Did Tyson really duck Lewis in 96?

Put yourself in Lewis' shoes you have proven yourself to be the best and beaten all serious challengers, you have probably 1-2 fights max left as you can feel father time catching up

The ABC organisation is demanding you fight Johnson or Byrd or some other low level fighter for crap money - are you not in your right to think it's not worth my time. Had he have not fought Vitali then there might be a excuse of ducking a serious contender but come on neither Byrd, Ruiz or Johnson proved themselves to be any more than domestic level fringe contenders

 

I'm with you on that, but we gotta be true to the facts: he dropped the IBF belt to pursue the rematch with Tyson, so he can get the last great career payday. The fight didn't materialize, so he needed to face Kirk Johnson, which he was willing to do. Finally, he fought Vitali, which was a great stamp on his career, he beat the guy who eventually became the second best heavyweight of the next era in his prime, while he was in the worst shape of his career. Had nothing to prove and hung them up. BUT Chris Byrd was the best available opponent at the time and Lennox should have fought him instead of waiting for Tyson so he can beat the washed man again.

 

At this point between Tyson and Vitali Lewis hadn't fought in a year and was clearly winding down his career, I much prefer his fight with Vitali than if he had fought Byrd which most likely would have been his last fight one way or another

 

Looking from historical perspective, yes, the win against Vitali was better. At the time Byrd was seen as the better fighter - he beat Klitschko and was the number 1 contender after rebuilding from his loss against Wlad. Only fight Lennox should have chosen over Byrd, was the fight with Wladimir. And I'm aware it was later in Lennox's career, that's why I don't take this that seriously, just like I don't treat Holmes cherry picking fights during the late stages of his reign that seriously. But it's overall not a good look.

 

A choice between Byrd or Vitali knowing what both ended up achieving I take Vitali all day long from a fan and legacy point of view

 

We all know that Lewis only met with Vitali because Kirk Johnson was injured
We all saw this fight and we all know why it aroused so much controversy... I wouldn't have a problem if Lewis left after Tyson, but he wanted to continue his career, he talked about fighting with 4 names. He changed his mind after one evening - Klitschko retired him and it is the biggest duck I have ever seen in this sport. Much greater than Tyson's in 1996, especially since Tyson went to Lewis and fought like a man despite his pathetic form. However, double standards and love for Lewis mean that Lewis' duck is justified and Tyson's is not.
It was well justified in this thread and even Tyson's opponents admitted that the duck in 1996 was caused by business. They also admitted that Lewis's two ducks were also caused by business. At the end, they admitted that the duck with Klitschko was caused by concern for his health and his wife's concern. This makes Lewis the Duck King, but this thread is about Tyson the Duck, right? Lennox shouldn't be criticized because he's a nice guy and everyone likes him. Not like Tyson, who once preached to everyone f... Merchant, Sugar, Atlas, all of HBO, etc. People repeat the opinions of others. It's funny that a thread that is basically supposed to humiliate Tyson, if you read it carefully and understand it, you will draw conclusions - it humiliates Lewis and actually Tyson's haters.

 

But we can't view it from this perspective. Just like Lewis made a great decision fighting Grant instead of Ruiz, Byrd was more regarded than Vitali at the time. When it comes to legacy, yes, win against Vitali was great.

 

But he didn't need to do that. He could have chosen some bum from WBC's Top 15. He showed that he's the real champion choosing Vitali as the replacement opponent.

Not bigger than Vitali's duck of Hasim Rahman. He ducked him 3 times and dropped the belt instead of fighting him.

 

Byrd was losing the fight until Vitali got injured just because he was ranked higher doesn't make him a better opponent which was proven during the remainder of his career

 

maybe. Vitali should have fought Hashi instead of Danny Williams, but it's a business decision. Ducks are the norm in this sport, but we only hate Tyson. Others can do it, and Lennox even did it three times because once his wife forbade him.
Hashim - Vitali was neither the biggest challenge in Vitali's career nor the most anticipated fight, and Klitschko would have fought him in 2005 if it weren't for the injury.

 

Everyone knew at the time that Vitali was the best of the rest, and choosing him after Kirk dropped out cannot be criticised. As you say he could have chosen a proper bum instead.

 

But he didn't. Hasim was the mandatory challenger, just like Vitali was to Lennox. Vitali rescheduled the fight 3 times and even tried to change opponents in the meanwhile. Rahman needed to appeal to WBC to get his shot. He ultimately didn't get it. Vitali chose to give up his belt instead of fighting Rahman. Just like Lennox did. And he retired at the age of 34, not 39. According to your logic it's a plain duck.

 

1.Vitali was No. 1 in the ranking, in fact Lewis should have fought him but Johnson was much easier.
2. Vitali was supposed to fight at the same event, so after Johnson's resignation he was a natural choice
3. Vitali agreed to very unfavorable financial terms.

Sportswise, business-wise and purely logically, it was the only sensible fight and Vitali was the only man who could replace Kirk. Who else? Brian Nielsen? It would probably be ok for some people too

I used to like Lennox a lot, I might even still like him because the level of hypocrisy surrounding his career is downright criminal. there is no more justifiable boxer than him and no one has as many excuses as he does. He became the most overrated heavyweight boxer in history in terms of legacy and achievements. Perhaps I would have believed myself that he was one of the greatest, based only on his CV, on paper and on Wikipedia, if it were not for the fact that I remember his career, I followed it on an ongoing basis, I watched his fights and I am not a parrot repeating advertising slogans that HBO came up with in its advertising campaign. when they were looking for a heavyweight star but no one was there except Lewis. I keep coming back to his career, looking for those great fights because maybe I missed something and I still don't see anything that would justify such blind love and admiration for Lennox. He avoided practically all the great HW fighters of the 1990s in their prime, made more ducks than any other heavyweight champion, won the title in a really average style, did not accept the biggest sporting challenge of his career but gives great interviews, is eloquent, has excellent PR and for By 20 years he will probably overtake Ali in the rankings.
The above thread didn't tell me anything new about Lewis, but it once again made me realize how important good marketing is in boxing.

 

Mike has waaay more excuses.

 

no more than Lewis and they are more true.
Who did Tyson avoid during his first career? who didn't get revenge? Who did his wife forbid him to fight? Tyson was a duck in 1996 but Lewis was a duck throughout his career. A man - a myth whose CV is much better than it really was