How many of Mike Tyson’s fights were fixed?

I agree with everything you say especially that Tyson cherry-picked Holyfield. So happy to see Evander win that fight and in such a way. Felt sorry for Mike during the Lewis fight but deserved what he got after all the pre-fight shenanigans.

 

Yes, this was a blatant duck. Frankly pisses me off when people try to excuse those. And anyone who followed boxing back then can see why you wouldn't accept an offer from King, but rather go to purse bids.

 

Money Gets Lewis Out of Way for Tyson Fight - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Lewis sued to force Tyson to face him and won. Tyson paid $4 million to get Lewis to step aside. That's a matter of record.

 

« Facts are facts » but context is very important. Neither Showtime or HBO wanted to let their respective fighter fight on the rival cable network. This was the huge obstacle, not Tyson himself.

 

This is a simplistic view of the situation. The 4 million were mostly paid to compensate Lewis legal fees.
Talking about article : https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1996/09/07/tyson-seldon-whats-at-stake/

 

You don't remember those times. Lewis in 1996 was a guy who had recently been knocked out by McCall, and a guy who just couldn't clearly beat old Mercer. At the same time, he was a guy who, as the No. 1 contender in the rankings, wanted a lot of money for the fight, but no one wanted to watch him. Nobody wanted to pay him, nobody wanted to watch him and nobody was afraid of him. it's like being afraid of Mercer, Whitearspoon, Tucker, etc. In hindsight, that's what it looks like. Let's also remember that Lennox did the same thing by not wanting to fight Chris Byrd, not wanting to fight John Ruiz and finally not wanting to fight Vitali Klitschko again

 

This ****ing notion that a champion have a right to stay away from anyone who isn't good enough risk reward and still call himself champion... Being champion, i e proving you're the best, is going to mean risk, that's pretty much the thing.

 

Right on.
If nothing else, I respect Lewis' refusing to be King's puppet.
Tyson on the othe hand...

 

It was all about network. Lewis was contracted to face Bowe before. And his value was far from what it will become in 2000/2002. When they finally faced each other, the fight was still difficult to made, even if Lewis' stock had increased.
It had nothing to do about the fighters.
You should take a look about the link I posted earlier.

 

Well, that is common among casuals. They are not as much fans of b

You have a good point; but for me Tyson's sour grapes about Tokyo is not just some small trash talking to excuse his defeat. It is not some like he is just saying "Oh, I had a bad night!" or "My opponent was just lucky, I am better". What Tyson is doing is impying a serious accusation smearing Douglas.

What is worse is that in the aftermath of Tokyo, Don King tried to disqualify Douglas with the "long count" fantasy ... and Tyson went willingly with it. That was serious.
Douglas has stated that King's accusations spoiled what was supposed to be his triumph. That probably influenced Dougla's retirement because he wanted nothing to do with King. And it had everlasting effects. Even after 3 decades you still find ppl in this very forum posting "Douglas cheated, Mike was robbed in Tokyo", that kind of nonsense.

You would think after King screwed Tyson, he would just let it go, but it seems he is still King's willing complice.

Sad. Tyson is an ATG, one of the best ever, but it seems he is still the classless bully he was as a boxer.

 

When did they collaborate before 1996 ?

Showtime prevented Tyson to go to purse bids, because they feared they would lose them to HBO.
If Tyson's camp was so reluctant to face Lewis, why King agreed to all the conditions proposed by Lewis' manager (according to the article I linked), and offered him between 16 million to 18 million (step aside fee included) ? It was more than when he fought Holyfield the first time (15 million I believe)