07.02.04 – By Janne Romppainen: It probably didn’t come as a surprise to anybody when the heavyweight champion of the world Lennox Lewis decided to call off his long and successful career inside the boxing ring. The move was predictable, since for year and a half, ever since Lewis’ great victory over Mike Tyson in summer 2002, it has appeared that the Brit’s heart is not in the sport anymore. Although some might feel bad about Lewis not giving a rematch for Vitaly Klitschko who gave him a great fight in June 2003, everybody probably agrees that a clear announcement about retirement is better than hanging around in the division without fighting.
Now that Lewis’ career has come to its close (though because this is the boxing circles one has to add “so far”) we can take a look back and see what did it give for us. In conversations that I have followed recently the opinions about Lewis’ legacy have split dramatically. Some point to the impressive numbers of his career and rank him to the top-5 of the division’s all-time rankings. Others observe that he was knocked out twice by lesser fighters and that he never defeated other greats who were in their prime, or that he was a boring fighter who didn’t have guts, and thusly they refuse to place him among the top-15 of the division.
Both sides are correct in their own way but one side has more justification for their opinion. Lewis’ stats are indeed highly impressive. Lewis is one of the very few heavyweight champions who has defeated every opponent he has ever faced. Only Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson can boast with the same achievement if we take on account Riddick Bowe’s NC against Buster Mathis Jr. Lewis has had 18 championship fights, with which he ranks behind only Joe Louis, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali. He has also been among the best five of the division for well over a decade. His final(?) ring record, 41-2-1 (32), is among the finest ever, as is his record from the title fights, 16-2 (11). These facts can not be disputed.
The people who point out that Lewis’ chin made him vulnerable compared to most other heavyweight greats do have a point to a certain degree. Lewis got indeed knocked out twice by single punches, so if you like to create mythical matchups between champions of the history such as Lewis – George Foreman, Lewis – (prime) Mike Tyson or Lewis – Sonny Liston, you always have to consider the possibility that one of these hitters would find Lewis’ chin. Thusly there might be a case for ranking Lewis lower than them.
However it should be remembered that apart from these two fights Lewis never went down officially. In over 20 fights against world-class opposition that isn’t entirely bad achievement. For example Joe Louis has been down more than any heavyweight champion apart from the fragile-chinned Floyd Patterson and nobody can deny his greatness.
Also it must be noted that although Lewis was knocked out, he never was dominated inside the ring. He never got a bad beating from an old heavyweight champion like Joe Louis did from Max Schmeling. He never got outboxed for 12 rounds by a 37-year-old man like Rocky Marciano did against Jersey Joe Walcott. A 190lbs man never gave him considerable amount of trouble like Doug Jones gave to Cassius Clay. A newcomer who had just 15 fights under his belt never came close of beating him like Tim Witherspoon did against Larry Holmes. And Lewis never got outclassed by a journeyman fighter named Buster Douglas. Is it really worse to get careless for a moment and lose the fight via one-punch KO than to get dominated by a man who is supposed to be a much lesser fighter?
Also, it is true that Lewis never in his career defeated a great heavyweight who was in his prime at the fight time. But who has? Myself I can think of only one occasion: when Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman. Apart from that, you can always make a case for the other fighter being past his peak, too raw or something else. Holyfield and Tyson were old when Lewis fought them, Holmes was old when he lost to Tyson, Ali was past his peak when Frazier beat him and so on.
The truth is that besides Lewis there were three other heavyweights in the 1990s that were clearly above the rest: Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe. Out of these three, Lewis beat two, and the third (Bowe) never wanted to meet Lewis in the ring. Along with them, Lewis has faced and beaten Rzor Ruddock (considered back then to be the uncrowned champ of the division), Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno, Tommy Morrison, Ray Mercer, Henry Akinwande, Andrew Golota, Michael Grant, David Tua and Vitaly Klitschko among others. All the fighters mentioned were considered to be among the best of the division at the fight time, although especially Grant’s career has gone radically downslide ever since. A list of top fighters whom Lewis did not face would be a much shorter one. Chris Byrd, Michael Moorer and that’s about it.
Even though Lewis never got up from the floor to win fights he did prove that he was all fighter when needed. Against Ray Mercer he tried to box, but the ring was smaller than he had expected and the tactics didn’t work. He also noticed that his biggest shots had no effect on his granite-chinned foe. But Lewis didn’t fold, he gritted his teeth, fought on Mercer’s terms, took his bruises and pounded out the decision. He came also back from rocky starts to stop Shannon Briggs and Vitaly Klitschko. The fact that he didn’t go down shouldn’t make this displays of courage any worse.
The question about Lewis being “boring” is very subjective of course. Again it is true that for example his fight against David Tua was dull, but that hardly was Lewis’ fault. He used his strengths, longer reach, better technique and movement to easily outbox his foe. Had he fought Tua toe-to-toe, sure the fight could have been more interesting, but he had no reason to do so. Winning is what counts, and Lewis did win impressively. If a fighter gets out of his best tactics because he wants to look good, he is not courageous but dumb. Furthermore it must be noted that Lewis’ KO percentage is one of the best in the division, so obviously something has happened in his fights now and then.
Lewis’ decision to retire before giving Vitaly Klitschko a rerun might have left a bad taste for some, but it must be noted again that Lewis is already 38 years of age. Only George Foreman has ever defended his heavyweight title being older than Lewis would be in the rematch. Already now Lewis is the third oldest fighter to successfully defend his title, behind only Foreman and Jersey Joe Walcott. Moreover, although the fight was a hard one, he did win it so there shouldn’t be any dispute about his decision. If Lewis has the determination to keep his head and stay retired, all the better. He has nothing more to achieve and nothing more prove. We have seen so many tragedies where old fighters have fought one fight too many that we certainly don’t need another one.
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago in my article about Larry Holmes, it usually takes time for a fighter to get his full respect. It might be that after two decades also Lennox Lewis is generally viewed as one of the best heavyweights of the history. In my opinion there is no need to wait the 2020s, he has earned his place among the top-10 champions of the history already now.
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photo (c) Tom Casino/Showtime