Lennox Lewis all time great?

Diego Rodriguez

16.01 - Since winning the undisputed heavyweight championship back in November of 99 Lennox Lewis has accomplished just about everything in boxing that a heavyweight could accomplish. Many people today are beginning to compare Lennox with the Likes of Ali and some would go to the extreme to claim that he is indeed better than Ali.

Although this maybe true, sure its possible if Lennox laced up the gloves and met Ali in his prime he may have beat Ali and sure he may have been able to handle some of the other all time greats but how do we really know that?

If you look back on the career of Lennox Lewis and what he has done in the ring you may find your self confused.

When Lennox Lewis met Riddick Bowe for Olympic gold the story has been told by so many Lewis fans and journalist that Lennox simply Knocked Bowe out. This was not the case at all as a matter of fact the fight was stopped almost fraudulently. In the first round between the two combatants Riddick started at a slow pace feeling his man out but by the middle of the round Bowe began to work combinations and find his man winning the first round with ease.

Going into the second round the referee began to call Bowe on head butts most ringside observers had agreed that those where not head buts in fact no body really understood what the official was calling a butt in the ring. Lewis did come through with a right hand to the side of Bowe's head the official gave Bowe a standing eight count immediately. As the official instructed the fighters to box the two kind of circle each other winging big shots and again Lennox landed some what of a right hand and the official gave another count most believe Bowe was not hurt at all and even though he appeared to be unbothered by the glancing shot the ref stopped the fight awarding Lewis the Gold.

Many Lewis fans believe that Lennox simply knocked Bowe out and that was no where near the case, somehow Lewis fans insist that this is the reason why Bowe had elected to throw the WBC in the trash rather than to fight Lewis after seeing Bowe deal with Evander Holyfield I highly doubt that Bowe was afraid of Lennox due to their first fight in the Olympics.

Lennox Lewis was denied a fight with Bowe and ended up being named the WBC champion of the world and in being named the champion unlike many other fighters Lennox did not win that title in the ring. Shortly there after in his fight against Oliver McCall Lennox Lewis was knocked out by McCall in the second round by a left hook right hand combination and even though Lennox had got up he was still out of it his legs were not under him and the referee had waved off the battle.

When mike Tyson came back out of prison and brought some kind of energy back to the division Lennox Lewis was the number one contender for the WBC title and as the world knows Mike Tyson gave Lewis four million dollars and the title to step aside and allow Tyson to fight Holyfield.

Although with Tyson leaving the title vacant Lewis had to fight for this one it was not given to him the way the first one had been. And who of anybody else did Lennox have to face for the fight than Oliver McCall. Sure most of us remember the scene that McCall began to cry in the ring and pretty much gave up that is what most of us remember but what most of us forget is that McCall was in drug rehab leading into the fight and had been nailed with a series of drug charges just before.

It was only obvious that McCall had some issues he clearly needed to take care of but the question remains how could any sanctioning body allow a fighter with these conditions fight? Much less fight for a world title? Lennox Lewis won the WBC title in beating McCall and this would make Lewis a two time world champion.

So let's do a quick re-cap on what has happened with Lewis thus far, the first WBC title was given to Lewis but shortly after Lewis was knocked out by McCall for that title, and in order to win it again he faced a mentally disturbed crack head in the ring for it.

During his rain as the two time champion Lewis did move on to fighting other top caliber fighters in hopes to unify all three major titles. And sure the whole world knows that the first fight with Holyfield was a draw but the rematch left some questions about who won the second fight and many people believe it was a make up call.

Since Lewis was awarded a decision over Holyfield in the second fight Lewis has pretty much moved on to picking his fights he avoided a fight with number on contender for the WBA and ended up stripped claiming that John Ruiz was not worthy.

And just recently doing the same with Chris Byrd claiming that the people would not be interested in the fight now sure fans have a big influence on what fights we want to see and such but long before we made an impact long before Lewis even wore a title fighters had to follow the rules of the sanctioning bodies in order to get their title shot but some how for Lennox Lewis he feels as if he gets to make the rules as he moves along.

It does not make sense for anybody to consider Lennox Lewis an all time great because of the named fighters on his win list nor how many times he was given a title this is boxing and in this sport you must fight all comers all mandatorys with out any question, this is no Ali nor Holyfield this is simply a fighter who had a great deal of luck on his side and who has exploited a sport and possibly a crown that was the most covenant title in all of sports beating crack heads and receiving gifts do not make you great it is the risk you take in that square circle.

And with the recent news of Lewis giving Vitali Klitschko a hard time in negotiating a deal that would put together some what a mega fight between Lennox and a younger bigger stronger number one contender one would have no other choice but to wonder what the hell Lennox is up to? It is simple in the career of Lennox Lewis he enjoys fights that are easily on his side and in no way would a fight with Vitali or Wladimir could be easy Lewis has not been tested in this way ever and it is out right the work of a coward to duck instead of stand up and fight.

People are now wondering should Evander hang them up already and the answer is of course not since turning heavyweight Holyfield has faced them all Lewis in his whole career cant say that just yet.