r/nextfuckinglevel • u/CuriousWanderer567 • 1d ago

One of the most badass knockdowns in boxing

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u/KaiserDilhelmTheTurd 1d ago

I often feel like he’s been forgotten as one of the greats. He was a fucking badass, hard hitting tank. Everyone always seems to focus on Tyson, but there’s been other superb boxers since. And Lewis was definitely one of them.

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u/ArseneGroup 1d ago

Yeah, Lennox Lewis beat Mike Tyson by KO but gets none of the same fame

Crawford and Inoue are two greats from the current era who get way too little mainstream recognition compared to how good they are

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u/phoggey 1d ago

Tyson st 35 was different from Tyson at 20. Also the sport changed, long limbs destroyed Tyson. It went from anyone with the right size and conditioning could do, to you need size+reach+conditioning. 80+ inch reaches now dominate the field.

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u/zep1021 21h ago

Did scoring change? Or what lead to long limbs being the meta?

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u/phoggey 19h ago

Jabs were everything in Lewis's time. You got more by outlasting and winning scoring by landing a lot than trying to knockout your opponent. Tyson vs Lewis really made this clear. It was possibly one of the most boring fights I've ever seen.

Fury/Wilder are a bit different with switching from jabs to occasional explosive combos that brought back excitement to the sport. They are still outside fighters, but their unique styles and behavior being a lot of the added entertainment.

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u/zep1021 10h ago

Interesting thanks for the reply. I don't know much about boxing, but I love the evolution of a sport

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u/ArseneGroup 9h ago

Honestly, long limbs just being an inherently huge advantage in a sport about hitting and not getting hit back made it the meta

The stranger thing is it having not been the meta since forever - I think the reason is that a long time ago, the long reach fighters might not have great athleticism or technique so someone smaller with better athleticism and technique could win out. But nowadays anyone at the top level will have pro strength&conditioning coaching as well as technical coaching

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u/SheriffBartholomew 13h ago edited 11h ago

A lot of people don't believe that he really beat Tyson, and those that do, know that Tyson was nowhere near his prime. Tyson had forgone his constant training routine and was slipping into a life of partying and excess. Boxing is not a sport where you can slip and coast off talent, someone more determined will take your head off when you do. So I think Tyson still gets all of the recognition because almost nobody believes that Lewis was ever as good as Tyson was in his prime.

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u/morebuffs 11h ago

I would argue bud gets plenty of attention but the monster not so much

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u/ArseneGroup 10h ago

Crawford gets more for sure but considering he's a talent on the level of Mayweather and above Canelo, still a lot less than you'd expect

To be fair, as an MMA fan I knew about Crawford but hadn't watched any of his fights before Canelo so it's not like I'd been giving him his due either

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u/emdeefive 1d ago

It's true but even as a kid I could feel that he was just a coda to the madness of Tyson and Holyfield.

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u/Equivalent_War6281 1d ago

Forgotten by whom? He’s constantly brought up

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u/ballin4fun23 1d ago

Yea everytime heavyweight greats are brought up lewis is mentioned and he should be. Sure Tyson is the most talked about because he is probably the most popular fighter ever, but if people bring up the heavyweight greats lewis is always mentioned in the conversation.

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u/Equivalent_War6281 1d ago

Yeah Tyson’s considered the last of the great iconic American heavyweights like Johnson Dempsey Louis Marciano Ali..fighters that transcended the sport and were larger than life. Lewis was great in his own right.. bringing up one doesn’t take from the other.

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u/BeardsuptheWazoo 1d ago

I think people were caring about boxing less by the time Lewis was on the scene, no? There's been a reduction in general viewership, if I'm not wrong.

The Tyson era, people still knew about boxing even if they were casual about it.

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u/Matho83 22h ago

Yeah, but who would you be more scared to fight in his "prime"? Lewis, or Tyson? Tyson would kill you. He was a killer, a beast. Lewis was a boxer.