Lennox Lewis’ toughest fight was a majority-decision victory over a prime Ray Mercer in 1996, he wrote on Instagram. That doesn’t mean that Mercer was the Hall of Famer’s toughest opponent, however.
Evander Holyfield has that distinction.
Holyfield? Lewis and Holyfield fought to a controversial draw in March 1999 – a fight that almost everyone believes Lewis won – and the Englishman won the rematch eight months later by a wide decision.
Still, Lewis has tremendous respect for Holyfield.
“People seem to be genuinely surprised when I tell them (Holyfield) was my toughest opponent, not to be confused with my toughest fight, which was (Ray) Mercer. But when you really dive into why that is, it actually makes a lot of sense,” Lewis wrote.
“Holyfield, like me, has an extensive amateur pedigree that has served him well throughout his professional career. He started boxing at 8 years old and was an Olympic bronze medalist in 1984. Before he moved up to the heavyweight division, he’s a man that cleared out the cruiserweight division to become the undisputed champion, and arguably the best ever, in that weight class.
“That’s a lot of experience and it’s safe to say that by the time we met for the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1999, he had seen it all. When you combine Evander’s amateur and professional experience, you would be hard pressed not to see the kind of success he’s had in the ring.
“I may tease him a bit on our two fights, he knows I won both fights even though he won’t admit it, but in all seriousness, he’s the only man that has gone 24 rounds with me.”
The moral of the story? An extensive amateur background is a tremendous advantage.
“I can’t stress enough the importance of amateur experience,” he wrote. “Consider the amateurs as your internship into the pros. The more you learn about your craft, the better it will serve you. Me and Evander’s extensive amateur experience brought us to the top of our games. In a sport where there are no guarantees, and even one mistake can end in disaster, it’s important to play the odds.
“So although we have both had setbacks in our careers, there was very little chance that the success we sought in the sport of boxing would not be reached based on our experience.”
