I doubt very much if Klitchko will get the chance to­ fight Haye because Haye has at last been realistic and­ knows deep down he is not capable of beating him. Haye­ is very arrogant and has not behaved like a true­ gentlemen. Haye is not even a proven heavyweight and­ has only had the one fight at heavyweight. Why is Haye­ now backing off if he was really going to fight­ Klitchko then why has a new date not been arranged.­ Haye is all mouth and he has to back up what he says by­ getting in the ring with Klitchko. Its out of order­ that Hayes management had pulled out of the fight at­ short notice after all the money being spent in­ promoting it and the tickets sold only for a late­ replacement being found. The haye maker is all mouth­ and the true boxing public know it. He behaves as­ though he is already undisputed heavy weight champion­ of the world he has to get past both Klitchko's­ first keep dreaming .Haye will now have to join the­ queue like the rest as Klitchko put it .

Fair points m8 but I genuinely don’t think Tyson was­ past it I just think mentally he was in the wrong place­ it was as easy for him to go in and get beat up and get­ good money as it was to train and win. The Douglas­ fight was the worst thing that could have happened to­ Tyson then theirs diddy king enough said. but I’m a­ Tyson fan I watched every fight live short and long and­ I watched Lewis threes no amount of money could get me­ to rate him I guess I’m just biased. I wasn’t saying­ the win was meaningless more that Lewis didn’t really­ beat Tyson Tyson beat Tyson by not being there. The­ Spinks fight to me was over before it began he was @#$%­ bricks stiff as a board Larry homes was ok but not in­ the same league id like to have seen Tyson in the same­ era as Frazier Norton foreman ali Lewis as well I still­ think Tyson would have done better than Lewis but we­ will never know

Donkey, I respect anyone's opinion and their right­ to it, but to conclude Tyson would have beaten Lewis­ when they fought had he been focussed, totally­ undermines the thrust of your whole argument.

I knew­ Tyson was shot by then. Anyone with two eyes could, but­ you cannot have it both ways, you cannot say the win­ was meaningless because Tyson was past his best but­ then profer that Tyson would have won had he been­ focussed. The ability to be focussed and in shape is­ all part of the sport, the path to success, legacy­ etc.

Lewis was on his game and destroyed Tyson.­ Between the Tyson v Douglas, Smith, Tucker performances­ and the Tyson v Lewis performance, there is plenty of­ evidence to suspect Lewis would have had the­ physicality, mental strength and arsenal to kick Tyson­ but in 1993, 95, 97, 99 - pick a year.

To suggest­ Tyson's era was stronger is a complete crock too.­ The best two victories of his career were Spinks and­ Holmes. And both have asteriks. Tyson was a phenomenal­ fighter in a weak era, he leaves more questions than­ Lewis did. Who left the best heavyweight of the­ subsequent era unable to fight on, despite being old,­ disinterested and overweight.

If you want to question­ why Lewis didn't Foreman, because I agree it would­ have garnered a lot of interest perhaps I could counter­ why the heck did Tyson v Foreman never get made, that­ would have been HUGE. My theory is, Tyson's­ handlers didn't want to put him near anyone with a­ chin and a punch.

Even before Lewis, a mooted Ray­ Mercer fight was canned. Probably because the shot to­ @#$% Tyson was getting handled in sparring and Mercer­ was to live a dog, even at 42 years old. Lewis was­ Tyson's cash out fight.

We are not looking at Ali-Foreman fight,every fight is­ different and I'm trying to say if doctors could­ stop that bleeding from a deep cut of Klitchko's­ eyebrow (and if I remember it took Lewis only 1 punch­ to open it-lucky,ha), I'm sure that night would­ gloriuos for another boxer!

I take some of ur points dwp but from that list I can’t­ really see any quality. if Tyson had been in his prime­ or even in the right frame of mind lewis would never­ have beaten him i dont believe from watching both­ Holyfield fights that Lewis won the 1st in my opinion­ was a draw and i would edge towards Holyfield in the­ 2nd.the only other quality on the list he didn’t fight­ I except that it’s not his fault that in his­ "era" there was and still is a lack of­ quality compared to ali's era or even Tyson but­ just because he beat bums and no hopers doesn’t merit­ he be classed as some sort of world beater I would­ probably have more respect for him if he had taken a­ rematch with vitali as there would be less un answered­ questions
1¬ - Evander Holyfield - Drew and Beat-­ ………………………
2 - Mike Tyson –¬ Beat -past his best
3 -­ Riddick Bowe - Avoided by- this would have been a good­ test not lewis’s fault
4 - Vitali Klitschko¬ - Stopped­ on cuts-a lucky night
5 - George Foreman- this would­ have been interesting as George could still give and­ take a good shot
6 - David Tua -¬ outpointed­ easily-tyson wannabe nothing special ­ 7 -­ Chris Byrd – bum
8 - Andrew Golota –¬­ smashed-bum
9 - Michael Moorer – bum
10- Donovan­ Ruddock –¬ smashed -reasnable opponent
11- Tommy­ Morrison – smashed-deasnt justify an answer!!!!!
12-­ John Ruiz –¬ ruiz wasn’t that good
13- Ike Ibeabuchi­ –might have been interesting a good test
14- Ray Mercer­ - squeeked by in a¬ gutsy war- again lucky
15- Oliver­ McCall - lost to and beat-should have won the 1st fight­
16-¬ Frank Bruno - knocked out-bruno didn’t have the­ skills to finish the fights and if I remember correctly­ he had eye troule at that time and was @#$% scared of­ being blinded
17- Wladimir Klitschko – im not so sure­ he would be as good as his brother
18-¬ Shannon Briggs­ – stopped-bum
19- Hasim Rahman - lost to and¬­ stopped-over rated

DWP, well put, I would say the only Heavyweights that­ could rank higher were Ali, Frazier, Marciano, Louis­ and a Prime Tyson, but he would have given any of them­ a good fight and wouldhave been capable of getting a­ result against any on his day.

Donkey.

The best, most successful 20 heavyweights over­ the 10 years Lewis was a headline heavyweight. Hastily­ compiled, so forgive the hierarchy suggested but there­ are no outstanding omissions - Lewis beat everyone.

1­ - Evander Holyfield - Drew and Beat
2 - Mike Tyson -­ Beat
3 - Riddick Bowe - Avoided by
4 - Vitali Klitschko­ - Stopped on cuts
5 - George Foreman
6 - David Tua -­ outpointed easily
7 - Chris Byrd -
8 - Andrew Golota -­ smashed
9 - Michael Moorer -
10- Donovan Ruddock -­ smashed
11- Tommy Morrison - smashed
12- John Ruiz -­
13- Ike Ibeabuchi -
14- Ray Mercer - squeeked by in a­ gutsy war
15- Oliver McCall - lost to and beat
16-­ Frank Bruno - knocked out
17- Wladimir Klitschko -
18-­ Shannon Briggs - stopped
19- Hasim Rahman - lost to and­ stopped
20- Tony Tucker - outpointed

To suggest Lewis­ couldn't last with the drones who are around today­ is pure drivel.

He would obliterate Valuev, he loved­ fighting tall guys. Grant, Golota, Akinwande and when­ out of shape and over the hill still stopped Vitali­ Klitschko, the toughest of the guys you suggest.

Of­ the fighters he didn't tackle on the list above;­ Ruiz and Byrd would have been put away with ease.­ Perhaps Ibeabuchi would have been a tougher fight, as­ would Bowe, but one of them opted out and the other­ opted out of life in the mainstream.

Lennox Lewis­ could be overly cautious sometimes. And true he fought­ Holyfield and Tyson when they were on the slide,­ neither was Lewis fault and one of the drones you­ mention could only get a MD12 with Holyfield a DECADE­ later.

Lennox Lewis is a top 10 of ALL TIME­ heavyweight and in my opinion about 5th or 6th.

Wow seems like I touched a nerve! Anger management­ issues by any chance!

So does that mean that Ali was lucky when he beat­ Foreman? He would have been well down on points after­ he just sat on the ropes and got beat up round after­ round and then he threw 3 or 4 punches and knocked­ foreman out.
Look at the bigger picture instead of just­ saying the same thing as everyone else, Lewis messed­ Klitschko up and won the fight, simple.

tottally agree with Klitchko:Haye is coward t*at...2­ Luke:I think Donkey is right,Lewis was lucky in that­ fight.1 punch brought him a win.Otherwise Vitaliy would­ win that fight

Donkey, why you banging on about Bruno, Lewis beat­ Bruno! And Lewis had a better record so you have proven­ nothing with your silly rant.
Don't try and push­ religeon down my throat either, I have never read the­ bible and never will it is nonsense.

haye is a chicken-hearted turd

Klitschko vs lewis maybe Klitschko was ahead on points­ but remember pre fight lewis said he was going in there­ to cut Klitschko's eyes and get the fight stopped­ so he kept his word and did as he promised he ended the­ fight on cuts, so Klitschko winning on points didnt­ matter lewis still won by TKO

Its nice of you to say so Neil but I don’t profess to­ know everything about boxing all I’m doing is­ expressing my point of view on o topic. I’m more than­ happy to read what other people think but I’m not at­ the low end of the spectrum where I need to insult­ other posters just because they have views that ore not­ to my taste. I would like to apologise to Luke w as I­ may have insulted you buy referring to you as a child­ at the end of the day you are entitled to you beliefs I­ would however ask that if you want to reply to by­ points please refrain from childish name calling there­ is far too much of that on these forums and its getting­ a bit tiresome

Haye is being very quiet?

your a sad little boy luke im suprised ur allowed­ internet access befor u done your home work.There is no­ analogy between 22 guys on a park and 2 in a ring. And­ before u insult donkeys id read the bible there are­ sacred animals. If my name was @#$% then ud have a­ point. Lewis is a bum and always was he won a gold­ medal for CANADA then when they didn’t want him or­ appreciate his so called ability he thought what sad­ bunch of twats can i go and represent ah i know lets go­ to Britain after all there a bit hard up for boxers.­ Were that hard up in this country we take in all the­ strays. He got his 1st title out a bin granted it was­ put there by a spineless @#$% but he still got it by­ default. Every one berates the klitschko boy as boring­ tell me a fight Lewis had where u were on the edge of­ ur seat???? Not counting going for a pish.if Lewis was­ around now he wouldn’t last 2 min even with the sub­ standard drones that are boxing now. frank Bruno had a­ better record than Lewis at least he was only beaten by­ champs not the mentally demented or drug addled Lewis­ got decked by and it’s not really a big deal that he­ then beat them in a 2nd fight he shouldn’t have been­ beaten in the 1st it’s just a shame none of them did­ what he did to vitali and chicken out of a rematch. i­ just hope someone offers him enough money to buy a back­ bone and come out just one more time and it’s a bit­ strange that he would come out of retirement and fight­ bowe for free but won’t fight klitschko

If Lennox Lewis decide to come out of retirement I­ still believe he could beat most of those heavyweights­ around today. But, I know Lewis is far too clever to­ try and prove people wrong to show how good he is­ because he has done that in the ring already. The­ heavyweight division is so dull at the moment and there­ are no personalities like we used to have. There is­ this David Haye who talks a good fight but now­ struggling with a bad back!! I know injuries can happen­ to anyone. But I do not think he has any chance of­ beating either of the Klitschko brothers. He probably­ will have a fighters chance with one punch if he can­ reach or find the target!! I am sorry, he is a good­ boxer and a briliant one at cruiserweight and perhaps­ he will beat some other heavyweights around but not the­ Klitschko brothers. I cant see him past 7 rounds with­ either of them but it might not last that long if he­ can find the chin of Klitschko. Now with a bad back I­ think he will struggle even more. Having said that, I­ am one of his fans and I like the way he fight and his­ aggression too!! He should fight Audly Harrsion in a­ domestic warm up fight and put Harrison to retirement­ and then think of a big pay day fight to put his feet­ up and rest his back!!

donk noes more about boxing than any1 on this site.

Wow Donkey you are living up to your name. The football­ thing was supposed to be an analogy.
You know nothing­ about boxing, clearly, I dont need to respond to your­ comments because you have already made yourself look­ like a peni5.