Now that a little time has gone by since Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KOs) has been out of boxing, I thought it would be an interesting idea to speculate how “The Lion” would have done against today’s top heavyweight champions – Wladimir Klitschko, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev and Samuel Peter. Lewis was perhaps in his prime in 1997, around the time that he destroyed Andrew Golota in one vicious round at the Caesars Hotel & Casino, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At that time in his career, the 6″5″ 250 lb Lewis was almost indestructible, with impressive wins over Ray Mercer, Oliver McCall and Tommy Morrison already on his resume.
Although he would later lose by 5th round KO to Hasim Rahman in 2001, that was more of a blip on his career radar screen. in 1997, however, Lewis had next to no competition to speak of, as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield appeared to want none of him, and rightly so, they would have most likely been easily defeated by this giant of a boxing legend. So, how would today’s top heavyweights do against this version of Lewis? I’ve purposely left out World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev because I don’t see him beating Samuel Peter in their scheduled March 8th bout, hence he doesn’t apply to this list. Here below I’ll discuss my thoughts on a hypothetical match up:
1.) Wladimir Klitschko – (49-3, 44 KOs) At 6’6″ 244, Wladimir would match up with Lewis the best of the current top heavyweights, and in terms of skill and power, Wladimir may indeed be better than Lewis, except that Wladimir seems to go to pieces when facing tough challenges. Additionally, Wladimir has never been able to deal with a huge power puncher such as Lewis, as he’s failed miserably in knockout losses to Ross Puritty, Lamon Brewster and Corrie Sanders. Since then, Wladimir has been pretty well protected, keeping him away from huge punchers like a Lewis. Wladimir would have a decent chance against Lewis in the first round of the fight, but that’s only if Wladimir came out completely on fire, attempting to take Lewis’ head off. If, however, Wladimir tried to play it safe, which is would he would probably do, Lewis would quickly break him down and take him out with a big right hand. Outcome: Lewis by 3rd round KO.
2.) Samuel Peter – (29-1, 22 KOs) of the four heavyweight champions, Peter, the World Boxing Council interim title holder, would possibly be the biggest threat to Lewis, mainly because of Peter’s all out style of fighting, as well as his tendency to throw rabbit punches while in close. I see Lewis fighting very afraid, fearful of getting hit with one of Peter’s wildly thrown rabbit punches and possibly getting knocked out. However, Lewis would treat this fight much in the same way he did with David Tua, by clinching Peter every time he gets in close. Lewis, though, would take his lumps in the fight because it’s almost impossible to clinch Peter when he’s charging in full bore. I see Lewis playing safe, using his jab and grab technique to keep Peter from getting in his punches while in close. Outcome: Lewis by 12-round unanimous decision.
3.) Sultan Ibragimov – (22-0, 17 KOs). Though Ibragimov, 32, is undefeated and has still yet to be shown how to lose, he would have big problems with the size or Lewis. Ibragimov, currently the World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion, stands only 6’2″, and has short arms for his height. This would be a problem, because Ibragimov doesn’t have a lot of power to worry Lewis, and mostly tends to engage in short bursts while staying mostly on the outside. It’s helpful that he’s a southpaw, but his lack of power would make Lewis bold, unafraid to go after his with his big right shots. I noticed that Ibragimov didn’t look good in the few occasions that he was hit with decent right hands by Evander Holyfield, his last opponent. If the 44 year-old Holyfield has enough power to worry Ibragimov, than Lewis would likely annihilate him in short order. Outcome: Lewis by 5th round KO.
4.) Ruslan Chagaev – (23-0, 17 KOs). Another undefeated Eastern European heavyweight, Chagaev is the current Wold Boxing Association heavyweight champion, who won the title with a gift decision against 7′ Nicolai Valuev in April 2007. Chagaev, only 6-feet tall, and nicknamed “The White Tyson,” is mostly a counter puncher, and uses the same kind of in and out type of fighting that Ibragimov does. He won’t stand and trade with most of his opponents, at least the good ones, as he prefers to pick his spots in which he lands one or two shots, and then scurries away. He’s fought mostly limited opposition at this point and the few times he’s stepped it up against top notch fighters – Valuev, Vladimir Virchis and John Ruiz – he’s struggled, barely escaping with a win. Against Lewis, Chagaev would be in deep trouble, for he wouldn’t be able to use his peek a boo type of fighting style, as Lewis would nail him with jabs and right hands from the outside. As such, Chagaev would be forced to come in side on Lewis, who would then likely tie him up in a clinch. I can’t see Lewis stopping him because Chagaev tends to run alot, such was the case against Valuev and Virchis when they attempted to engage with him. His power is average, despite his misleading nickname of “The White Tyson.” Outcome: Lewis by unanimous decision.
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