FORMER undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis was recently a guest at one of my favorite sports talk shows, Undisputed.
Undisputed is co-hosted by veteran hard-hitting analyst and known Lebron James critic Skip Bayless and former NFL star and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.
While discussing the upcoming IBF welterweight championship bout between Errol Spence and Mikey Garcia, specifically the difficulties in fighting a southpaw, Lennox revealed that he had never faced a single southpaw in his illustrious pro career.
LENNOX. The body of work left behind by Lewis speaks for itself. A 3-time world champion, Lewis dominated the heavyweight landscape in the ‘90s and is ranked by The Ring Magazine as the greatest heavyweight of the last 30 years.
The revelation to me is quite enlightening. Not to cast aspersions on Lewis’ achievements, but we all know that southpaws are nightmare opponents for most fighters, and the two blemishes on Lewis’ record were both knockout losses.
LEFTY. Part of the difficulty in fighting lefties, is the angle for punch placement because it would seem like fighting one’s self in the mirror.
The lead hands are parallel to each other and the same goes for the power hands. What makes it worse are the incongruent stances and so it’s commonplace to see fighters get their feet entangled and their heads coming together.
What came to mind when I heard this was the fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Corrie Sanders. To date this is still one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history.
At that time, Sanders was only partially active while the heavy favorite Wladimir was making his fifth defense of the WBO crown.
Younger, bigger, stronger. It didn’t matter. Wladimir didn’t know how to fight a southpaw. Sanders floored him four times in two rounds and shocked the world.
Can you imagine what would have happened if Lewis with his suspect chin had faced a good southpaw heavyweight in his prime?
STYLE. The way I see it, a young Lewis would have been vulnerable. His first kayo loss against Oliver McCall came in his 26th fight. During this time, Lewis was more of a puncher and he would have been prone to committing lapses in defense against a crafty southpaw.
As he matured he became more cerebral in his approach and though was stopped by Hasim Rahman in their first fight, it had more to do with Lewis just having a glass jaw rather than his technique.
Still I believe Lewis’ legacy would have been potentially different had he been challenged by a good southpaw and it would have been interesting to see how he adapted mid-fight.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on two very dear friends, Dr Oliver Baclig and Marit Stinus Cabugon who recently celebrated their birthdays. Cheers!