In general ,when 2 fighters have the same reach but one fighter has a 5 inch height advantage ,the shorter fighter usually have to punch upwards at the taller opponent which takes away from his reach advantage ,therefore the taller fighter will usually have the edge in reach.
If Lewis makes a mistake and gets caught with one of Liston's KO jabs on his suspect chin ,it's lights out. If Lennox Lewis gets into his rythym and counters Liston's jabs with his hard hooks ,it's lights out for Liston.
If i had to put my money on one of the 2 on top of their game ,i would have to favor Lennox Lewis by 10th round TKO.
I have always thought Liston would give even peak Lewis problems. His jab, his durability, his power, all attributes that will result in a tough night work for Lennox. Lewis wins in a very tough fight and stops Liston in about 8 rounds. I think Liston is a little to slow to get to Lewis and a fully focused Lewis will bully the smaller Liston inside which Liston would not be used to.
A lot of people felt, (including me) that Liston took the dive against ALi in one of their matches. That aint a killer punch and i doubt it would ever knock down the Big bear cuz if he didnt, then Sonny will have a lot of problem vs LEwis considering Lenox had far superior punching power that Ali ever had. Just in hindsight.
Lennox Lewis vs Sonny Liston. Who wins?
This will be a battle of jabs from the get go. The staredown before that, would be amazing too! Lewis achilles heel was that not so good chin of which Liston will have to look at and touch. Lenox wins the battle of jabs as thats his game and i rate him high in that regards. If Lenox ever escapes the massive attacks by Sonny, he'll raise his gloves aloft in the end.
Final verdict
Knock out for Liston or UD for Lewis with the former idea easily favored
The Liston of 1958-59 would have easily beaten a prime Lewis. Reason. better, harder jab. Same 84" reach and Lewis had a tendency to hang his arms down low jabbing from the hip and not protecting his chin properly. Liston's left hook was prime for taking out taller guys with less than proper defense. Don't underestimate Liston based on Ali fights.
Liston is not given credit for his boxing skills, and would beat Lewis. Lewis was knocked out by two lesser fighters and would not be able to stand up to Liston.
liston was quicker than lewis. i see a ko within 5 rounds, and sonny wins a rematch too.
