Did Tyson really duck Lewis in 96?

To be fair - and I don't want to undermine your argument by any means - I think Tyson ducked Ruddock in 1989. He clearly didn't fancy that fight at the time, but he make it up by fighting him in 1991, a time where he didn't have to and where Ruddock was even more feared and highly regarded.

 

Waaaaaay more than Lewis. Simpe Buster Douglas fight is surrounded with more excuses than Lewis' entire career, lol.

 

He also could have fought Evander in 1989, but it's not a plain duck. Just a miss.

 

Yes, he should have fought Evander before Douglas.
But I think it had more to do with Don King wanting to build up the fight than a pure duck. "A miss" like you said.

 

A duck is imo if someone avoids the No. 1 contender for a long time, ignoring ranking obligations. In 1989, the most serious contender was Holyfield, but apart from post-fight interviews, he did nothing to exercise his rights as a contender until 1990. After Holyfield won the title, Tyson was the number 1 contender and after the fight with Tillman he exercised his rights as a contender, but then Holyfield appealed against the WBC decision in court and instead of Tyson, he fought the 42-year-old Foreman, who was a much safer option. And what's happening? is anyone starting a topic - Did Holyfield do a duck in 1990?? absolutely not. I even heard that Tyson avoided Holyfield because he was after something
He was in the stands during the fight and said he wanted to fight Tyson.
Tyson's hate and revisionism of his achievements are still very fashionable after a dozen or so years since his prime...
people follow the trend without knowing the facts, even though it is all well documented

 

No worry, I don't believe Tyson ducked Holyfield.
But they were supposed to fight during the late 1989, before Don King preferred to gave a title shot to Dokes.
After Dokes refused because he thought he was underpaid, Tyson was supposed to face Ruddock but he pulled out of the fight by claiming illness.
This is where I think Tyson ducked someone, because he wasn't eager to fight Ruddock whereas the fight was supposed to happen. If I remember correctly, Tyson himself said that he didn't fancy his chances and claimed he was ill to postpone the fight.

 

Very well put.

 

Personally i have Tyson prime before 2012 or so but to each their own.

 

The fact that there were many reasons for Tyson's defeat and general degradation as a boxer does not mean that they are lies. There is a lot of reliable evidence (e.g. Holyfield and Lewis's accounts) that Tyson was completely focused on boxing until around 1986 and was a hard worker. There is also a lot of evidence that after the fight with Berbick and especially after the fight with Spinks, Tyson got bored with boxing and started to lead the same lifestyle as Leon Spinks after the first fight with Ali. If you cannot notice (and you should) that Tyson boxed worse after 1988, he had weaker timing, head movement, worse cardio and later he developed a serious mental problem, just read objective articles before Douglas 1990, read about sabotaging your own training, about parties, about suicide attempts, about changing coaches, night life, problems personal problems, legal problems, addictions, etc. etc.
But you belong to a group of people for whom I am not even going to convince them that it could have had an impact on the athlete, and what we saw in the ring confirmed that it was so. For me, you can easily say that Tyson was overrated, that in Tokyo he was in the best shape, he became the champion only because he avoided Buster since 1985, if it weren't for the journeyman Buster would have won all the victories that Tyson did and Buster should fight Holyfield to be the most famous boxer in the world and a living legend. You may even decide that Danny Williams or Kevin McBride were better and that if they had been born earlier they would have become the youngest world champions and that Kevin should have been

 

The hate for Tyson began around 2002. a dozen or so years after its prime. Tyson was in conflict with Merchant, Bert Sugar, Ted Atlas and several other publicists and commentators who made up various nonsense. They are easy to verify. Have you heard from any of them that it is true that Holyfield went to court not to fight Tyson after the Douglas fight? I don't think so... have you heard that Tyson avoided Holyfield which is nonsense? I think so.

 

????

 

He's got it as bad as anyone since redrooster and SRL.

 

Sorry but this is my opinion. He didn't fight Foreman, Moorer, Ike, Byrd, Bowe. Hide, Whitearspoon, Holmes, fought too late with Tyson and Holy when both were washed out, did not give a rematch after a very equal, controversial fight with Mercer,
dismissed Ruiz and Byrd's belts,
his victories over old Holyfield and Klitschko look better on paper than they looked in the ring. It is said that he was the best of his era, but what were his greatest victories? because his losses to McCall and Rahman were just terrible

 

This post proves exactly how many excuses surround Tyson til this day.

 

Every boxer have their excuses. Whether it's Foreman, Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield or Lewis.