Tyson Vs Lennox Lewis in Tyson's Prime?

Question

We all know Lennox destroyed Tyson in their fight. I always felt the Lennox beat the name Tyson not so much the Tyson of old.
Tyson and Lennox came into the fight came around the same time. Rumors flew that Lennox wanted to fight Tyson back in the mid 80's. I always wondered if that fight had taken place, before the Buster Douglas upset, who would have won. I would have to say Tyson earlie, with in the first 5 rounds. Lennox is known for having a glass chin.

Answer 1

as lewis so eloquently put it after their fight, tyson had matured at 19! lewis matured much later in life, under manny steward(but then who wouldn't?) so, in his prime, which was rather impressive, tyson would have whupped lewis easy. think you really answered this question yourself. going into their fight, tyson's strategy was to come in under lewis' jab and punish the body to bring down his defenses and go up top. a sound plan that would have worked had his skills not eroded. had tyson employed this strategy in his prime against lewis, he most certainly would have knocked him out in the early-middle rounds. remember early on, tyson fought tall guys all the time - he is only 5' 10"; he fought in combinations, not one punch like in his later career; his defense was sound, the bobbing and weaving would have made him a much harder target to hit; he fought in angles, making it even harder to get hit cleanly; his psyche was much tougher when he was younger, he became more unstable later in his career; tyson was amazingly fast - speed = power!; lewis laways had a "coke-bottle" chin - still made of glass but tough glass. he could be rocked and tagged, once you got through that long jab of his. so, tyson whups lewis in their prime...fighting tyson in the gym was not exactly like fighting tyson in the ring at showtime...there's a reason everyone was intimidated by him and so many of his opponents (e.g. holyfield, bruno, rudduck) commented something to the effect that seeing him across the ring was intimidating!

Answer 2

I'm not one of those people. I think that a prime Tyson KO's Lewis early. The problem with a prime tyson is that he didn't meat alot of other good fighters before he fell off a cliff. I just don't see how a chinny Lewis can Beat the Mike tyson who fought Trevor Berbick, Jesse Ferguson, Michael Spinks, Larry holmes. That Tyson was still very Scientific and just a flat out destroyer just having a jab and skills were not enough you had to be able to absorb some punishment.

Answer 3

To beat the great Mike Tyson, you had to have these factors:
1. Not be afraid of him
2. Have a fast jab
3. Be always first and beat him to the punch
4. You gotta be quick

Lennox Lewis had the first factor. He didn't had the next 3. You could never beat Tyson if you didn't had that speed. Evander Holyfield and Buster Douglas beat Tyson because both of them had all the 4 factors above mentioned.

Answer 4

I think Tyson beats Lennox due to the fact that even though Lennox has the skill, something about him was a bit fragile, and his style would get him in trouble at some point against prime Tyson.And Lennox wasn't the fastest guy in the world.

Answer 5

Lewis was always a bad matchup for Tyson. Lewis under Steward was always content jabbing away at his opponents to weaken and tire them. Just like he did in their actual fight, he still would have done against a prime Tyson. As posted by someone else, Tyson did definitely have issues against tall fighters.

Its funny, I say Tyson could beat Ali but not Lewis. That is almost solely on the fact that Tyson had issues against tall fighters, and Lewis style really was more effective than Ali's. Not necessarily saying Lewis was a better fighter though.

Answer 6

I used to think that prime Tyson would have found Lewis' glass jaw. But then I think about how fragile Tyson's psyche was when it came to his opponent fighting back and challenging him. So, a prime Tyson beats the free swinging Lewis that lost to McCall. But a prime Tyson quits against the disciplined Lewis that was trained by Manny Steward. I just don't see how Tyson beats a confident and disciplined Lewis.

Answer 7

I still think we would have seen the same result, Lennox would have won. True his chin was suspect and if Tyson would have landed a power shot he could have KO'd Lewis but I just don't think that Tyson could have touched him. Lewis just had to good of a jab and we all have seen that Tyson couldnt handle anyone who kept him away with the jab.

Answer 8

First of all you're mistaken. Lennox didnt turn pro until 1989. He was an amateur and won the gold medal stopping Riddick Bowe in the 88 games in South Korea.

Second of all Lennox did nto have a glass chin. If he did dont you think Evander Holyfield, Frank Bruno, Mike Weaver, Razor Ruddock, Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison, Andrew Golota, Shannon Briggs, David Tua, Michael Grant, Vitali Klitschko (all heavy punchers) would have knocked him out????? because they all landed good punches against him.

Because he lost a few times by one punch knockouts doesnt mean he had a glass chin. You get careless and let Rahman or McCall land one of those punches on you and I bet 95% of heavyweights dont get up. He got back up and whipped both of those guys in the rematches.

Lastly, when they were amateurs they sparred and they had to stop it because Lennox was playing with IRON MIKE. This was just before the 1984 trials and Mike was a monster. Lennox had the style and size to give Mike fits in 1984 or 2002.

So if you think Mike would get to him within 5 rounds thats some wishful thinking but not too accurate.

Answer 9

No, that was the real Tyson Lennox beat, and had they met back in the eighties, the same thing would have happened. Mike's whole game was the bum rush, and the minute he was put in the ring with someone who wasn't a bum, the real Tyson was exposed.

Answer 10

We all know that Tyson is capable of beating up bigger fighters-badly! Lewis, even in his prime cannot win against an animal. Tyson was ruthless. He was arguably the strongest AND fastest heavyweight of his era. Lewis was smart and had used his ring generalship to win most of his fights. Let's not forget, though, Tyson was smart, too. Tyson has also mastered the art of intimidation. Lewis's chin is very vulnerable. Tyson would focus on Lewis's head. As good as Tyson os offensively, Tyson also had defense. He had great movement and footwork. I think Lewis would give Tyson problems earlly, but nothing that's too much for Tyson to handle. Lewis will jab Tyson, yes; but Tyson can manage to get inside Lewis's body. Tyson will throw great uppercuts there that would land clean on Lewis's chin.
Seriously, if Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall(both of whom Tyson would have defeated in his prime by knockout) can make Lewis see stars, then surely Tyson can show Lewis the entire universe. Tyson by knockout in the 7th round.