When bowe threw his belt in the trash...

He'd have a flat fee per fight with bonuses for bigger fights, ie Lewis

 

atsch Seriously? Fight by fight or a seven fight deal guaranteed. Think about, Ill give you plenty of time, whats a better deal?? The seven fight deal was riddled with incentives and guaranteed Bowe 7 fights rather than 1.

 

Such a shrewd deal has left Bowe the richest man at the yard sales

 

Lennox Lewis did it twice.

 

Really has nothing to do with it. Bowe is the moron who decided to spend all his money. He wasnt the first and he wont be the last fighter to squander millions.

 

Bowe didn't relinquish his claim as the champion. He beat the man that beat the man. Bowe WAS the champion. Bowe didn't need Lewis for anything. Lewis wasn't more established than Holyfield. Lewis raised eyebrows because he beat Ruddock who fought competitively with Tyson that's the bottom line.

There is no acceptable excuse for vacating a title. It's not up to the fighter or the public to determine who is worthy. If the IBF made Byrd their mandatory Lewis should have defended. Same with the WBA and Ruiz.
Ruddock lost two in a row to Tyson why did he get to keep fighting for a mandatory shot? So regardless of how dangerous Ruddock might have been perceived he like Ruiz for example, maintained a position somewhat unfairly because of his ties with king. It was just more acceptable because he hung in with Tyson.

 

Hopkins fought a lot of unworthy challengers in the 90's but he didn't vacate his title. King kept lining them up and Hopkins kept knocking them down.

 

Great posts Lefthook! Your points are made very clearly and if others don't understand them then I don't know what to tell them.

Newman tried to follow Butch Lewis in his footsteps by milking the public and building up a Bowe-Lewis superfight and it backfired miserably. Wasn't Bowe next in line to challenge Lewis if he were to get by McCall in 1994?

 

Luf, Do you consider Spinks as champ in 78??? Holmes and Norton were the top contenders for Spinks title who was stripped for refusing to fight them and rematching Ali instead

 

I consider Leon Spinks a champion, but one of the worst champions ever alongside Bowe.

 

Do you really think that fight happens if Lewis had won? Keep dreaming. You had a far better chance of the Bowe management taking an easy fight against an Alex Stewart type guy.

It's one thing to give up the title. The next question becomes, okay what fight did the public get instead? Ferguson? Were you picking the guy to even be competitive because nobody I knew was.

So maybe you give Bowe a get out of jail free card on that one. Who did that other guy face in his fight? Oh yeah, he faced a Don King fighter in a WBC title fight. And that is never ever an easy road to take and a road Bowe never took his whole career.

So what happens after that? We the public got a shot Mike Dokes. Who wanted to see that and just who was picking Dokes in that one? Especially after the Evander and Ruddock beatings and his form going into that Bowe fight.

Next, Bowe has to fight a top notch opponent and a different caliber of opponent and he loses a decision. He had all those same physical advantages going into the fight including youth & a previous victory and he lost.


At the end of the day, what you have to strongly consider is the fact the Bowe management knew they were not going to remain on top long and took some paydays. Get the $$$ while they can and while it lasts because their guy won't stay undefeated as champion long.