Lennox Lewis vs Ray Mercer

XThe GreatestX

XThe GreatestX

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What a great fight this was. Rewatched it today and I had Mercer just edging it. I wonder how much the landscape would have changed if Mercer had gotten the decision. Still awesome fight.




For those who don't want to watch the whole fight.
 
I had Mercer winning too.

Actually bet some cash on it and the guy who won paid me anyway because he thought Lennox should have lost.
 
Either guy could have gotten it.

Lewis definitely landed the better shots, IMO. This fight added to both legacys, but in different times and different ways. Mercer's chin became even more legendary and Lennox was derided at the time for struggling with Ray.

It's only later on that you began to respect the Lewis resolve that he did actually posses. Being KOed twice by single punches often has people overlooking that.
 
i agree, it was a fantastic fight that either guy could have gotten the nod in

me personally, i thought Mercer just scraped it but it could have easily been a 1 roud swing either way or even a draw

i have only ever watched the fight once(live) so i may need to revisit and watch it without the American commentating
 
Lennox always had a tendency to get into dog fights - Bruno, Mercer, Briggs, Holyfield rematch (not a dog fight, but Lennox picked the wrong strategy), and course Klitschko.
 
I thought Lewis outworked Mercer over the 12 rounds. I never really saw the horrible decision some people claimed to see here.
 
proncley said:
Lennox always had a tendency to get into dog fights - Bruno, Mercer, Briggs, Holyfield rematch (not a dog fight, but Lennox picked the wrong strategy), and course Klitschko.
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Yeah, i think that may of come from all of the abuse he took through the media and fans alike that he wasnt 'tough' enough.

I am always surprised people dont mention his fight against Mavrovic as well, that was a tough fight to grind out a win in what was a really grinding fight against a tough fighter

I have read a fair bit on Lewis and even Steward was always telling him to go for broke more often, which is what i think led to fights he could have easily won had he used his boxing brain more(exactly what he was criticised for in many fights)
 
treelo said:
Yeah, i think that may of come from all of the abuse he took through the media and fans alike that he wasnt 'tough' enough.
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Not sure this is the case. They deserve credit for dragging him into a dog fight. Ray Mercer made him fight by jabing with him, Shannon Briggs landed some hard shorts early on, and Lennox obviously had no control over Vitali Klitschko at all.

He could fight at length when he sticked to it like he did vs. David Tua, and when he wanted to explode he'd wreck his opponents like he did with Ruddock, Botha, Grant and Golota.

But those dog fights...I don't think he ever wanted to be in one. That's why I'd give George Foreman a good chance at beating Lennox.
 
Even the second holyfield fight was a back n forth scrap. Much closer than the first.
 
proncley said:
Not sure this is the case. They deserve credit for dragging him into a dog fight. Ray Mercer made him fight by jabing with him, Shannon Briggs landed some hard shorts early on, and Lennox obviously had no control over Vitali Klitschko at all.

He could fight at length when he sticked to it like he did vs. David Tua, and when he wanted to explode he'd wreck his opponents like he did with Ruddock, Botha, Grant and Golota.

But those dog fights...I don't think he ever wanted to be in one. That's why I'd give George Foreman a good chance at beating Lennox.
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Then i guess we disagree

He was vilified in the media for not fighting more aggresively as soon as he used his skills to win fights safely(Tua, Jackson, Butler, Tucker, Morrison, Tyson, Hoylfield and Mason to name a few).

He was on a hiding to nothing from a lot of the press at the time regardless of who he fought

I think the longer time goes on, people will appreciatte just what he did a lot more, he beat everyone who wanted to fight him(wait for some fucking dickhead to say he ducked John Ruiz)
 
Seano said:
I thought Lewis outworked Mercer over the 12 rounds. I never really saw the horrible decision some people claimed to see here.
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XThe GreatestX said:
it was 10 rounds
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Guess he scored round 11 and 12 for Lennox.
 
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I fuckin' love this fight, just a real high-class, high-skills heavyweight war, that went down to the wire.

I remember Holyfield was vilified for "struggling" with Mercer (which included winning six rounds & inflicting the first knockdown of Ray's career) because Mercer was supposed to be finished after the Ferguson debacles & the draw he had with some trialhorse.

Then Ray went on to take Lewis to the wire in his very next fight. The Merciless One was a creature of moods & I think his mooted fight versus Bruno would've seen him turn up like he did for Morrison, Lewis & Holyfield. He'd've fucked Bruno up for days.
 
treelo said:
i agree, it was a fantastic fight that either guy could have gotten the nod in

me personally, i thought Mercer just scraped it but it could have easily been a 1 roud swing either way or even a draw

i have only ever watched the fight once(live) so i may need to revisit and watch it without the American commentating
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One thing thats kinda odd that I just now am noticing was Lennox was bobbing and weaving despite being the taller fighter. I'm not sure if I have ever seen that before when a clearly taller fighter starts bobbing and weaving super low against a shorter fighter
 
Just watched a few rounds of it. I remember now thinking that Lewis won that pretty clear.

People thought it was closer because of how Lewis responded when defending punches but Mercer wasn't getting most of his punches in. Lewis was landing clean combos.
 
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