Lennox Lewis-The True Greatest
While many people consider Muhammad Ali as 'The Greatest', I think the time has come to bestow this title upon Lennox Lewis. There can be no doubt that Ali was a supreme fighter, one of the best, but with all the sentiment and nostalgia which surrounds this great man, was he truly the best there ever was? Or does this sentiment and nostalgia cloud our judgement? For example, if Ali didn't have the gift of the gab, the looks, and the style outside of the ring, would he be considered as good inside? Maybe not. I have met people who call Ali 'The Greatest', even though they have never seen any of his fights! Even the great George Foreman who succumbed to Ali in their classic 'Rumble in the Jungle', has gone on record as saying, Lewis is the greatest fighter ever.
On his day Lennox Lewis was a fighter you could not fight against. His two defeats to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman respectively, were taken lightly, both of which were avenged with two blistering KO's in the rematches.
Some may say 'what about Tyson?' When Lewis fought Tyson he punished the American severely for the entire fight before knocking him flat out for the second time in round 8. Admittedly Tyson was past his best when the two met (although Lewis is the older man), but even a puncher like Tyson in his prime wading in with bombs against a boxer as intelligent as Lewis, would have been a HUGE mistake.
Others may say 'well, what about Rocky Marciano'. True that Rocky was the only world heavyweight champ to retire undefeated with 49 wins and 0 losses, but can you imagine a boxer of Lennox Lewis' superior movement, power and intellect, taking on the relitively small Marciano? I doubt the fight would last 2 rounds. It would be like Ivan Drago vs Apollo Creed all over again, and we all know what happened to Apollo in that fight, God rest his soul.
Evander Holyfield? Taught a boxing lesson twice by Lewis, (though one was inexplicably called a draw).
It is always difficult to judge great champions from different eras, and it would be very interesting to hear other peoples views. I have put forward my argument for Lennox Lewis, and for me, he is 'The Greatest'.