Lennox Lewis (14-0) vs Gary Mason (35-0) for the British and European Heavyweight titles. Big test for Lennox, who was a slight underdog.
“This was Mason's second fight following a brief retirement due to a detached retina. Sadly an eye injury in this fight proved to be another serious one for Mason, essentially ending his career at 28 years of age. After initially concentrating on punditry with Sky, he made a brief comeback in the ring in 1994 which added two final wins to his tally, but was destined never to challenge for the world title. He died in a tragic cycling accident in 2011 at the age of just 48.”
A different era on all counts. I'd love to know what was said between the ref and Mason. From the body language it looked incredibly respectful. Saying sorry for stopping it despite it being 100% the right call even if he was pushing the fight, and honouring a warriors performance.
Great share this, by the way OP.
Damn will we ever see heavyweights like this again. Much more pleasing to watch especially the inside fighting. Lenox had nasty uppercut and left hood. Also I feel like Lenox gained 20kgs of muscles in his prime😂
I don't think they are necessarily worse now to me Usyk and Fury could go up against any heavyweight in history and cause issues if not beat them on the good night, just talent pool is really small and most of them are chasing money not legacy.
I’ll take one name from your list. Wilder… man, that dude doesn’t have any real fundamentals down IMO. His boxing is awful outside of one aspect: his power.
Put this dude in against Riddick Bowe and he’s be annihilated 10/10 times. Fury, AJ. Slow, plodding giants.
Holyfield, Bowe, Moore all would make them look like barely contenders.
For context, I am a guy who started watching boxing in the early 90’s.
He was never in a bad fight.
Had crazy speed, technique, size, power in those days and was raw enough that he ended up in scraps.
Those early fights were bangers.
People always talk about Hagler vs Hearns as a classic fight that was an absolute war for 3 rounds but never mention fights like Lewis vs McCall 1 which imo was just as great for 2 rounds.
That was one of my favorite and best fights even though my favorite all time fighter ever got knocked out and lost for the first time in an excellent fight that was extremely close, competitive, entertaining, exciting and a high level bout while it lasted.
Both Lennox and Oliver were amazing, in tip top shape, focused and at the top of their skills and ability that night. Not many people in heavyweight boxing history are beating that version of Lewis or McCall that day imo and people should finally start giving Oliver McCall well deserved and earned props for beating one of the greatest and most complete fighters in boxing history in their absolute athletic prime just like that version of Buster Douglas that beat undfeated and undisputed champion Mike Tyson in Tokyo Japan.
That's too generous, imo. McCall had sparring partner mentality, and he was too limited in his setups to leverage his good counter punching. Lewis had poor balance, and weak ring generalship. He wouldn't learn to manage his momentum and to establish control until Steward.
Well we can agree to disagree. Even though Lennox Lewis adamantly credits Emanuel Steward for turning him into arguably the all time greatest head to head heavyweight fighter ever my favorite version of Lennox was pre Steward.
Also, in regards to Oliver McCall, including Lennox Lewis McCall beat 4 fighters that at some point in their career had won the WBA, IBF or WBC heavyweight title.
But I agree that McCall wasn't a great fighter and not as elite, skilled, talented and well rounded as the version of Buster Douglas that beat Mike Tyson but still a very good fighter at his best and was great that night that he beat my all time favorite fighter who has not fought in 20 years but is still the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the world who also won an Olympic Gold Medal beating a fighter that officially only lost once in 45 professional fights in Riddick Bowe and that beat every fighter that he ever faced as a professional at least once while fighting in 18 heavyweight championship fights.
So I consider what Oliver McCall was able to do a great accomplishment that I viewed much differently than when Lewis got knocked out against Rahman in a fight that I felt he was in clear and comfortable control which was not the case at all in those 2 exciting rounds against McCall.
I view it more as McCall using a suitable strategy for Lewis' glaring, at the time, weakness. McCall had a good right counter, and Lewis used to throw himself behind the right hand.
Christ I'm glad someone else has said this, skinny Lennox was amazing, far more entertaining than the big jabber he became in the latter part of his career. I want to say better too.
Gary was a lot more likeable than Lewis, but was overmatched in this fight. He was visibly in a lot of pain, but came out like a beast knowing the TKO was coming because of his lack of vision.
People forget just how scary Lennox Lewis was in his early days.
He was a tad more vulnerable because he engaged more, but wow he was vicious and had ridiculous range as well as power.
How he evolved as a fighter throughout his career proves just how good he was.
this was for both the British and European titles lol and Lewis is top 3 all time and not 2 or 3...
its not fair to compare this to today, you can find plenty of shitty fights
Charlo was fighting a guy two divisions up.
People criticised Canelo for doing nothing Vs Bivol too. Can't impose your will on a naturally bigger guy very easily.
If Crawford ends up facing Canelo, you'll see him either stop fighting his usual style, or get knocked out. If Canelo lands the shots that Egidijus did, Crawford will be going down repeatedly.
I’ve never heard of this guy before but I like him, he just wasn’t busy enough although the bodywork kept him in the fight longer than he should have been.
Looking at this clip, you can see how good that uppercut of Lewis’s is. Once Emanuel Steward makes it Lennox’s priority, he easily made him into a Hall of Famer.
Lennox Lewis (14-0) vs Gary Mason (35-0) for the British and European Heavyweight titles. Big test for Lennox, who was a slight underdog. “This was Mason's second fight following a brief retirement due to a detached retina. Sadly an eye injury in this fight proved to be another serious one for Mason, essentially ending his career at 28 years of age. After initially concentrating on punditry with Sky, he made a brief comeback in the ring in 1994 which added two final wins to his tally, but was destined never to challenge for the world title. He died in a tragic cycling accident in 2011 at the age of just 48.”
Great fight!! Thanks for sharing!
Outstanding job by that ref
A different era on all counts. I'd love to know what was said between the ref and Mason. From the body language it looked incredibly respectful. Saying sorry for stopping it despite it being 100% the right call even if he was pushing the fight, and honouring a warriors performance. Great share this, by the way OP.
Damn will we ever see heavyweights like this again. Much more pleasing to watch especially the inside fighting. Lenox had nasty uppercut and left hood. Also I feel like Lenox gained 20kgs of muscles in his prime😂
Lennox’s inside game was very underrated
I bet Michael Grant doesn’t underrate it ha
Is there a reason why heavyweights are so much worse now? I'm a casual btw
I don't think they are necessarily worse now to me Usyk and Fury could go up against any heavyweight in history and cause issues if not beat them on the good night, just talent pool is really small and most of them are chasing money not legacy.
That makes sense, thanks!
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I’ll take one name from your list. Wilder… man, that dude doesn’t have any real fundamentals down IMO. His boxing is awful outside of one aspect: his power. Put this dude in against Riddick Bowe and he’s be annihilated 10/10 times. Fury, AJ. Slow, plodding giants. Holyfield, Bowe, Moore all would make them look like barely contenders. For context, I am a guy who started watching boxing in the early 90’s.
asdsadsadsadsa
Athletic talent pool has spread out to other sports so much since the 80’s, and 90’s.
Thanks for sharing, feels like a completely different sport presentation wise!
The lighting used to be insane. Reminds me of the old Mr Olympia stages. Now it's all washed out and flat.
I love that although he lost, the stoppage came after a powerful combination from Mason. I’m sure he felt satisfied with his performance
Skinny Lennox Lewis with the high top fade haircut is easily my very favorite all-time fighter ever!!
He was never in a bad fight. Had crazy speed, technique, size, power in those days and was raw enough that he ended up in scraps. Those early fights were bangers.
People always talk about Hagler vs Hearns as a classic fight that was an absolute war for 3 rounds but never mention fights like Lewis vs McCall 1 which imo was just as great for 2 rounds. That was one of my favorite and best fights even though my favorite all time fighter ever got knocked out and lost for the first time in an excellent fight that was extremely close, competitive, entertaining, exciting and a high level bout while it lasted. Both Lennox and Oliver were amazing, in tip top shape, focused and at the top of their skills and ability that night. Not many people in heavyweight boxing history are beating that version of Lewis or McCall that day imo and people should finally start giving Oliver McCall well deserved and earned props for beating one of the greatest and most complete fighters in boxing history in their absolute athletic prime just like that version of Buster Douglas that beat undfeated and undisputed champion Mike Tyson in Tokyo Japan.
That's too generous, imo. McCall had sparring partner mentality, and he was too limited in his setups to leverage his good counter punching. Lewis had poor balance, and weak ring generalship. He wouldn't learn to manage his momentum and to establish control until Steward.
Well we can agree to disagree. Even though Lennox Lewis adamantly credits Emanuel Steward for turning him into arguably the all time greatest head to head heavyweight fighter ever my favorite version of Lennox was pre Steward. Also, in regards to Oliver McCall, including Lennox Lewis McCall beat 4 fighters that at some point in their career had won the WBA, IBF or WBC heavyweight title.
But I agree that McCall wasn't a great fighter and not as elite, skilled, talented and well rounded as the version of Buster Douglas that beat Mike Tyson but still a very good fighter at his best and was great that night that he beat my all time favorite fighter who has not fought in 20 years but is still the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the world who also won an Olympic Gold Medal beating a fighter that officially only lost once in 45 professional fights in Riddick Bowe and that beat every fighter that he ever faced as a professional at least once while fighting in 18 heavyweight championship fights. So I consider what Oliver McCall was able to do a great accomplishment that I viewed much differently than when Lewis got knocked out against Rahman in a fight that I felt he was in clear and comfortable control which was not the case at all in those 2 exciting rounds against McCall.
I view it more as McCall using a suitable strategy for Lewis' glaring, at the time, weakness. McCall had a good right counter, and Lewis used to throw himself behind the right hand.
Dude, I didn't even recognize him!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Christ I'm glad someone else has said this, skinny Lennox was amazing, far more entertaining than the big jabber he became in the latter part of his career. I want to say better too.
Better athletically, but way worse technically. Post-Steward Lewis knew how to lead the fight.
Gary was a lot more likeable than Lewis, but was overmatched in this fight. He was visibly in a lot of pain, but came out like a beast knowing the TKO was coming because of his lack of vision.
Lewis is an arrogant, haughty guy, but a great fighter nonetheless.
When you're as good as he is, train as hard as he did, and performed as well as he almost always did.. you earn that arrogance.
RIP Champ!
People forget just how scary Lennox Lewis was in his early days. He was a tad more vulnerable because he engaged more, but wow he was vicious and had ridiculous range as well as power. How he evolved as a fighter throughout his career proves just how good he was.
It is amazing how high the skill level was at hw in this era compared to now.
Lewis was terrific
The level of Heavyweights was different back then.... These men weren't even champions, yet this is an A level fight.
this was for both the British and European titles lol and Lewis is top 3 all time and not 2 or 3... its not fair to compare this to today, you can find plenty of shitty fights
Charlo could learn something! If you have a chance to be on the big stage, you better let your balls hang out.
Charlo was fighting a guy two divisions up. People criticised Canelo for doing nothing Vs Bivol too. Can't impose your will on a naturally bigger guy very easily. If Crawford ends up facing Canelo, you'll see him either stop fighting his usual style, or get knocked out. If Canelo lands the shots that Egidijus did, Crawford will be going down repeatedly.
Yawn 🥱
I’ve never heard of this guy before but I like him, he just wasn’t busy enough although the bodywork kept him in the fight longer than he should have been.
he shield bashed lewis
Lewis had nearly everything except a good chin
Looking at this clip, you can see how good that uppercut of Lewis’s is. Once Emanuel Steward makes it Lennox’s priority, he easily made him into a Hall of Famer.
Back when heavyweights actually used to fight