The Legendary Power Of Lennox Lewis

as the years pass more and more boxing fans are starting to agree that the 90s heavyweight division was perhaps the most talent rich and physically capable era in history these are awesome punches oh what a sensational yet amongst the array of beasts one man emerged from start to finish as the finest boxer of them all the only fighter of his time that defeated every foe he faced the pugilist specialist lennox [Applause] [Applause] welcome back to greatest hits here on boxing legends tv on this series we recap an iconic career from the past using vhs tapes that were digitally enhanced and upscaled to recapture that feeling of watching great fights from the 90s on crt televisions we certainly appreciated the feedback on our tommy morrison piece a couple of months ago and ever since we've been working hard to produce a video for a man whose career undoubtedly ranks amongst the top five in the division's history a resume stacked with brutal knockouts in historical battles here now bltv presents lennox lewis's greatest hits alex lewis is the best i lay them all to rest july 12 1991 after establishing himself as the number one contender in europe lennox ventured to the states to start building a resume worthy of international respect here we go round one scheduled for ten and weaver comes right at lewis the crowd started to get on the young brits back and in response lennox unleashed his first big right hand of the night the right hand from linux lewis a stunning sixth round knockout i never got suckered into that i took my time until he exposed himself and then he exposed himself and i ended it for the first and last time of his entire career lennox entered the ring as a significant underdog when he met the murderous punching canadian donovan razor ruddocks [Music] [Applause] made it back to his feet but was quickly put to rest by a man determined to get the job done as quickly as possible [Applause] a huge statement but nothing that surprised lennox as he explained in his post-fight interview watching hours of tape on razoratic i realized that he kept his his left hand low and uh i just took advantage of that he's never beaten him with a fast heavyweight that throws a natural right hand like myself hollywood stars were in the building as lennox lewis looked to certify his recent position as the wbc champion after being handed the belt due to political issues the chess chess [Applause] a perfectly timed right hand sent tucker crashing to the canvas for the first time in his career however the former champ responded well as in the eighth lennox absorbed more punishment than in all of his previous fights combined [Applause] and lewis just standing there the two slugged it out to the finish where lennox earned a unanimous decision in what was an excellent fight to build upon his already feared reputation sorry i'll give tony tucker enough respect because he's got a great chin he's got guts if that was ridic both really would have been down on the ground but tony tucker he realized that this was his last chance and i have to do more to cut in the world five months later lennox was back in the uk to settle a score with the much informed and darling of the nation frank bruno vision at this point you lose your vision with linux lewis you're gonna get knocked out due to his core british roots bruno was the crowd favorite which was evident as they went crazy for every punchy land appeared against williamson over the first four rounds bruno boxed an immaculate fight testing linux's chin to the best of his ability bruno pounding his fist together to jack himself up sometimes a double jab will waste a few times i've heard some more now lennox remained unfazed by bruno's spirited effort as once the big man started gassing he was forced to continue at lennox's relentless pace leaving huge gaps in his defense to explore what a comeback by lewis it was a left hook that turned this around and a frozen frank juno is there taking punishment and mickey van is gonna stop it bruno had a great chin and probably could have absorbed a dozen or more of those big bombs without going down mickey van did the right thing by stopping it of course and lewis gained a huge chunk of fans that he had been so desperate to have on board another big night of world championship boxing took place on october 7th 1995 as the former world champion tommy morrison now sporting a more mature look tried to restore his position as the number one contender i think he will be a little leery of my power everybody is so i i don't think i have physically i have the skills out boxing uh i got to fight my fight it's simple i fight my fight i win lennox's reputation around the division was made pretty clear there by morrison interestingly claiming he couldn't compete with him in a pure boxing world since the mccall fight hard right hand by tommy morrison with those right hands as he stepped inside you got to make it happen somebody you're high on me you're high on me i need to lower to his credit morrison boxed well and threw some troubling shots for three rounds after weathering yet another early storm lennox started piecing up tommy with crisp jabs and overhand rights inflicting heavy damage upon his right eye now he comes back to the jab say to the doctor i've still got my left hook getting very close to a stoppage here you get that sense down goes morrison again and i wonder if that'll do it a terrific performance by lennox lewis another excellent matchup was made for lennox in 1996 as anything short of war with merciless ray mercer wouldn't have sat well with that but he can take another step toward public acceptance here hard to get in good combination by lewis mercer momentarily stunned war is what they wanted and war is what they got the fight had no narrative no ups and downs both men just bludgeoned each other over the scheduled ten rounds for the winner on a split decision a split decision was awarded to the right man with the cleaner work and eye-catching combos from lewis being the overriding factor in what was an even contest as a whole because i hit him with some shots and i felt in my hand and he kept coming after suffering his first pro-defeat lennox hired the man that orchestrated his loss and brought on board the legendary coach emmanuel steward to help him utilize his skills to their full potential effectively followed the fight plan hard right hand by lewis daniels trying to uh lennox was punching hard and fast but even more devastatingly so extremely accurate mccall started acting up to the crowd taunting lewis nothing out of the ordinary for a fighter getting schooled but then things took a bizarre turn mccall started walking around the ring during the intervals and appeared to be crying for reasons no one could quite understand the madness continued as they resumed where mccall seen here walking with his back turned to lewis left no choice for the ref but to stop the fight to ensure the safety of a man that was reluctant to defend himself i've seen some strange things in boxing that is surely one of the strangest mccall's problems like deeper than expected as he was later sectioned under the mental health act and you know when he started walking away i thought it was a joke at first i thought he was trying to know me into something after andrew golotta had proven his boxing ability against riddick beau he entered the ring with lewis even money and was being viewed as a live dog that could out box lennox as and if the rounds progressed a little bit more tentative at the outset and he appeared to be against riddick both they spin back out into the center right hand over the top by lewis gallaudet momentarily stunned left hook by lewis goes down a brutal display of dominance leaving egg on the face of all the experts that quite obviously underestimated how far lennox ranked above lingering contenders and i basically wanted to go out there and hit him before he could uh commit any fouls in there once i had him hurt just take him out [Applause] oh and he catches him off balance and briggs jumps all over him rigs a series of left and right briggs a fearsome fast starter that to this day holds the record for the most first round knockouts at heavyweight came out bombing lewis all over the place and had the brit hanging on for safety for large points during the opening six minutes briggs now fighting in spots picked a good one here shannon's body seized up however from over exerting himself soon after which allowed lennox to take over and start breaking his mandate let's see something now he's a different confidence about him he sees something that shannon brings and go after and i agree i think the timing is right by linux good combination from the champ oh he's just playing with him now the champs is playing with him lewis is completely confident right now nice [ __ ] right oh the right hand behind the jab he is laid out just staring at the ceiling here at boardwalk hall lennox had another chance to ride a wrong on november 13th 1999 rematching the legendary evander holyfield after a scandalous draw a few months prior his gloves have come down i think he's hit by a right hand [Applause] that's a big left hook from lennox lewis this time seventh round here look at this now tremendous action this is how good boxing can be both fighters were ranked one and two by the ring magazine respectively which after eight or nine excellent rounds seemed fair as both guys were evenly matched the championship rounds became the deciding factor as lennox squeezed out every bit of effort throwing combinations off sheer instinct to the final belt as lennox performed his pre-fight war dance his opponent the undefeated american giant michael grant seemed taken back by lewis's calm demeanor [Applause] early thunder from grant lewis tries to fire back grant said he would come out aggressively and he lands a big right hand a lot of valves in your mouth when you get in the ring the first round not enough lubrication there you need [Applause] while he didn't in fact break his legs as george foreman suggested he did shatter his heart and lennox essentially put to rest america's last hope of heavyweight supremacy through a prospect so i i you know i realized i got more superior speed he's never seen a boxer like me so you know i felt very confident going in there set up the right hand there's a crazy left hand thrown but it doesn't connect by lennox lewis with the right hand he hit by the right hand and i'll tell you lennox felt the power nice right hand sport in the uk this is a dandy of the heavyweight night in fights lennox has that jab in the basement david clips outside of the odd leaping hook such as this duo was thoroughly outclassed as lennox proceeded to tee up big right hands at will the samoan's chin ended up being the only skill worthy of great body shots oh the right hand it's in this sort of fight lennox lewis has the wall but david's hurt right now [Applause] look at these shots right hand left foot but right now lennox lewis is giving an old-fashioned whooping to david tua after suffering a shock defeat to haseeb rockmon in south africa lennox wasted no time getting his american opponent back in the ring after what he felt was nothing more than a lucky punch you know he's dealing with disrespect so i have to show him that i'm not taking it i had to just give little lennox lawyers a preview of what he gonna get it on uh november 17th put him on his back they used an excuse of a few idiotic comments to get hands on with each other before the fight yet there was nothing said other than throw away words these two just hated each other and lennox channeled that anger to devastating effects that's very important he's really throwing the punch with authority the jab alone there's that right hand which is when a honey punched him down the years he's going to get his jab wonderful shot by annex lewis and he's laid out it is over revenge redemption considered by many as one of the greatest knockouts in boxing history certainly the sweetest revenge those things really helped me you know i shot a lot of disrespect there and i just i just was keeping all these things inside me i said okay you're going to pay fight time after years of ducking and dodging lennox finally got his hands on the man he needed to defeat to proclaim himself the greatest of his era mike tyson passed his best unquestionably but five years unbeaten in the ring and still packing the power grand enough to clean the clock of any man in the manny stewart decision him to do big left hand by tyson after the jab by lewis [Applause] uppercut [Applause] uppercut and a you have to be in this man's chest you understand make this a very ugly fight now tyson started fast using his renowned peekaboo strategy to get inside and trouble lewis there was only so long the american could keep it up for however and once he started slowing down lennox's superior timing and conditioning pushed mike to his limit you got a dead man in front of you and you still doing this just let that [ __ ] go let's fight that's all the way if lennox didn't knock him out soon i think emmanuel stewart was close enough to going out there and doing it himself [Applause] he certainly demonstrated some of the very best of it tonight nicely trying to let his hands go upside down getting more so big jumps from lewis got the buster douglas at the end of the eighth round and that's gonna be perhaps the end of the fight he's up athletic slowest knocks out by tyson and banishes him from the upper stratosphere of the heavyweight division lennox was only one year younger than tyson here 35 and 36 yet his dedication to the sport throughout his 20s and 30s made him a far superior conditioned athlete but uh he was still determined he was still tough and he can take a hell of a punch because i hit him with some great punches and boy he can take him for real [Music] in what was supposed to have been a routine retirement fight against kirk johnson it turned into a significant battle of the ages as the then relatively unknown ukrainian giant vitaly klitschko who we now consider the best heavyweight of the 2000s stepped in as a late replacement to the strains of the eagles hotel california so will it be heaven or will it be held [Applause] to the [Applause] by taking the fight directly to lewis instead of engaging in a battle of the jabs as many thought he would the assault never slowed down only lennox after a couple of tough rounds was able to wake up and finally start competing with his determined opponent on a level playing field which led to an incredibly rare slugfest between the two six foot six plus giants every time the limit's moved [Applause] but lewis beginning to sharpen up his punches and landing at a higher and higher rate no cut man in the world could have cleaned up this mess and it led to the ref to this clear dismay of vitaly calling a halt to the action many people think lennox got fortunate here and it's easy to see why but if you look back on all the fights we presented today show me one time where his conditioning and boxing skill didn't result in him eventually taking over and becoming the ring general renders fight for six rounds yeah i wanted to be i wanted to be in a dogfight because i know when the going gets tough the tough get going i'm tougher than him unlike all the heavyweights out there he has never ducked an opponent [Music] the man's at least when he was boxing you know he's got we've got we got his pictures all up in my gym he's a good fighter you make great fight with five they will not fight wow the only fighter out there that um i've always looked at and just thought i don't know what i would have done is let it loose double jab gonna waste a few times i've always said from the day that i first saw linux it was the best heavyweight that i ever saw he took some of the best shots i had to give left hook by lewis he's a long-arm guy i have no uh no excuses i mean he did he was a better man tonight nice chat right that bear and it seemed like everything started happening to me he was he busted my eardrum he's he's very good um why is he good he's big he's strong he has you know classy moves he's you know he's a good fighter [Applause] probably one of the greatest if not the greatest he didn't beat everybody to get his job four pounds wonderful shot by slewing i'd have fought him but i'd have known deep down in my heart in the heart of hearts yeah it's not gonna go that well for you

Channel: BLTV Extra

Views: 3,034,686

Rating: 4.7466536 out of 5

Keywords: Lennox Lewis, highlights, bltv, boxing, boxing legends tv, the legendary power, tommy morrison, vitali klitschko

Id: mFJb55D84dc

Length: 20min 6sec (1206 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 22 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/deadshotboxing]

Lennox never ducked anyone. This dude was the personification of the word ‘fighter’.

Prime Lennox had the build of AJ but more naturally tougher, coupled with the reach of Fury and the 1-2 Kronk power and hellacious uppercuts that would shatter both of them. Dude was MADE to fight.

[u/0dias_Chrysalis]

I like how the thumbnail implies a 6'4" Tyson

[u/bball4224]

So supposedly there's lots of Americans that don't like British boxers, etc. So how popular is Lewis here among American fans?

I only just watched what me and my dad watched. I wasn't really in the scene to know other people's opinions. But I remember Lennox being one of the guys we watched pretty consistently, before we stopped watching boxing regularly. (We've both gotten back into it a bit over the past few years, me a bit moreso than him though.)

[u/1firedupmadman]

Ox was a beast. Never backed down from a challenge, and hiring the coach who was able to defeat you was a stroke of genius

[u/antihostile]

I still think he’s one of the most underrated HW of all time. He fucking OWNED the 90s. You can say the division was weak if you want but he did beat Evander TWICE. And Tyson. And Vitali. And Tua. And Botha. He was great, but a chess player inside the ring and not a shit-talker outside the ring, so he doesn’t get his props. Top Ten.

[u/MrBismarck]

I remember being so annoyed when Lewis fought Gary Mason because the bulk of the English fans were cheering Mason and it showed such a limitation of thinking. We already had a game, stiff fighter in Frank Bruno and neither him or Mason were going to take over the division the way Lewis could if everyone got behind him.

A year later Lewis was smashing Razor Ruddock in two rounds and still people in England didn't think he was at Bruno's level.

A couple favourite moments for me were the face Golota makes when he takes the first knockdown, the overhead view of the second Rahman fight as Rahman lies on the canvas with his head in the crown logo and then the fourth round of the fight with Shannon Briggs.

Toward the end of that round Lewis slips three punches in a row and then smiles with his hands down below his waist and then fires in a L/R-L-R combo that puts Briggs down again. A really beautiful moment.

[u/MtCarmelUnited]

Man, that attack from Briggs though. Shows how tough Lewis was, to wait out so many brutal fighters.

[u/FunkyFridays]

I just wish he had a rematch with Vitali.

[u/UraeusCurse]

Where should we put Lennox Lewis on the all-time list of HWs?