh, power puncher, tactics, speed. The only tactic Tyson knows is to kill everybody staying in the ring, that doesnt make you a complete fighter
The best heavyweight of all time. Fighters peak at different ages, just like in any sport. Tyson peaked a lot earlier than Lewis. The best Lennox lewis was when Emanuel Steward started working with him, developing an authoritative jab and a diverse range of punches. I personally believe that Lewis in his prime would have beaten any heavyweight in history.
I really like Lewis, but when he fought Tyson, tyson was a shadow of himself, a year later he was beat by Danny Williams and Kevin Mcbride...lol.. In late 80s Tyson would have cleaned Lewis out. KO 4th round!
Lennox is my favourite fighter and I'm telling you his chin was weak . Hasim and Oliver McCall both exposed it. Tyson in his prime would have destroyed him.
Lennox is awesome but I couldn't see him beating Vitali without the cut stoppage by the Doc. Vitali was winning every round up to that point.
Funny, around the 2:00 mark Lennox says Tyson paid him step aside money to fight Holyfield instead. The TRUE story was that Don King offered Lennox $13 million to fight Tyson but turned it down. So Lennox went to court for a second time to sue for another belt. The court fees cost $4 million, so King took the $9 million left over and offered Holyfield the Tyson fight, and Holyfield accepted. So why did Holyfield accept the offer, FOR LESS MONEY, but Lennox turned it down?
Tyson would have destroyed him in his prime .
Mario please Tysons prime was like 3 years. Whose fault was that?
Tyson's prime - 1985-1991.Tyson is bullshit after 1998,1999.
haha okay idiot. you dont know boxing. you probably own a pitbull and collect welfare
+Kosta Mrdja Tyson was not him self after 89 man.
Lennox was a great champion and he may have taken out Klitschko but Klitschko had plenty left in the tank. He was not going to run out of gas and it would have taken a lot to stop him. Lewis won the last round but lets face it Klistchko shook off those uppercut bombs that Lewis landed. The truth is that the fight was up for grabs. But Lewis did finish the 6th on top. Lewis was many levels above what Tyson knocked out as routine. In ten fights Lewis probably takes 7wins against Tyson.
BlackRIseehh No plans to kill myself. strange comment.
Bone crusher Smith gave tyson problems imagine what Lewis would of done. But I would give tyson a good chance vs anyone in history at that time
+gmonkey808 he's hiding behind his mammy's skirt whilst posting his brave words
gmonkey808 klitchko had nothing left in the tank because lewis incapacitated him he ripped his face to shreds had they kept fihting lewis would have been hitting solid bone right above klitchkos eye and would have ruined the man for good
I agree 100%. Just tired of seeing people hating on Lennox
It would of been interesting to see a prime Tyson vs a prime Lewis, I agree when Lewis fought him Tyson was past his best, he had been since he got released from prison and fired his trainer Kevin Rooney.
I wonder how a prime Tyson would of faired against the much bigger 6ft 5 dynamic opponent that was Prime Lewis?
Tyson mainly seemed to specialise in knocking out fighters between 6'1 ft - 6ft 3.
when Tyson was a young champ Lewis was in
amateurs. i just don't get him in this interview.
he assumes people are retarded or not
following the sport. how can a guy in his
position be such a prick and pretend he fought
Tyson at his best years ? even the post-jail period
of Tyson was miles away from 2002. i love this sport
and i respect all the good boxers - Lewis is a great
overall fighter but no way in my book he could beat
Tyson at his better times.
this interview is a joke to anyone that follows
the sport and been around since the 80's.
love or hate Tyson one thing for sure -
Lewis will never be remembered as a Boxer
the way Tyson will.
Lewis is delusional, given the rematch Klitschko would of got him, first time was the cut that made him lose it
Lennox 'Legend' Lewis was and is the GOAT
I hate when people say Lennox is cocky...he isn't he is just really confident and he knows he's great
Prime tyson beats anyone.
I respect Lewis but he is very arrogant. Would have loved to see young Foreman knock him out in 2 rounds.
great interview; I like lennox lewis
great, great guy, this Lewis, now and then !!!
There is nobody who could beat mike in his prime. He wasn't a boxer,he was killer
Lennox Lewis is a boxing legend he will never get the respect he deserves because he is British. He was better than Tyson better than Klitschko. Lennox Lewis a true champion he defended any loss ever to appear on his record in devastating fashion a all time great for sure :)
tony bennett nobody knows Lewis but everyone knows tyson. Ask some old guy who never watched single boxing match in his life who is Lewis? He won't know him but everyone knows tyson..
Fast Networks dumbest thing I've ever heard. No one cares what casuals think
This interview is frustrating. Tyson was very honest in his assessment of his skills during different time periods of his career and provided non-biased analysis. Klitschko was dominating Lewis, but, because of a bloody nose or eye -- whatever -- the fight was stopped. Because of the doubt, Lewis should have offered a rematch -- just like Tyson did with Ruddock. Tyson had nothing to gain and everything to lose with the rematch. Tyson also was not the same fighter post-prison.
Lennox tried to fight Mike Tyson in his prime but, as he said there, Tyson paid him to step aside. Thus Tyson ducked him. Lennox didn't duck Tyson.
After Lennox beat Tyson, George Foreman said Lennox Lewis is undoubtedly the greatest heavyweight in history.
Regarding the fight against Vitali, I don't agree.
Everyone keeps saying Lennox was out of shape etc etc and took the fight on two weeks notice. What they fail to mention is he already had a training camp for his other fight before that guy (not going to bother doing research now) pulled out.
Vitali is the one that was at the biggest disadvantage, not Lennox. Vitali came in at 2 weeks notice and didn't have a full training camp like Lennox had.
I like Lennox, but he knows, deep down that he ducked that rematch and it will always leave a stain on his legacy.
If he took that rematch and beat Klitschko, I'd say, "Okay, well done, you've beaten Vitali and showed you're the best."
But he never did.
That's why he'll always over exaggerate how easily he'd beat Vitali.
In all his interviews he says Holyfield was the best he ever fought, when it was clearly Vitali.
Holyfield never had him in the kind of trouble Vitali had him in.
Lennox says, "Look what I did to his face." But that wasn't because of punches, it was because he used a dirty tactic and cut Vitali's eye with the laces of his glove in the clinch.
I personally think, in terms of pure achievements, Lennox is up there with Ali, but that Vitali rematch will haunt him forever.
Tyson wasn't anywhere near his best fighting Lewis.
Lewis fought Tyson at the right time. Tyson was totally washed up.
+Cryer24597 Prove it.
+Cryer24597 Thats a lie. Never happened.
Lennox has the best technique ever, he studied boxing this guy
Holyfield had a hell of a career and carried himself with class and dignity. Lennox Lewis obviously is a man who does not have those characteristics. Who else will Lennox trash in future interviews. What a jerk.
Lennox is nothing in comparison to Tyson, hes tall, hes arrogant, but he has nowhere near the talent or legendary status. Sure he could beat Mike Tyson after hes been in prison for 3 years has lost his coach and guidance and has emotional and drug problems and isnt anywhere near his peak condition. if u have have e ref. that lets him tie him up and tire him down using a ll the cheap tricks a taller man can use. At the end of the day it's about fighting, being 6.4 and holding the arms of a man 5.11 making them tired isnt something history will remember as great.
Lennox Lewis was a great fighter but not a legend.
Mike Tyson is the goat, no question about that, but when he lost his coach Cus he lost the edge, the stuff that made him and will always make him the Legend, the greatest of all time.
At only 5.11 and similar reach he had nowhere near the phisical attributes to become the hw champion, but he defied all odds, because of his speed and use of perfect body movement behind every punch and combination was at another level then any other boxer to this day. At his peak the bigger oppoent just meant easer target to hit.
gunnar samuelsson hahaha
Lewis beat every heavyweight in his era. You little casual to say he is not an all-time great is laughable.
He was the King in the 90s and everyone who knows anything about boxing would tell you that.
Only casuals like you would ever consider Mike Tyson as the goat.
Lennox Lewis is the only fighter who gave Vitali Klitschko more punches than he has ever received in a solid fight even though Vitali was ahead on the judges' scorecards. He made Klitschko's eye bloodied. Vitali would have been one-eyed by now.
Mayor Fergie shit was dirty, he pulled off a headbutt and glove scrape to get that eye cut. fact is if he would have given Klitschko the rematch he promised and didnt run off into retirement he would have got beat. Vitali was a heavier puncher with a more solid chin who had never been knocked down in his whole career. the only fights he lost were stoppages.
Rhyme Oddysey It wasn't a headbutt, it was reviewed over and over again and proved the Cut was caused by a legitimate punch czcams.com/video/wtdOteT5G0Q/video.html
www.boxinglatest.co.uk/2008/05/vitali-klitschko.html
Klitschko was ahead on the cards... and ahead in the odds of pulverizing Lewis's face!
I wish tyson never got with don king and then this convo would of been way different
Lennox would've beat a prime Tyson
George Havenhand hahah good one
Orcen222 I know right :D
George Havenhand Tyson meet only 2 real champs Evander and Mr. Lewis.
Azte ka Lewis nver fought a good fighter in his prime. he fought old holyfield and old tyson and outta shape Morrison the only good fighter he fought was vital who beat him every round until that cut and even Lewis was knocked out win wining every round
Gervon Mcintyre no Tyson never fought and beat a top fighter in his prime- he always lost or ducked fighters INCLUDING Lewis!
Lewis beat a very good roided up evander twice! Destroyed a prime Ruddock who had a life and death battle with Tyson the fight before, beat the two up and coming American hypes who beat foreman - Morrison and a prime Briggs, beat the giant undefeated top contender and American hype (Micheal grant), eventually beat up and knocked out Tyson after beating him in sparring in the 80s, he knocked out bowe in the Olympics.
He faced and beat tua- who Tyson didn't face, he beat golota, he beat McCall (who knocked Tyson out in sparring) he beat Rahman,he beat Bruno, he beat Botha, he beat tony tucker, he bet tyrell Biggs, he beat Gary mason, ray mercer, akinwande, he beat the best fighter of the next generation - a prime vitali Klitschko- legitimately by smashing his face up to be stopped .
He faced and beat everyman who would face him.
During the last Round of the Lewis/Klitschko match, Klitschko was almost dead on his feet, he threw very little at Lewis and kept held of him while Lewis was smacking him with Uppercuts. Lewis knew he was in danger, especially in that last round, and up'd his game. Another Round or two Klitschko would have been on the deck or would have been stopped by the Ref. He was done for, but he showed a lot of Heart & had a few Rounds on Lewis, and no one can take that away from Vitali.
Lewis was not ahead on the scorecards when the Klitschko fight ended. I also thought Vitali only got better after that fight, so it would have been an interesting rematch. Vital was never knocked out I don't even think in his career. He lost two bouts due to injury, that's it.
Lennox didn't care about Vitaly, it was a big deal for Vitaly and for people who wanted a rematch...but he didn't care at that time and what he is saying here is pure logic. Period 2.0.
Who is Clit...sko ?
Peak Tyson had skills. Peek a boo defense, movement and feet. It looks like he took punches and knew he could handle. He had timing. He's been described as a power counter-puncher. Doesn't seem like a brawler, he broke his opponents down.
This guy fought all the best heavyweights at the time anlike tyson
Mccall
Rahman
Tua
morrison
holyfield
Witherspoon
mcrory
And the list goes on
The size of the guy, he's a unit 😂
One moment he says he brought Klitschko in the "deep end" and after 5 rounds, that was it. And that most heavyweights only train for 5 rounds. Next moment, he says that after the first few rounds the Klitschko's usually come out on top because they're always in great shape. So which one is it? Sorry Lennox, you're a legend but your analysis of the Klitschko fight just doesn't hold up. I watched it back a thousand times and Klitschko was clearly bossing it completely before the cut, when he could still see, and also even for much of it afterwards, and at the end of the last round you looked totally gassed walking back to your corner to be honest. It was a fair win no question, but not one which satisfactorily and conclusively established who was the better fighter. That's why there was such a big noise for the rematch.
Justin Neill notice how he also seems to change subject when Klitschko is bought up?