Just watched it again for the first time in years. THAT Mercer would retire Wilder and Fury both, back to back. And Lewis would probably KO any of today’s heavys inside of 5
I still feel Mercer won that fight 6-4. I doubt he would have ever ran Lewis close again. Just that one night he fought outside his mind.
For what it's worth, Lewis was NOT ready for Tyson in 96. I know it was Mike who avoided it at that point, but he was wrong to. Tyson would have stopped Lewis in 96.
One of my favourite heavyweight fights, very underrated. I disagree however that Tyson would have beaten Lewis in '96 based off of this fight. The main reason Mercer was able to enjoy so much success in this fight was because he could match Lewis's jab, not sure the Tyson of '96 could have done the same.
I think the key is just to take away lewis's dominance with the jab, not 'match it' per se. Then its a fight. One way or another i doubt tyson-lewis sees the 7th round in 96. Bish kerplang bang kerpow!
This works in larger scale too. The ones who could somewhat jab with Holmes made it difficult for him, even if they were lesser fighters (Williams, Smith, Berbick), the boxers who could keep up with Ali troubled him more than better, slower guys etc.
Well I mean, if you look at most of the fighters who were competitive with Lewis (Mercer, Bruno, Rahman in the first fight, Vitali), they were all able to at least match Lewis's jab with their own. The only exception was McCall in the first fight who was looking to counter with the right from the off.
Wouldn't argue with '96 Tyson being more competitive though, and dangerous for a longer period of time. He was obviously better than the version who actually fought Lewis, still don't see him winning though.
He could as he had a great jab, but how consistently would '96 Tyson be able to match it for? I don't see him being able to do it anywhere near as well as Mercer did, not that version of Tyson anyway.
It was weird, Lewis was coming off a year of inactivity and was heavier than usual but fought his ass off. Fought much better than he had in his other big fights against Holmes and Holyfield, or even when he beat Morrison after getting his ass kicked in the first 3 rounds. I personally scored it even at 95-95
I remember Lewis blamed it on two things, first was that Mercer's jab was better than he thought and caught him by surprise, and secondly that Mercer's friends and family bought out the two rows closest to the ring and the judges were swayed by their cheering whenever Mercer landed. Obviously he said this because Lewis can never, ever give full credit to his opponent
This is true with pretty much all fighters, tbh I had it 96-94 Lewis, close but clear. Also it was among his most impressive displays, the way he gritted his teeth and out brawled the brawler when nothing else worked
For me it was one of those fights where I would have no issue with a draw or a close decision either way. Lewis is my favourite fighter though so obviously I was rooting for him. Great fight though, and proved the weak chin thing was a myth.
Their ego and pride always come out and it’s so obvious when they’re full of shit. Often times the “best opponent” they’ve fought is some guy they beat in a good fight, and the guys who dominated them were just “off nights”. You especially see this on RingTV’s “The Best I’ve Faced”. Azumah Nelson: are we really supposed to believe that Pernell Whitaker doesn’t rate anyone here? Best I Faced: Azumah Nelson - The Ring Pernell Whitaker basically just gave himself a blowjob throughout the whole interview Best I Faced: Pernell Whitaker - The Ring Marlon Starling Best I Faced: Marlon Starling - The Ring Out of all the fighters Lennox Lewis faced, Razor Fucking Ruddock had the best jab? The guy that basically was done after he threw a lazy jab to the body and got countered by Lewis’s monster right hand? Not Frank Bruno, Hasim Rahman or Evander Holyfield, but Ruddock had the best jab? Best I Faced: Lennox Lewis - The Ring
Oddly enough, one guy whose answers to similar questions rang true the lion's share of the time was Muhammad Ali
The Absolute WORST Example REED's Seen was Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Who Sat in w/Max Kellerman and Brian Kinney on One of the Old "FNF" Studio Segments...The Movie Had Just Been Released and Carter was Obviously Basking in the Victory Lap... Still, Knowing Full Well Carter WASN'T Near the Fighter he was Portrayed to Be in the Film and That Some of the Fights Themselves were GROSSLY Misrepresented On-Screen, REED Could Only Cringe to Carter's Response After Teddy Atlas Asked Who the Toughest Guy He Fought was... "I Would Have to Say MYSELF Teddy"...Went On to Attribute Every Loss and/or Fistic Misstep On His OWN Lack of Focus, Training, etc... REED
Mate, Fury would tie Mercer up in knots and leave him with his ass in a sling. Nobody that short is doing a fucking thing with anyone that awkward. This, as Larry Holmes once said, this is NOT Tommy Morrisson.
Remember what he said about Vitali............"He was holding the whole fight"..........LOL. The one thing the guy WASN'T doing, Lewis accuses him of it....
Inside of 1, fuck it, maybe they just die en route to the Ring, or die signing the contract. 5 rounds my ass.
I had Mercer winning that fight by two rounds - concrete - Lewis could not get any closer to him than that.
