I wonder, if Holyfield had never come back after Moorer 1,how many fights Tyson has winning before he runs in to Lewis? Fergy Boxing Junkie Full Member I feel the heavyweight division was in a weak state during that period.
Hard to say. No Holyfield and Lewis maybe a few years down the line? Think I'll have to chew on this one Mark.
Well tyson was supposed to fight lewis in 1996...Lennox was the mandatory challenger and should have fought Tyson for the WBC title....But Tyson wanted to fight holyfield first so he relinquished the belt so he can defend his other gold (WBA title) Against the real deal in one of the most expected superfight at that time. If holyfield retired after the 1st Moorer, tyson would have runned into Lewis right after the Seldom fight. If he decided to throw the WBC title and avoid Lennox, he might have defended his WBA title against the likes of Moorer, bean ex....but at one point, he would get in the ring with Lewis, and he would get stopped.
"Don King's plan to have World Boxing Council champion Mike Tyson unify the heavyweight title has hit a stumbling block called HBO. Tyson will walk into the ring to face World Boxing Association champion Bruce Seldon tonight at the MGM Grand, but even if Tyson wins, he will leave only with the WBA belt. As the result of a court settlement, Tyson must give up the WBC belt unless he agrees to a Sept. 17 purse bid with No. 1 WBC challenger Lennox Lewis. Showtime cable network has an exclusive contract with Tyson and will not permit him to go to a purse bid that could be won by rival Time Warner, which owns HBO. King offered Lewis a deal worth $16 million to $18 million if he convinced HBO to permit him to fight Tyson on Showtime, but HBO ended those negotiations, effectively blocking a Tyson-Lewis match. King on Thursday blamed his feud with HBO Sports boss Seth Abraham for messing up his unification series. At the same time he declared victory over his bitter rivals in the heavyweight boxing wars, chiding Abraham for refusing to gamble that Lewis would beat Tyson and force a rematch on HBO. "This is a battle between me and HBO, and I whipped their [butt)," King crowed. "Seth can't get around the $16 million they turned down for Lewis. He's blocking the public from having one champion, and he's blocking a contender from getting a chance at the undisputed title. Right now, HBO is wrong." According to the battle plan King has put together, if Tyson beats Seldon for the WBA title, his next fight will be Nov. 9 against Evander Holyfield, who held the undisputed title when Tyson went to prison in 1992. Under a deal signed Monday, International Boxing Federation champion Michael Moorer will get $3 million to meet Frans Botha on the Tyson-Holyfield undercard. Assuming Tyson and Moorer both win, Moorer gets $10 million to put his title on the line against Tyson March 15. King originally offered Lewis the March date for $16 million, but when Lewis couldn't get clearance from HBO, King moved Moorer into that slot and offered Lewis $18 million for a June 21 date if Tyson was undisputed champion by that time. Instead, Lewis will enforce a court settlement in which he received $4 million to allow Tyson-Seldon to happen and the right to go to a purse bid for the soon-to-be vacant WBC title. Lewis' likely opponent will be Oliver McCall, who scored a second-round knockout against Lewis two years ago. King predicted Lewis will get about $2 million. Abraham did not return several calls to his office, but John Davimos, who manages Moorer, supported King's view that the HBO chief is preventing Lewis from accepting King's offer. "I'm sure Seth is standing in the way," Davimos said. "I don't know why HBO doesn't let Lewis out. They're not competing in the heavyweight division. I don't know what Seth is trying to accomplish. They could have had two champions, the IBF and WBC, if Lewis beats McCall. Seth had an opening to compete. They chose not to make Michael an offer for whatever reason." According to King, he agreed to all of the conditions set forth by HBO through Lewis' manager, Panos Eliades. King said HBO's terms called for Lewis to meet Riddick Bowe first, HBO to get its normal distribution fee from Lewis' purse for the Showtime fight against Tyson, HBO to get the rematch if Lewis beat Tyson, HBO to get the delayed tape rights and for King to give HBO options for five fights by IBF welterweight champion Felix Trinidad. King claimed Eliades agreed to the deal on several occasions, but after consulting with Abraham each time, he came back with another condition and, ultimately, a refusal. "I talked to Panos [Thursday), and he said, 'Seth won't let me do it. He's obsessed with you." https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1996-09-07-9609060529-story.html
I disagree, Tyson was younger during this period than when he met Lewis, if he met Lewis in the 90`s he would have had the same success Mercer had, as time went on Mike got worse and Lewis got better, by 1999 Lewis was a lot better than when he floundered v Mercer in `96.
If Tyson faced the Lewis that nearly lost to Mercer. I don't know. I think Tyson has a strong chance here, his confidence would have been soaring after he blasted out Bruno. I'm not gonna sit on the fence. I would pick Tyson to beat Lewis in 96.
Tyson fights Moorer in November 96 and unifies the WBA and IBF titles. He defends the title against the likes of Botha and Vaughn Bean in 97. In 98 he avenges the Douglas defeat. By 99 the Lewis fight is made Lewis shocks everyone by beating Tyson with ease. Late 99 Lewis again defeats Tyson with relative ease. Lewis would have a similar path that he would in real life except with Tyson instead of Holyfield.
Sorry but Lewis stops any version of Tyson post Rooney. To be fair, there is 2 reasons Tyson lost to Lennox, and a lot of people mention the first reason which is the fact that Tyson was washed, past his prime, showed up out of shape and did not train for the fight. But They tend to forget the second reason, which is the most important foudamentals in boxing: Style Make Fight. Lewis would have always been a spicy challenge for any version of tyson, i mean his strength, footwork, great and sound technique, punching power and 13 inch adavantage would give any form of mike troubles. However, i'm not saying he would defenitely have stomped a mudhole in the Rooney era tyson, because i don't think it would be an easy task for the lion. Yes, Lewis is strong and has incredible power in both hands, but i feel like the 1988 Mike would be too elusive, too fast, and he might have slipped the giant's jab, found the majestic button which his chin, and knocked him out. But with Lewis' sheer strength and talent, i'm going to say it would be a 50/50. So a fight between prime lennox and prime tyson could go either way IMO. But the don king tyson,who lost all of his foudamentals and became just a one shot headhunter, even the one who came out of prison, would have lost.
If we replace Holyfield with Lewis against Mike Tyson on November 9 1996 ... Then I'm not sure who wins that fight ... Lewis didn't look spectacular against Ray Mercer a few months earlier that year ... I personally thought Mercer did enough to at least earn a draw that day against Lewis .... It's clear that Mercers bull style and aggression gave Lewis problems ... Tyson is more aggressive and faster than Mercer .... But by 96 he had lost speed and wasn't really trying to be elusive or using the peakaboo style to it's fullest Lennox Lewis should win but when it comes to Mike Tyson you never know .... A few clean shots from Tyson and Lewis would be in a lot of trouble ... Holyfield took huge right hands from Tyson ... I don't see Lewis handling too many of those
Lewis was warned twice by Mills Lane for holding v Tyson in the first couple of rounds of that fight, he would have held even more with a younger Tyson, maybe with ease though.
Lewis never met a fighter as skilled as a prime Tyson, he would have been beaten prime Tyson under Rooney was that good, just on another level.
Tyson from 86-88 with Rooney beats any version of Lewis Those punches that Tyson missed when they actually fought in 2002 would connect and have more speed and power on them ... And we would see Lewis being counted out
Oh guys, don't get me wrong. I would (slightly) favor prime tyson over Lewis, i just want to say that lewis would have imposed a formidable challenge to him
Holyfield's reputation takes a hit. He is still a respected former champion, but everybody assumes that his best accomplishments were behind him anyway.
Delusionary man. Let your hero die in peace. Your excuses & crushlike fawning on Tyson are embarrassing.
