Why doesn't Lennox have universal approval ?

No, Unforgiven said that Holyfield never ducked Lewis, which is 100% true.

Had Holyfield beaten Bowe in 1992, he'd met Lennox in may 93.

How a guy who fought HOF'er in his 12th fight in a 15-rounder, who was always willing to fight prime Tyson, how this guy could've avoided raw version of Lennox but then somehow decided to face better, more skilled version of Lennox?

 

He's a black British Canadian with a sometimes boring style trying to make big money in America against American fighters.

Universal approval was never going to be an option.

 

he has a face too gay for the still hoomophobic 1990s.

 

Good answer.

I would add that some great fighters are recognized for what they are immediately i.e. Dempsey, Louis, Tyson.

With others it dawns on people over time i.e. Jeffries, Johnson, Holmes.

 

Perhaps you should read what I said and then he did .. I said Evander said Lennox was the toughest he fought and Unforgiven denied it .. I posted a clip to show Evander recently saying it .. as far as scared, I doubt Evander was scared of anyone and never said he was, just that he did not demand any such fight as he knew as the rest that Lennox was a very dangerous stylistic match up to take on ..

 

How does he have a gay face? Explain that one please.

 

In Tysons defence he dropped the belt to fight Holyfield for more money.

A record $35m, i know if i was in his shoes if have done the same thing. As would most here.

Also who was Lennox in 96?
Tyson vs Holyfield was the Mayweather Pacqiauo of its time and Lewis was like Amir Khan, a guy on the outside looking in, trying to rebuild his career after a humiliating KO loss.

 

My problem with Lewis is this:

Everyone is describing him as the "best fighter of his era" and "best of the 90s". But look back at the 90s and note how Lewis was rarely part of the major action in the division.

Here are the defining fights of the decade:

1990: Tyson-Douglas, maybe Holyfield-Douglas
1991: Tyson-Ruddock I and II
1992: Holyfield-Bowe I
1993: Holyfield-Bowe II
1994: Foreman-Moorer, Lewis-McCall I
1995: Holyfield-Bowe III
1996: Tyson-Holyfield I
1997: Tyson-Holyfield II
1999: Lewis-Holyfield I and II


It's strange for a guy to be described as the best of his era when he was involved in so few of the big fights. Lewis was an afterthought until 1999 (except for the brief shock when he was KOed by McCall in 1994).

I understand that it's not necessarily Lewis' fault that he wasn't involved in bigger fights earlier on (although he deserves a larger share of the blame than he normally gets, tbh). But still.

Think back to other heavyweights who were described as the best of their generation:

Ali was involved in the vast majority of meaningful, defining fights in the 1970s. The same can be said of Tyson in the late 80s.

Calling Lewis the best fighter of the 90s would be like calling Holmes the best fighter of the 1970s. Holmes was great, but wasn't involved in the major action of the heavyweight division until the decade was almost over. (Of course, Holmes had a longer, more meaningful run in the 80s than Lewis had in the 2000s.)

 

On the contrary, I'm not spinning anything, I'm responding the the "SPIN" that has Lewis being avoided by Bowe, Tyson AND Holyfield for an entire decade/era !

I'm in total agreement with you in saying Lewis was at that point working to get himself back as #1 contender and back as title-holder.
By the same token, when those other guys were title-less they usually had a similar agenda - GET THE TITLE.

So, what we have is career objectives on all sides that did not converge to make those fights.
We also have a couple of well-known instances where Bowe and Tyson ducked Lewis, and Lewis was rewarded richly in both cases.


What we don't have is Lewis being consistently ducked by Holyfield at all, or ducked for lengthy periods by the others either.
All these guys did not hold their titles long enough to be tested whether to consistently duck each other.
They al had shocking losses - including Lewis - and periods of re-establishing themselves and looking for title fights.

 

This sums it up nicely.

 

You've provided no proof that Holyfield avoided Lewis.
I could just as easily say Lewis didn't want to fight him unless he had to ... ie. he chased them when they had the title, for the title and the payday.
In that sense, they all avoid each other. They don't actually go fighting their best available rivals every fight, do they ? Look at the records.

I never denied that Holyfield said Lewis was toughest, I just pointed out that's he's said Bowe and Tyson were the toughest too, in other interviews.
The clip you posted shows him saying Lewis when Lewis is sat just a few feet from him.
Either way, it doesn't back up anything you've said to slur Holyfield in your claim that he was somehow ducking Lewis for all that time.

 

I agree.
:good

 

Exactly back in the 90's nobody described him as the best heavy around

 

:rofl most of your posts are garbage, but that was a treat.

 

Great post!