Boxing Thread

[Frankie Crisp]

Great post. Lewis was/is my second favourite british boxer - after Benn. Personally i think he is the greatest heavyweight of all time. What i mean by that is, that in his prime he would beat any other heavyweight against there prime, past or present. I just think he had everything, size, speed, strength, great array of punches. He would have been to big for the smaller heavyweights and to quick and powerful for the larger heavyweights.

Watching Ringside at the mo. Khan and Kell Brook and Audley on, good show.

I love Lewis and think he was brilliant, but that's an absurd thing to say.

[wandshogun09]

We can claim him as the best British Heavyweight ever but best Heavyweight would be a stretch. Ali, Frazier, Marciano, Louis, Dempsey and Johnson would all have to be higher for sure. Probably more as well.

Edited October 5, 2012 by wandshogun09

[Frankie Crisp]

Bingo. Tyson, too.

[Egg Shen]

anyone seen ESPN's Greatest Heavyweight's discussion panel? well worth a look, it's probably the most in depth video look at trying to make a definitive list....of course it's dated so Lennox Lewis doens't make the cut (im pretty sure it was made when he was still boxing). But it's well worth 4-5 hours of your time, loads of classic footage included.

 

It's available to buy in the shops now as well.

[CurryAngel]

Do we think Lewis would have beaten Tyson if Mike had kept on the straight and narrow during the early 90s? Personally, I'd take Lewis 9 times out of 10 whenever they fought. Defensively he is too good, added to his reach advantage and his use of the jab I can't see any way for Iron Mike to have beaten him.

 

I'd even go as far to rank the Klitschko brothers above both and say they'd be top 5 all time. Dodgy to say due to who they've fought but I think they'd beat most of the top heavyweights of any era.

[jimufctna24]

Do we think Lewis would have beaten Tyson if Mike had kept on the straight and narrow during the early 90s? Personally, I'd take Lewis 9 times out of 10 whenever they fought. Defensively he is too good, added to his reach advantage and his use of the jab I can't see any way for Iron Mike to have beaten him.

 

I'd even go as far to rank the Klitschko brothers above both and say they'd be top 5 all time. Dodgy to say due to who they've fought but I think they'd beat most of the top heavyweights of any era.

Alain Prost, Lennox Lewis and Dan Henderson. You are one boring bastard

 

Anyway, Tyson at his peak under Cus was a killer, it is hard to say how that version would fare against Lennox.

 

Tyson had wicked head movement in his prime. his reflexes were scary. I can agree Lennox was always a bad match-up for him. Anytime they fought past the Buster Douglas fight I would go with Lewis, before then maybe Tyson.

 

For me Ali is the best, but the Klitschko's by now are both in or around the top 10, if not the top 20.

[CurryAngel]

I'm a connoisseur of talent my friend

 

Supporting a crap football team balances that out I think!

[Carbomb]

Whilst I personally believe Ali is the greatest ever, I think the question of "Who would win if they all met in their prime?" is still one that can never really be answered, in any sport at all, really, because when we talk about their "prime", we're talking about the best we've ever seen them, rather than the best they could actually be - it doesn't take into account the differences made by all the advances made in sports science and methodology, which are very significant.

 

I believe that Ali in his prime might actually lose to Lewis, simply because Lewis' training regime would've afforded him optimal stamina, strength, constitution, etc. That doesn't mean Lewis is better, because we have no idea just how good Ali would've been in a modern system. Scary to think, actually.

 

I think the nearest we could get would be to ask ourselves whom we think would've been the greatest in the context of their own era, but even then it's a topic fraught with such variables, I don't think any answer would be particularly satisfactory.

[Egg Shen]

finally got to see the Klitschko documentary, fantastic stuff. If you follow the brothers the story is familiar but the footage on there is gold. The backstage stuff is fascinating, and it's a fitting tribute to the boys career's. It's a shame that they didn't put it together after the Haye fight so that stuff could have been included because that's probably the most interesting phase of either's career. It ends just before. The best part of the documentary is showing how Vitali babies Wladamir, being the over-protective older sibling, it shows Wlad not really wanting it but Vitali can't help but be his big brother. The footage of Vitali in Wlad's corner during the 1st Samuel Peter fight is brilliant.

 

Oh, on current matters, looks like Frank Warren is close to seeing up a Ricky Burns/Adrien Broner fight for early next year, fuck yes!

[wandshogun09]

Burns vs Broner would be fantastic. And exactly the type of fight Burns needs now in my opinion. I'll pick up the Klitschko doc. Looks good, I've been meaning to watch that for months.

 

Whilst I personally believe Ali is the greatest ever, I think the question of "Who would win if they all met in their prime?" is still one that can never really be answered, in any sport at all, really, because when we talk about their "prime", we're talking about the best we've ever seen them, rather than the best they could actually be - it doesn't take into account the differences made by all the advances made in sports science and methodology, which are very significant.

 

I believe that Ali in his prime might actually lose to Lewis, simply because Lewis' training regime would've afforded him optimal stamina, strength, constitution, etc. That doesn't mean Lewis is better, because we have no idea just how good Ali would've been in a modern system. Scary to think, actually.

 

I think the nearest we could get would be to ask ourselves whom we think would've been the greatest in the context of their own era, but even then it's a topic fraught with such variables, I don't think any answer would be particularly satisfactory.

 

Very well put. Talk of who's the 'Best Ever' and primes is all pretty much guesswork really. Might be an educated guess but it's a guess all the same. It's impossible to know.

 

An example I think of is Salvador Sanchez, probably one of my top 5 or 6 favourite boxers to watch. He was a Mexican featherweight who dominated in the late 70s-early 80s. He was a great fighter who died in his early 20s in a car crash. Right at the "height of his prime" people say. But it's impossible to say if that was his prime. Fighters peak at different points in their career. Bernard Hopkins was still looking great into his 40s while others are shot by their late 20s. Sanchez, as great as he was, might not have even reached his full potential at the time of his death.

 

The thought of Ali with todays training methods is indeed scary. Take the Ali (Clay) from the 60s and give him all the training knowledge, equipment and advanced training methods available today, combined with his natural speed and reflexes...he'd be damn near unstoppable.

 

Still, the greatest ever talk, all we can go on is what we saw and based on that you have to put Ali and a handful of others over Lewis for me. In fairness though, re-reading Mr Lawrence's post, he did say that prime vs prime (for what we assume is their primes), he thinks Lewis would beat the rest. Not that he achieved more or anything. Fair enough.

[Egg Shen]

anyone catch Ringside? Amir Khan/Kell Brook got pretty heated on there, first disagreeing about who got the better of old sparring sessions, then having a right old argument at the end of the show with the 'you're gonna get knocked out' talk going back and forth. It's a fight that needs to happen, it's been brimming for years but i'd love to f'n see it.

 

Audley Harrison came off great on there too, ive always had a soft spot for the useless lump, he's clearly got the gift of the gab and im hopeful that he at least puts up some kind of a fight against David Price next week.

[PowerButchi]

A-Force is going to KTFO the lanky scouse in Rd1.

 

I BELIEVE IN YOUR DESTINY, AUDLEY!

[Mr Lawrence]

I know this might seem really absurd but i have a feeling Fraudley may knock Price out, i really hope he doesnt but i just have a feeling this lump will knock him out. I have put a quid on an Audley knockout in every round, it ranges from 50 to 80/1 odds and a few quid on Audley any method at 11/2.

Degale is on ch5 next week as well, should be a good night of boxing.

Brook is on the following week with Jamie Mcdonell on the undercard. I really like Mcdonell, like Ricky Burns he seems a really nice chap.

 

I watched Ringside, good stuff, Khan seemed a bit of a dick to me, wether it was just hyping a future fight or not i don't know. Khan seems to think he is in the elite of Boxing when he clearly isnt. In saying that he did have a point that Brook has really been in with no one world class. Would be an interesting fight.

 

On a different note, it amazes me how all the boxers who have been on Ringside go on about how great Ricky Hatton looks etc.....but no one has ever mentioned that Hattons punch resistance may have gone. I really want Hatton to succeed on his comeback but fear the worst. His style is not built for longevity and being 34 yrs old with over 40 fights under his belt and not having fought for 3 and a half years i really fear the worst.

[britishwrestlinglegends]

I know this might seem really absurd but i have a feeling Fraudley may knock Price out, i really hope he doesnt but i just have a feeling this lump will knock him out. I have put a quid on an Audley knockout in every round, it ranges from 50 to 80/1 odds and a few quid on Audley any method at 11/2.

Degale is on ch5 next week as well, should be a good night of boxing.

Brook is on the following week with Jamie Mcdonell on the undercard. I really like Mcdonell, like Ricky Burns he seems a really nice chap.

 

I watched Ringside, good stuff, Khan seemed a bit of a dick to me, wether it was just hyping a future fight or not i don't know. Khan seems to think he is in the elite of Boxing when he clearly isnt. In saying that he did have a point that Brook has really been in with no one world class. Would be an interesting fight.

 

On a different note, it amazes me how all the boxers who have been on Ringside go on about how great Ricky Hatton looks etc.....but no one has ever mentioned that Hattons punch resistance may have gone. I really want Hatton to succeed on his comeback but fear the worst. His style is not built for longevity and being 34 yrs old with over 40 fights under his belt and not having fought for 3 and a half years i really fear the worst.

Well it's your money to throw away? He aint called "Fraudley" for nothing! Really looking forward to Price laying him out, Hopefully the Fraudster will then retire and give us all a rest from his bullshit & shoddy performances.

[Dr Reefer]

British boxer Ali Adams handed two-year suspension for steroid use

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/oct/0...banned-steroids

 

UK Anti-Doping said the Iraqi-born boxer tested positive for stanozolol following his four-round loss to the 2000 Olympic champion Audley Harrison on 26 May. The ban will run until 13 June, 2014.

 

Why did he bother?