Lennox Lewis recalls fighting Michael Grant

Add Gary Mason to that list. The younger fans don't remember, but Lewis was not well-loved by the British back then, as they thought of him as Canadian, and they cheered for both Bruno and Mason over him.

Remember Bert Sugar's idiotic comment: "Tyson could beat him after three minutes in the electric chair."

I am proud to say that I was a fan of Lewis' since the Olympics, because they hyped Bowe so greatly, and Lewis beat his ass. It was a great ride with Lewis, without too many bumps. To me, he was only legitimately beat once, because the McCall fight was the worst screwjob stoppage I have ever seen. I will never forget how he was up at four, and the color team was screaming "A champion has a right to defend his title almost to the death!" All these years later, it is forgotten that the McCall fight was probably rigged, and, given his odd behavior, McCall probably did a pound of coke before he hit the ring.

The Rahman stoppage...well, props to the Rock.

As for Grant, I was extra glad when Lewis embarrassed him because he degraded boxing, saying football was a tougher sport. I read that thinking "yeah,. that is because you haven't fought anyone."

Great ride with Lewis over the years.

 

There's no problem with the idea that Lewis should have been given a chance to continue. Plenty of heavyweights champions or future champions have been given the chance to do so under similar or worse circumstances.

Could Lewis have made the round? We'll never know.

 

Rubbery legs or not you're supposed to ask the fighter if they can continue and to walk to you. Lennox walked to him. Would he make it out the round? I don't know.

 

Good points.

Conversely, he could have come out of it like Holmes did against Shavers and it been talked about as a great recovery and victory. Fine lines.

We'll never know but, as someone who has followed the Lewis story quite closely, it's fair to suggest, as you have done, that it probably didn't do him any harm, given the way things then turned out.

 

I remember this fight quite well. It was a fight that greatly anticipated and Grant was given a real chance at the time. I myself was a bit stunned at the way Lennox disposed of him. All in all, the fight itself was quite a disappointment

 

I remember the ticker tape that came down at the end of the fight.

it was totally meant for Grant.

 

As i said the other day you really need to do some simple research before posting.

Tucker was a 6-1 underdog against Lewis. Could you be any more wrong? He was FULLY expected to win and then some.

Lewis was a 4-1 favorite against Bruno. This is a very heavy favorite and again you could not be much more wrong.

Tucker most certainly a signature win and Bruno may not have overly been either.

That's two out of three simple factoids you got wrong and not by a small bit.

In all seriousness if you have memory problems or something medical going on let me know and i will most certainly ease up.

You are on the money in this case.

 

The gist of my explanation was Lewis was an overlooked great fighter who was not wanted by the American dominated TV money in the way that even Micheal Grant was.

Certainly Tucker and Bruno were betting underdogs against Lewis but there is no doubt that “the industry” would prefer that those guys won. I am pretty sure they wanted Lewis knocked off. I am sure Don King would have been happier controlling the title again with Tucker as champion. He certainly played a part in keeping Tucker in the rankings didn’t he? Outside of Holyfield and Bowe, Tucker was statistically the next best. Bruno was much tougher than Dokes and Ferguson who Bowe was defending against.

yes against the gist of what I was talking about this certainly is a nit picking detail. Lewis had destroyed Ruddock, a link to Tyson’s last impact on the sport before his incarceration..and now Tucker, another famous Tyson opponent with an unbeaten run since having only ever lost to Tyson was served up. The Ruddock win makes Lewis favourite and more current but it’s Not exactly an easy assignment for his first defence is it? By comparison, Riddick Bowe for instance got two ludicrously easy defences against Old Dokes and cannon fodder Ferguson. Where was his Tony Tucker?

Nit picking. Bruno was by far the more popular and saleable fighter with the TV audience...and a much greater threat to a title than Michael Dokes or Jesse Ferguson.

 

So it was 6...and the point still stands. Did you not hear them?

"What is this!"

"The crowd is stunned!"

"It was a WBC heavyweight from Mexico..."

"This is one of the strangest stoppages I have ever seen..."

"taht's hardly a devastating punch. He was up by the count of six and clearly capable of continuing the fight."

"And still in the ring is confusion, chaos, uncertainty at how this has taken place."

They were even questioning the fact that they had never seen the referee before.

Let's tell the truth. It was a screwjob stoppage, and obviously so. The entire stadium was in disbelief. About the only guys in the world who think it was a good stoppage were the ref, McCall, and you, and I am not convinced that the ref was so convinced.

 

Well, Bowe was going to fight Ray Mercer but Mercer’s dumbass showed up out of shape and lost to Jesse Ferguson, so Bowe pulled a switcheroo and fought Ferguson the guy that everybody had beaten already and who had pretty much been a journeyman for years.

 

It was a quick stoppage for sure but more of Jim Lampleys outrage was over the fact that Lewis (an HBO fighter) had just lost a title belt to Mccall (a Showtime fighter) he was very competitive (Lampley) in those days it was HBO vs Showtime to Jim. Lewis was stunned but he definitely should have been given a chance.

 

Which never happened. He leaned forward a bit, but the ref moved off, and Lewis was clearly standing on his own.

Except that it was more than just Lampley. The entire boxing world knew that was a screwjob at the time. It is one of those things that kind of gets pasted over, and a consensus develops to forget it. Kind of like how no one talks much anymore about how Hearns was ahead against Leonard, and they stopped it quick, or a lot of people felt Tubbs beat Bowe. The consensus develops that they were close situations, but the right thing was done.

Not saying you, because you know it was quick. i am just saying that the sting of these things is forgotten over time.