Tyson Fury, Lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali were all dominant heavyweight stars of their era.
Fury is currently retired, having made the announcement that he was walking away from the sport back in January. That news came just weeks after he failed for a second time to solve the puzzle that is two-weight undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk. This weekend, it is Daniel Dubois who gets a second shot at the Ukrainian great whilst putting his IBF world title on the line in a huge undisputed showdown.
The last man to be undisputed heavyweight champion before Usyk was Lewis, who did so back in 1999 when he beat Evander Holyfield. He fought on until 2003 and beat every man he faced, including the likes of the great Mike Tyson, much-loved Brit Frank Bruno, and eventual long-time heavyweight ruler Vitali Klitschko in a bloody final battle to retain his world titles.
Ali’s career was just as storied outside of the ring as in it. He was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, which saw him stripped of his world titles and banned from the sport for several years.
Either side of that, he dazzled with his footwork, hand speed and ability to befuddle opponents with his famously poetic pre-match trash talking.
Speaking to Mail Sport Boxing, Fury was asked to pick a winner between Lewis and Ali in their prime.
“I’m gunna go with Ali.”
Ali was the undisputed champion from 1974 to 1978, and was the WBA and Ring heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1979 before retiring after 56 wins from 61 fights in 1981.