Showdown lowdown
An insider's analysis of the Lewis-Tyson heavyweight clash
By Evan Kanew, Special to CNNSI.com
MATCHUP TO WATCH NO. 1: Tyson's early power vs. Lewis' chin. Lewis stood up to the might of Ray Mercer in '99 and the underrated force of Evander Holyfield twice. But he also suffered one-punch stoppages at the hands of both Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. And let's not forget that Shannon Briggs nearly produced an embarrassing KO loss for Lewis in 1998. On the flip side, Tyson has gone more than three rounds only three times since his 1995 comeback and has not gone the distance since his 1991 decision win over Razor Ruddock. Watch the clock: Conventional wisdom holds that Tyson has less than nine minutes to regain the heavyweight title.
MATCHUP TO WATCH NO. 2: Lewis vs. the ropes. From what we've seen in recent years, Tyson will need Lewis' help to win, and he might just get it (see Lewis-Rahman I). Lewis tends to get sloppy, to lower his left hand and retreat against the ropes. It's a sign of thoughtless overconfidence on the part of this cerebral champion, pure Dope-A-Rope. Since Tyson has shown neither the skill nor the discipline to deal with a rangy, more talented boxer such as Lewis, the ropes will be Iron Mike's ally.
INSIDE EDGE
Jab: Lewis
Power: Lewis
Speed: Tyson
Stamina: Lewis
Chin: Tyson
Heart: Lewis
PREDICTION
Lewis by decision
MATCHUP TO WATCH NO. 3: Tyson vs. the full-court press. Holyfield's strategy against Tyson was to keep the pressure on, to back Tyson up with jabs and body shots -- not to mention a few wrestling tricks. Such an onslaught produced two wins for Holyfield -- an 11th round TKO in 1996, and a frustrated Tyson's bloody meltdown in '97. James "Buster" Douglas scored the biggest shocker in boxing history by keeping the pressure on during his 1990 shot at then-champ Tyson. Just the facts: a) Tyson can't use his full power when he's going in reverse; and b) stand up to Tyson, and he'll fold.
LEWIS' EDGE: Special teams. Both men can mount an offense with their power punches, but neither is known as a great defensive fighter. Lewis' biggest advantage in technique is that he owns the best jab in boxing. That's why Lewis likes to call himself a "pugilist specialist". Tyson may have no answer to this facet of Lewis' game.
TYSON'S EDGE: The speed way. Even at this stage of his career, the 35-year-old Tyson is lightning-quick for a heavyweight. That's what makes his power so devastating. From his earliest Catskill bum-of-the-month fights to his more recent post-prison bum-every-six-months club, Tyson's speed has been the key to his explosive knockout ability. Lewis must work hard to keep Tyson's lightning from striking his chin.
TUA DEGREE: For a blueprint of the game plan Lewis should use against a potent, squat, peek-a-boo heavyweight like Tyson, look no further than the champ's 2000 shutout of David Tua. Lewis kept the slugging sparkplug at the end of his jab, where Tua could not use his best weapon, the left hook. Now, we know Tua was no Tyson, but he played him on TV.
BUFFALOED: Speaking of that game plan, a fighter less rangy and less talented than Lewis has already executed it to perfection against Tyson, if only for four rounds. In their '99 tilt, Fran?ois "The White Buffalo" Botha boxed the shorter Tyson effectively -- calmly jabbing and moving and totally nullifying Iron Mike. Botha was so effective, in fact, he thought he was Muhammad Ali , mugging and unwisely letting his guard down in the fifth. Only then did Tyson let loose a short, quick right that sent Botha stampeding to the canvas.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Let's define the field of significant common opponents as those who faced both Lewis and Tyson in the years since Tyson got out of jail in 1995: Holyfield, Botha and Andrew Golota. Lewis fought a total of 27 rounds against that trio and sports a record of 3-0-1 (2 KO). Tyson logged just 22 rounds, going 1-2-0-1 (1 KO, 1 DQ, 1 No Contest). Each man is unbeaten against their other common foes of the more distant past: Ruddock, Frank Bruno, Tony Tucker and Tyrell Biggs.
HOLY WORD: The gospel according to Holyfield (2-0 vs. Tyson; officially 0-1-1 vs. Lewis): "Lennox don't make adjustments well, and Tyson don't make adjustments well. So it means that it's [a matter of] whose style [is superior]. And I feel that with Tyson's style, Tyson will knock Lennox out. That's just what I believe."
HOLY @#!%: The Real Deal also prophesied that this fight would not go off as planned. "I think that it [will] be a lot of publicity and somehow it won't happen." We won't say he's wrong until about 11 pm ET on June 8.
LEWIS WINS IF: He escapes Tyson's early all-out assault, stays out of a firefight and doesn't get cocky. If Lewis applies patient pressure and boxes, he will easily out-point Tyson -- and may even open him up for a knockout.
TYSON WINS IF: He shows an unexpected degree of discipline and ring generalship, the likes of which he has not displayed in a decade. There have been occasional flashes of that style -- the combo he used to knockout Buster Mathis Jr. in '95, and the way he dealt with Golota in '99 until the Foul Pole quit. More likely, though, if Tyson wins it'll be on a concussive flash knockout.
X-FACTOR: The head game. Has the relatively reclusive Lewis spent too much time thinking about this fight -- paralysis by analysis? Will the mild-mannered Brit get psyched out once he is face-to-face with his angry nemesis? Or will the troubled Tyson be the one who gets psycho-ed out?
An insider's analysis of the Lewis-Tyson heavyweight clash
By Evan Kanew, Special to CNNSI.com
MATCHUP TO WATCH NO. 1: Tyson's early power vs. Lewis' chin. Lewis stood up to the might of Ray Mercer in '99 and the underrated force of Evander Holyfield twice. But he also suffered one-punch stoppages at the hands of both Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. And let's not forget that Shannon Briggs nearly produced an embarrassing KO loss for Lewis in 1998. On the flip side, Tyson has gone more than three rounds only three times since his 1995 comeback and has not gone the distance since his 1991 decision win over Razor Ruddock. Watch the clock: Conventional wisdom holds that Tyson has less than nine minutes to regain the heavyweight title.
MATCHUP TO WATCH NO. 2: Lewis vs. the ropes. From what we've seen in recent years, Tyson will need Lewis' help to win, and he might just get it (see Lewis-Rahman I). Lewis tends to get sloppy, to lower his left hand and retreat against the ropes. It's a sign of thoughtless overconfidence on the part of this cerebral champion, pure Dope-A-Rope. Since Tyson has shown neither the skill nor the discipline to deal with a rangy, more talented boxer such as Lewis, the ropes will be Iron Mike's ally.
INSIDE EDGE
Jab: Lewis
Power: Lewis
Speed: Tyson
Stamina: Lewis
Chin: Tyson
Heart: Lewis
PREDICTION
Lewis by decision
MATCHUP TO WATCH NO. 3: Tyson vs. the full-court press. Holyfield's strategy against Tyson was to keep the pressure on, to back Tyson up with jabs and body shots -- not to mention a few wrestling tricks. Such an onslaught produced two wins for Holyfield -- an 11th round TKO in 1996, and a frustrated Tyson's bloody meltdown in '97. James "Buster" Douglas scored the biggest shocker in boxing history by keeping the pressure on during his 1990 shot at then-champ Tyson. Just the facts: a) Tyson can't use his full power when he's going in reverse; and b) stand up to Tyson, and he'll fold.
LEWIS' EDGE: Special teams. Both men can mount an offense with their power punches, but neither is known as a great defensive fighter. Lewis' biggest advantage in technique is that he owns the best jab in boxing. That's why Lewis likes to call himself a "pugilist specialist". Tyson may have no answer to this facet of Lewis' game.
TYSON'S EDGE: The speed way. Even at this stage of his career, the 35-year-old Tyson is lightning-quick for a heavyweight. That's what makes his power so devastating. From his earliest Catskill bum-of-the-month fights to his more recent post-prison bum-every-six-months club, Tyson's speed has been the key to his explosive knockout ability. Lewis must work hard to keep Tyson's lightning from striking his chin.
TUA DEGREE: For a blueprint of the game plan Lewis should use against a potent, squat, peek-a-boo heavyweight like Tyson, look no further than the champ's 2000 shutout of David Tua. Lewis kept the slugging sparkplug at the end of his jab, where Tua could not use his best weapon, the left hook. Now, we know Tua was no Tyson, but he played him on TV.
BUFFALOED: Speaking of that game plan, a fighter less rangy and less talented than Lewis has already executed it to perfection against Tyson, if only for four rounds. In their '99 tilt, Fran?ois "The White Buffalo" Botha boxed the shorter Tyson effectively -- calmly jabbing and moving and totally nullifying Iron Mike. Botha was so effective, in fact, he thought he was Muhammad Ali , mugging and unwisely letting his guard down in the fifth. Only then did Tyson let loose a short, quick right that sent Botha stampeding to the canvas.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Let's define the field of significant common opponents as those who faced both Lewis and Tyson in the years since Tyson got out of jail in 1995: Holyfield, Botha and Andrew Golota. Lewis fought a total of 27 rounds against that trio and sports a record of 3-0-1 (2 KO). Tyson logged just 22 rounds, going 1-2-0-1 (1 KO, 1 DQ, 1 No Contest). Each man is unbeaten against their other common foes of the more distant past: Ruddock, Frank Bruno, Tony Tucker and Tyrell Biggs.
HOLY WORD: The gospel according to Holyfield (2-0 vs. Tyson; officially 0-1-1 vs. Lewis): "Lennox don't make adjustments well, and Tyson don't make adjustments well. So it means that it's [a matter of] whose style [is superior]. And I feel that with Tyson's style, Tyson will knock Lennox out. That's just what I believe."
HOLY @#!%: The Real Deal also prophesied that this fight would not go off as planned. "I think that it [will] be a lot of publicity and somehow it won't happen." We won't say he's wrong until about 11 pm ET on June 8.
LEWIS WINS IF: He escapes Tyson's early all-out assault, stays out of a firefight and doesn't get cocky. If Lewis applies patient pressure and boxes, he will easily out-point Tyson -- and may even open him up for a knockout.
TYSON WINS IF: He shows an unexpected degree of discipline and ring generalship, the likes of which he has not displayed in a decade. There have been occasional flashes of that style -- the combo he used to knockout Buster Mathis Jr. in '95, and the way he dealt with Golota in '99 until the Foul Pole quit. More likely, though, if Tyson wins it'll be on a concussive flash knockout.
X-FACTOR: The head game. Has the relatively reclusive Lewis spent too much time thinking about this fight -- paralysis by analysis? Will the mild-mannered Brit get psyched out once he is face-to-face with his angry nemesis? Or will the troubled Tyson be the one who gets psycho-ed out?
