Can anyone take 88-89 Mike Tyson?

An actual source please.

And secondly, Tyson earnt around the same amount for fighting Lewis years later and that was only after Lewis had established himself as the premier heavyweight.

In 96 Lewis was the Amir Khan of the heavyweight division. With Tyson and Holyfield like Mayweather Pacqiauo.

 

In 1996, Holyfield was considered a ****ing corpse, after being diagnosed with a hole in his heart.

That's why Mickey accepted to fight him, expecting a quick blowout.

In the rematch, Mickey turned ****** and gave up rather than being beaten up to a pulp once more.

We knew then and there what would have happenned if the 91 fight took place.

 

Tyson fought Holyfield for more money.

What part of that is difficult for you to understand?

Tyson Holyfield 1 broke records. There was a reason the fight was billed 'Finally' its because it was the Mayweather Pqcqiauo of its time, a fight that was 6 years in the making.

And im still waiting for a legitimate source that showtime offered Tyson $45m dollars to face Lewis.

Because that's the first time ive heard of it.

Why would Showtime offer Tyson more money to fight Lewis than Holyfield. When the public wanted Tyson Holyfield?

Its like claiming Mayweather would have made more money fighting Khan on May 2nd.

 

I hadn't heard of the $45 million offer either, but having googled it there are some sources that confirm this.

So it seems like Tyson/Lewis in 96 would have been more lucrative for Tyson. But they chose to fight Holyfield who at the time was seen as past his best.

http://articles.philly.com/1996-07-03/sports/25622666_1_frank-maloney-wbc-belt-tyson-rid****-bowe

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/04/sports/boxing-bronchitis-stops-tyson-seldon-fight-is-off.html

 

Both articles state that Lewis team allegedly made this offer, there is no actual confirmation of whether this is true or not. Anyone can throw figures around. If Frank Maloney says he offered Tyson $45m, then it must be true?

But the first article does say Lewis turned down a $13.5m dollar offer from Tyson to wait in line.

And in the second article Bowe pretty much confirms what i said.

Bowe: "I believe they called off the Tyson fight because of money," Bowe said on a hastily arranged conference call.

Lewis team were difficult to negotiate with, Holyfields team were not. So Tyson/Holyfield was made.

And another thing not mentioned in the article is as part of the contract, King wanted options on Lewis future opponents if Lewis won, Lewis team didnt agree to this.

 

Without actually being there or corroborating evidence to confirm any claims from either side it's impossible to say what was actually offered.

While it's true we only have Maloney and Eliades word about the validity of this offer, I find it weird you disbelieve them but take Bowe at his word without further evidence from Bowe. Why does Bowe's opinion carry so much weight but Maloney's so little?

I'd agree about the options King wanted on Lewis this was always a sticking point in regards to Lewis working with King. Yet it never seemed an issue when Lewis fought other King fighters like Mercer, Rahman and McCall. Also didn't seem an issue when Lewis eventually fought Evander and Tyson. I wonder why?

Personally I think King was the biggest road block to the fight happening 96. Lewis was a threat, King knew it and he wasn't going to give Lewis his shot, no matter how much money was offered unless he had options on Lewis and Lewis was never going to do that, he never trusted King.

 

Because Maloney was Lewis manager, so there would be a hint of bias involved, whereas Bowe was neutral and looking for a payday from either of the men, so he had no reason to favour one or the other.

If youve got two fighters who want to fight you and one is easier to negotiate with (Holyfield), then the better choice would be to fight that guy. Plus Tyson/Holyfield had history and the general public wanted that fight more than a Lewis fight.

Look how long negotiations took when Tyson/Lewis did eventually fight.

 

Could anyone see Ali, Louis or Marciano relinquish the most prestigious HW title AND pay 4 mill just to avoid facing their mandatory ?

They would be the laughing stock of the boxing world.

Why should Mickey be any different ?

 

Lennox Lewis, Chris Byrd, John Ruiz ring a bell?

 

Neutral ? :nut


How in the world can he be considered neutral since he never admitted to be afraid of Lewis, and chose as well to vacate the WBC belt rather than step in the ring with him ?

:hi:

 

You missed the part where he said he was willing to face either man.

But Maloneys 'offer' to Tyson must be true right? atsch

 

Just as true as Holyfield was seen in 1996 as a threat to Tyson ( in your strange warped world, that is ! )

atsch

 

More money seems to a concept too difficult for you to grasp

 

While Tyson/Holyfield did have history the fight wasn't as meaningful at the time as Holyfield was seen as over the hill and that has to be factored into the reason why King chose him as an opponent for Tyson.

It's true that negotiating a fight with Lewis was difficult for the previously mentioned reasons and also because of the difficulty of getting the the 2 rival networks to come to an agreement. Then the loss to Rahman put a spanner in the works and then of course the brawl that led to the fight being delayed.

 

Its pretty much the same as the Mayweather Pacqiauo Khan scenario.

Tyson, like Mayweather was seen as almost undefeated. But the fight everyone wanted to see was Pacqiauo, even though Pacqiauo had had a lot of ring wars and was recently knocked out by long term rival Marquez (like Bowe did).

Lewis, was like Amir Khan, a british fighter with a lot of talent, who was trying to get over the stigma of his ko loss and question marks around his chin. He also didnt look too convincing against Mercer (similar to Khan/Algieri).

And as i mentioned before, Tyson/Holyfield was what the public had wanted for 6 years. Tyson/Lewis was an afterthought.

Another reason King put Tyson/Holyfield together was because of the farce that was the Seldon fight.