Why isn't Lennox Lewis given the credit he deserves?

Question

I place Lennox Lewis easily on my top five of greatest heavyweight champions. He might even be as high as #2 or #3.

First of all, he had beaten everyone he faced. This includes Tyson, Holyfield and anyone deemed to be the number one contender at the time of him being champion-i.e. Michael Grant, David Tua and Klitchco (yes-I know spelled it wrong).
Secondly, he had fighters purposely avoiding him. Tyson even paid him millions to not to fight him. Riddick Bowe gave up his WBC belt not to fight him. That is because they all feared him.

I know most people are going to talk about his two losses. The only reason why he lost those two fights was because he took his opponents lightly and was being careless. Once he took them seriously, he demolished Rahman and McCall in their second fights. After all, Mohammed Ali had to avenge his losses to be considered the best. Why isn't Lewis not be given that same benefit?

Answer 1

Batman253, I agree with you, he doesn't get the credit he deserves for being one of the best heavyweight champions of all times. Many people point to the "fact" that Lennox reigned during a crop of weaker heavyweights... yet at times, these same people claim some fighters are sooooo gooooood, they just make their opposition look bad, i.e. Roy Jones, therefore Lennox doesn't get a free pass for being a dominating force. Maybe the division wasn't filled with names such as Frazier, Ali, Norton, Foreman, Shavers, Patterson, etc. but to claim Lennox fought a bunch of nobodys during his career (James E.F claims "other than Holyfield... He dodged all the better than average heavyweights...") is absolutely absurd. Look at this list of fighters Lennox fought. If you say these guys were "less than average", you either don't know much about boxing, or you just do not want to give Lennox Lewis his due:
V. Klitschko, Tyson, Rahman, Tua, Francois Botha, Michael Grant, Holyfield, Shannon Briggs, Golota, McCall, Ray Mercer, Frank Bruno, Tony Tucker, Razor Ruddock, Tyrell Biggs, Mike Weaver
Lennox and Tyson common opponents:
Francois Botha (who gave Mike all he could handle until he attempted to break Botha's arm), Holyfield, Golota, Bruno, Ruddock, Tyrell Biggs.
Upon reading this list, please tell me who Lennox dodged. The obvious answer from the anti- Lennox establishment is Riddick Bowe. Check the facts people. Rather than fight Lennox, Bowe threw a belt away. So who remained for Lennox to duck?
So if people believe Lennox fought mediocre opposition, I guess it can be said so did Iron Mike. Also, those who claim Lennox was fighting these greats "after their primes" who is to say Lewis himself was not after his prime during these bouts?
Finally, the big sticking point for the anti- Lennox establishment is his last fight against Vitali. Many people say he was losing, he looked terrible, blah-blah-blah... Vitali didn't look that great either. He was wobbled during the fight himself. The knock on Lewis was that he had a weak chin and didn't like to brawl. He brawled during this fight and took as well as he received, having many Vitali bombs landing squarely on his beard.
Lennox is an alltime great... deal with it people.

Answer 2

I think among Lennox's many fans that he is given the credit that he deserves and his record speaks for itself. It may only be that he was a British citizen that slowed him from becoming world champion sooner than he did but consider that he beat Riddick Bowe to win the Gold medal at the Seoul 1988 Olympics in 2 rounds by knockout and that Bowe refused to fight him once they were both professional. Lennox is one of the best ever fighters in any divison who constantly had the top contenders ducking him because he was the best.

Answer 3

Lennox Lewis was a good fighter, but not a great one. I don't think he is a top 10 all-time heavyweight. He got beat by TWO GOOFY BUMS IN HIS PRIME...NUFF SAID.
He beat Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson when both of them were shot, washed up and over the hill.

Answer 4

Because when he fought, he was BORRRRING. So scientific, so boring, despite record, -0- killer instinct for a heavy weight. So what if he demolished Rahman and MCall? Who the heck are they? One was lucky to be where he was; one was a mental case/ Who cares if he beat Tyson and Holyfield. Nice to fight guys at the end of their careers rather than fighting them at their prime. All of the other great heavyweights (Holmes, Tyson, Ali, etc.) were given credit because they beat the best to be the best. And while we're at it,. I hope Lennox gets fired from his HBO gig. He single-handedly found the cure for insomnia---just keep talking nonsense Lennox, just keep talking nonsense.

Answer 5

Who Did Lennox Fight?

Other then Holyfield ( Holyfield was beyond his prime then) He dodged all the better then average Heavywieghts that were there at the time.....

And he was losing to Klitchco but the ref stopped the fight and they gave it to Him. Another case of King's Corruption Of the Boxing World?

I do not know where you got your info.
But King did not want him to fight Tyson in the first place....
And besides Tyson was not the same fighter he was after his prison term. again not in his prime.......

Answer 6

In todays era the heavyweight class in pretty lame, You can say he fought those guys like Tyson, and holyfield, but they were outta there prime. Tyson was hands down the best fight in his prime. Holyfield was good also. but i dont give him the top 5 in my opinion, just because his fight record. A top 10 most definitely but thats just my own opinion.

Answer 7

im not sure because in my opinion he was good as anyone hw ive ever seen, that includes ali. george foreman once said he could have never beaten lewis and that is saying alot. i think he is disliked because he is not american. hes my fav, thanks for asking, not many lewis fans out there. also klitchco may have been winning on cards but the cut ended it and to me its like a knockout, he beat him right? and 4 those that say he was afraid of the klitchkos cause of their size, well look what he did to grant!

Answer 8

i think mainly because he left canada to fight for england. The american market at the time had great heavyweights so he got thrown to the back. if he was in his prime now he would of gotten more credit, and if he moved to the states.

Answer 9

Because he was champion in a very mediocre era of heavyweight boxing.

Answer 10

becasue he retired instead of giving klitskco a rematch. he was beaten in the fight but klitsko had a cut on his eye that disqualified him. lewis did not want to fight the klitskos becasue they were just as big as he was.