When bowe threw his belt in the trash...

I agree with your points on Bowe.

I do think Ruddock was about to be brutally stopped, if the first Tyson fight wasn't stopped prematurely...

However, my point was Jaco didn't properly stop Ruddock, the ref was just crapola & made the wrong call.

 

Yes history would have been changed if Steele didnt stick his nose in that fight too early.

 

If true, there really was a simple answer wasn't there? Honor the contract you signed.

What would your claims be if it was Lewis that had been ko'd in the biggest fight of his life and his first high pressure bout? And if the matches had been Lewis-Holyfield and Bowe-Ruddock instead. Lets say with the same results and it was Bowe destroying Ruddock in 2 and Lewis throwing away the title instead of trying to reverse a loss. Does Lennox get a free pass and a get out of jail free card?

 

Exactly, we probably would've got to see Tyson-Holy instead of Tyson-Ruddock II, as Mike's last pre-jail fight.

 

Noone ever honors anything in boxing, thats the whole point Ive been trying to make. Fighters, promoters, sanctioning bodies, all change the rules as they go along, because they're manipulated by money and control. This wasnt the first or the last time it would happen, its just Bowe and Newman made the mistake of making a spectacle of it.
Why does Lewis get a free pass for not fighting his mandatories?? Its the same thing, only you think its justifiable, because the guys he chose to face were "supposedly" better qualified.

 

I love LeftHook31, guy is a straight up G

 

Lewis does not get a free pass for not fighting mandatories. I sure don't give a free pass to Holmes either for fighting the grand total of one #1 ranked contender from 79 onwards. Or Ali for his post Zaire title challenger selections. No free passes for anyone.

and breaking signed contracts in the sport of boxing is the worst thing to do and tends to lead to financial ruin. Don't sign the contracts in the first place. And if you do sign one, there's your guy that is going to lose because the other side is playing with house money.

 

If they signed a "contract", then the fight would have most likely happened. It was worth too much to Lewis to not sue Bowe. The fact is there was an "agreement" reached by all parties including Holyfield who also reniged on his deal but it had more to do with King and the WBC than anybody being scared to fight.

 

Tyson was the Lineal HW Champ going into his fight with Douglas in 1990. Tyson also held the IBF, WBA, and WBC belts. Holding those 3 belts didn't make Tyson the "Lineal" champ... beating Michael Spinks did. Spinks had no actual belt going into the fight with Tyson but he was the recognized Lineal HW Champ because he had beat Holmes.

Anyway, Douglas beat Tyson, Holyfield beat Douglas, and Bowe had beat Holyfield... Bowe was still the Lineal HW Champ after trashing the WBC belt... like it or not!

 

:thumbsup

Spinks was still recognised by Ring as champion I believe, but otherwise I agree with everything you have said here

 

...yeah, like I said... he didn't have a belt (he was stripped of the IBF belt) but was still the "Lineal" HW Champ. Sure, Ring Magazine recognized him because they usually do recognize the Lineal Champs as their Champ. I don't think Ring was giving out belts in those days? I know Jack Dempsey was the first Ring Champ but they stopped giving the belts out for a while up until 2002 or so. Prior to 2002 their criteria for their Champs was not clear... they actually have a pretty clear system now.

Anyway, there is no way in hell that a guy who picks up a belt in the way that Lewis did after Bowe dumped the WBC belt or in the way that Norton did in 1978 (also WBC) would ever be considered the Lineal HW champ until they beat the Lineal Champ or at least unified the major world titles.

 

Good post. Not many felt L. Spinks or even M. Spinks were ever the best HWs at any given time but they both had to be seen as Lineal HW Champs in my opinion.

When L. Spinks beat Ali... Holmes and Norton were considered better than both of them by many people. Also, many felt that Ali just had a bad night... Ali did win the rematch.


When M. Spinks beat Holmes... many felt that Holmes was still the best HW but just had an off night. Holmes fought better in the rematch but the decision went to M. Spinks again.

Tyson was looking very good at this point as well.

Many people also felt that Pinklon Thomas may have been the best HW after M. Spinks beat Holmes the first time. By the time M. Spinks beat Holmes again, Thomas had lost to Berbick.


My point is... you can't just "recognize" whoever you want as "The Champ"... there has to be some kind of criteria or lineage involved even if that guy may not really be the best in the world.

As for Briggs... I never considered him anything but I guess we must consider him a lineal HW champ as much as that hurts to admit. It doesn't mean he was the best HW in the world at the time (hell, he didn't even beat Foreman IMO), it just means that he got a win over Foreman who was the Lineal HW Champ even though he had been stripped of the WBA and IBF belts.

 

Good post :thumbsup