Does Lennox Lewis not fighting Bowe the second best HW from his era ruin his legacy?

Why am I calling him a lier? Lewis himself said the fight had no fan appeal.

Anyway this is stupid, if you want to believe Lewis was for some reason scared of Byrd than fine, it's a waste of time to argue about it.

 

Ethically? What does ethics have to do with legal obligation. There are nuances to the law and there is a difference from saying you will definitely fight someone and saying you understand that while an exception has been made this time your obligation to face your mandatory is still expected at a certain time.

Difference between the Bowe and Lewis scenario is small but significant. Lewis was in a position where he could have still fought Tyson by dropping the IBF title prior to the Tyson fight and the IBF knew this and so obliged Lewis request to delay his mandatory.

There was no contractual requirement to sign a deal to fight Byrd to ensure a Tyson fight just an confirmation he must meet his mandatory by a certain date.

Bowe was never in a position to fight Holyfield for the title without agreeing to meet the winner of Lewis/Ruddock. So while Lewis had no contractual agreement to face Byrd just a recognition of his mandatory obligations, Bowe did contractually agree to a fight to ensure his title shot. You may not want to see the difference, but there is a clear difference.

HBO may have chosen a date for a possible Lewis defence but I have seen nothing to confirm it was specifically for Lewis/Byrd. Why would HBO confirm a fight date for a specific fight when the parties haven't even agreed on fighting. HBO often set a date for a fight but with the opponent to be confirmed.

So while there was a date in HBO's diary nothing had been confirmed and Lewis had signed nothing to say he was actually willing to fight Byrd on that or any other date.

When has King ever stood up for the greater good? Yes St King clearly must have had boxing's best interest at heart. atsch

He knew Lewis would never sign with him and he wanted to wrestle a title away from Lewis to set up his mini tournament for Jones Jr which would earn King far more money than Byrd alone ever could. So a $1 million for Lewis to dump the title was peanuts compared to what King would make for a fight between Holyfield and Jones Jr. But of course Byrd beat Evander and Jones Jr then dropped back down ruining Kings plans.

 

Ruin? No. Leave a hole in, yes. Fans wanted to see Bowe vs Lewis. Bowe avoided Lewis early, Lewis avoided Bowe late.

Lewis picked Holy and Tyson when they were past their best, and did not fight Ruiz, or Byrd, instead he gave up belts to avoid them.

He also did not re-match Vitali Klitschko even though he say he would several times.

Those are the holes in his legacy.

 

Any fighter who says the money doesn't matter is lying. Most might say it, none are to be believed. Of course he wanted big paydays, why else would he want a Tyson rematch?

Hell this goes back to the beginning ..Burns only fought Jack Johnson because of the money.

Actually I'm bailing because I've concluded that I'm wasting a good education on a pointless discussion, with a poster who pretends to honestly believes money doesn't matter to fighters.

 

The Holyfield Tyson comments are subjective but defendable. The avoiding Klitschko after beating him to a pulp is ridiculous.

Let's go to boxing 101. Champions who beat their opponents ARE NOT REQUIRED TO OFFER THEM REMATCHES in the twilight of their careers.

Klitschko fans are by far the stupidest bunch of people I've come across.


He didn't steal the fight because he cut Vitali with his dreadlocks.

He didn't pay of the doctor to stop the fight

He didn't bribe the ref and the boxing community by being awarded the fight

He didn't cut Vitali with tape on his gloves

He didn't throw one lucky punch to win the fight (there were multiple cuts on Vitali's face, not just one)

He clearly won the last round on all the scorecards

He didn't owe Vitali a rematch.

Why dont' Klitshcko fans view the fight for what it was, a pier 6 brawl that was extremely entertaining and a fight that Klitschko could have won in the 2nd round, but didn't.

Props to both fighters for a great, great fight. (not technically, but from an entertainment perspective.)

 

Lewis didn't avoid Bowe late. They were signed to fight in 95 but Lewis lost to McCall and then both were frozen out. By the time Lewis had a title again in 97 Bowe had already been ruined by Golota.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/18/sports/bowe-and-lewis-fight-is-on.html

Lewis also signed to fight Holyfield in Nov 94 but Holyfield lost to Moorer.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/16/sports/boxing-holyfield-lewis-set-bigger-bouts-later.html

As for Tyson we all know when Tyson came out of prison King paid money to Lewis to allow him to unify with Seldon with the caveat that he would face Lewis next. Tyson of course chose to fight Holyfield instead and so vacated his WBC belt.

It's clear Lewis wanted these fight when they were closer to prime but due to him losing, Evander losing and King keeping Tyson away from Lewis he never got to face these opponents at a time when it really counted.

Vitali said he would fight Stiverne yet retired instead. Fighters say things they don't always mean or change their minds. I have no problem with Vitali choosing retirement rather than face his mandatory. It would be a duck if he had agreed and then fought someone else instead of retiring but he didn't he did the honourable thing eventually and retired as we all knew he would. Lewis' actions were no different.

http://www.boxing.com/vitali_klitschko_vs._bermane_stiverne.html

 

No because Bowe clearly ducked Lewis, and Lewis beat him in the Olympics

 

The fact of the matter is that Lewis's legacy would have been ridiculous better had he managed to face and beat messrs Bowe, Wlad, Byrd, Ruiz etc. As it stands due to Lewis's lack of facing his true rivals he ranks above Byrd in the ATG stakes but not massively above him.

Lewis's best ever win is his over V Klitschko. By far the worst of the Klitschko's brothers. Chris Byrd beat a far better and undefeated version of V Klitschko.

Lewis's best 3 wins are.

1. Vitali (past prime, power diminished , one armed version).
2. Old Holyfield
3. A fat version of Tua.

Byrds top 3 wins are? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

 

Can I ask you a question?? Were you even around when this was supposed to happen? I doubt it Let me tell you what really happened......

Newman & Bowe were the SOLE reason Lennox never got to fight Bowe. Bowe renaged on the deal to fight Lennox & instead fought two clubfighters Michael Dokes & Jesse Ferguson.
Lennox did all he could to try to embarrass Bowe into fighting him. I was preaent when Lennox & a girl in a yellow chicken suit
with CHICKEN BOWE emblazoned on the front confronted
Bowe & Newman both just walked away embarrassed.
I'd love to know when you think Lennox ever avoided Bowe
Lennox wanted to fight Tyson & Holyfield for years BOTH avoided him. Look what did happen when he fought Evander eventually ? Corrupt judging cost him a win & the title .
Lennox & Tyson sparred as kids with Cus D'mato Lennox always handled Mike OK.
As for Vitali, Lennox beat Vitali TKO 6 when Lennox was barely 80% ready & on only a few days notice. What was the point of fighting him again? Where was the incentive.
Lennox beat every man he ever faced in the pro ring & there was no one else available to give him competition. Wlad ran for the hills instead of challenging Lennox. Ike Ibeabuchi was not available thanks to a lying hooker. So Lennox decided to retire
He had nothing left to prove he chose exactly the right time
He was the best HW champ since Ali

 

Lewis's best wins are:

1 - Vitali
2 - Holyfield (P4P #3)
3 - Ruddock
4 - Golota
5 - Bruno
6 - Mercer
7 - Tua
8 - Grant
9 - Rahman
10 - Tyson

Byrd's best wins are:

1 - Holyfield
2 - Vitali
3 - Tua
4 - Purrity
5 - Cooper
6 - Oquendo
7 - McCline

Lewis's resume clearly has more strength in depth than Byrd's, and Lewis beat Vitali by damaging his face so badly that it wasn't safe to continue while Byrd beat him because Vitali quit in a fight he was winning easy so its clear who did better again Vitlai regardless of whatever qualifiers you want to give as to who you think fought the better version.

 

No as lennox is the one that pushed and wanted the fight and bowe was the one that did all he could to avoid lennox