Did Tyson really duck Lewis in 96?

So Lewis stepped aside once and then was asked to step aside for two more fights?

The way step-aside is supposed to work is you get cash to wait while the champ fights another guy, then you’re next. But not in the world of Tyson and King.

That’s a DUCK. I will pay you not to fight you and put it off forever if I can is ducking someone. Tyson gave up a title rather than go to purse bids to fight him.

If it gos to purse bids, the fight takes place on whichever outlet wins the bid. If HBO/Lewis win, they get it. If Showtime/Tyson win, they get it. If contracts interfere with that, they work it out or one side walks. But Tyson and King weren’t going to allow that to happen.

 

No. Lewis was offered the date when Tyson was originally supposed to face Seldon (07/13/96). Lewis refused the fight and took the step-aside money instead.
The June 1997 offer came after that it became clear that Lewis wouldn't be available soon.
Excuse Tyson for being busy trying to reunify the title instead of waiting in the sidelines.

 

He wouldn’t get step-aside money if he declined the fight. He doesn’t get compensated for that. They paid him not to fight him.

They tried to pay him to let Tyson take two other fights while he waited and he said no.

Tyson gave up a belt rather than fight him. It’s as simple as that.

 

Then Lewis gave up 2 belts rather than fight Byrd and Ruiz. Ducked em both.

 

Bowe's power and physicality definitely caused immense problems for Holy.

 

I let this one simmer for 9 pages before i even opened it. There were no surprises.

 

The irony of this argument is that the purse bids would have given Lewis 15 million, whereas Don King offered him 16 to 18 million, so at least 1 million more.
In reality, the purse bids would have advantaged Tyson (with a purse of 45 million dollars) but Showtime had invested so much money on him that they wouldn't allow him to go to purse bids.

 

Agreed. But that was a rough fight for Bowe too, and a career best performance.

 

You have no idea what the winning purse bid would be — because there wasn’t one.

And the purse bid leaves Lewis free and clear of Don King. No options, no anything.

 

WTF does Oliver McCall have to do with anything. Tyson got KO’d by Buster Douglas, lol. So what?

Purse bids assure fair market for what the fight is worth. It doesn’t matter what someone’s previous high purse was, it matters what the promoters (in line with their networks) will bid. And it’s for one fight, with no options, the challenger being free and clear of any dealings with Don King, in this case, going forward.

It also puts the money in escrow where he’s guaranteed to get full pay, something Don King rarely did. Ask Mike Tyson, who sued him, or Larry Holmes or Tim Witherspoon or Muhammad Ali or anyone else who ever fought for him — Don could say “I’m going to give you $100M” and put it in a contract and still pay $100 at the end of the day. What Don says he’s willing to pay, even in writing in a contract, doesn’t put that amount in escrow where Lewis would be guaranteed to collect every penny.

I’m glad you admit that you’d duck Lewis, too. Very big of you.

 

So you implicitly admit that you didn't read the sources I posted.

The pot was estimated to be 60 million, with Lewis winning 15 million and Tyson gaining 45 million (75/25 split). This was what HBO could have bided.
Showtime couldn't match that much money (at least for a Lewis/Tyson showdown) but could have provided Lewis with 16-18 million, and Tyson with a likely 30-35 million (Don King mentionned a 50 million dollars total for their purses combined).

Showtime didn't want to lose the promotion of a Tyson fight (and understandably so), so they rejected the idea to go to the purse bids while offering a generous amount to Lewis.

I won't respond to your last sentence about the options since I have already answered you many times.
And you have never brought a source about what options King wanted. Talking about what King did to other fighters like you often do in this subject is irrelevant as it's what happened in the negociations of that specific situation that we are interested in.

 

We just can't help it buddy!

As Larry Merchant once said, "Sometimes Jim, the slab of meat jumps up and kills the butcher!"

 

Thank goodness, but on your way out the door answer me what his exact cut would have been from a purse bid that never happened. You can’t, because it never went to bids — an HBO vs. Showtime bidding war would have been worth quite a bit to both fighters, but Don King couldn’t have that because he wouldn’t have been able to cheat either side.

Getting his ass kicked from pillar to post by Douglas is different than Lewis getting sparked with one shot … because Mike took a sustained beating and knew Lewis possessed everything necessary to give him an even worse beating. Mike managed to avoid Lennox until he absolutely had to at the end because he needed the payday — which tells us a lot.

What Lewis did later has no bearing on whether he should have turned his career over to Don King at the time (with options and Don being known to steal from his fighters). For the Holyfield fights, it was Don King IN ASSOCIATION WITH Main Events, Panix (Lewis’ UK promoter) and Madison Square Garden. He had three other entities to keep an eye on Don, make sure deposits were made in the amount promised, etc. He didn’t have that kind of heft and pull as a No. 1 contender that he later had as champion.

There’s only one question here and you can’t get around it:

Q: Did Mike Tyson give up a championship belt rather than fight Lennox Lewis, his No. 1 contender?

A: Yes, he did.

He tried to pay him off to wait while Mike fought three other fights first and Lennox said no. He tried to avoid purse bids with a crooked King offer and Lennox said no. A judge ordered Tyson to fight him or give up his belt and Tyson gave up the belt.