Does Anyone Think Lewis Could Have Beaten Bowe,In 1992 ?

Newman is not my only source. Maloney himself acknowledged it.

I know that it was a quote from Lewis (among others excuses to not fight Byrd, his mandatory).
But you clearly used the quote as a way of denigrating Byrd, don't deny it.

 

Which part of "realistically viable" are you not understanding?

It's quite obvious you did not know it was a quote from Lewis and I very much doubt you have enough of an awareness of the history to have considered the various good reasons for why Lewis/Byrd didn't happen.

By the way - Guess who else was a Mandatory Challenger to Lewis at the time?

I see... ...Anything to keep distracting yourself from addressing the clear differences between Bowe ditching the WBC belt and Lewis basing his decisions on the more lucrative options available to him.

 

No need to be condescending.
If it makes you happy to think that I didn't know the quote, whatever.
It was all part of Lewis' myriad of excuses (" why a Lion would fight Byrd " among others) to duck his challenger, who earned his spot by beating Harris and Tua (and also beat Vitali, whereas Lewis didn't at the time).
The fact that you have no problem with Lewis selling his belt for a million and a Range Rover speaks a lot about your hypocrisy on the matter.

 

The core issue here is your attempt to equate Bowe's blatant avoidance of Lewis with Lewis's calculated decision to prioritize bigger fights over Byrd. Bowe threw his belt in the trash to avoid competition he'd already agreed to face, while Lewis made a business decision, driven by financial and legacy considerations, and had not made any prior agreement to fight Byrd.

Bowe's actions were a blatant and symbolic refusal to face his Mandatory Challenger. Instead, he fought Dokes as a first defense of his remaining belts (followed by Ferguson).

Lewis's decision, while also avoiding a Mandatory Challenger, was based on financial and strategic considerations. Byrd was a skilled fighter but lacked any kind of public appeal. Lewis prioritized more lucrative and legacy-defining fights, such as Tyson - in a big-money rematch - and Klitschko - a more serious Heavyweight challenge. He ultimately faced and defeated VK, who also happened to be his WBC Mandatory Challenger.

Equating these two cases is a considerable stretch. Though neither is ideal, the motivations and circumstances are vastly different. Recognizing this distinction isn't hypocrisy - it's acknowledging the nuance of the sport and boxing as a business.

Lewis's legacy doesn't miss Byrd, but it does miss Bowe - and the cause of that lies squarely with Bowe.

 

I would argue it kinda does. Byrd was the number 2 contender after Lewis beat Mike. Fight with Wlad couldn't be made due to him holding the WBO strap, so Chris was the best available opponent at the time. I understand Lewis was looking for the easy pay day in the rematch with Tyson, but it's still a duck.

 

Manny Steward always claimed Futch didn't want Bowe to fight Lewis. Can't see any reason why he'd lie.

Look at the generation after him and the Klitschkos, which are dominating, it’s just unfortunate they really don’t have any name fighters to fight. He was fortunate, even though he was criticized earlier for being too technical and he was complaining to me that, “I don’t have a big name to fighter to fight since Riddick Bowe” who he was really looking forward to fighting, refused to fight him—and later on, I was with Eddie Futch and Eddie Futch said that was a decision that he made. He felt that as good as Bowe was, he still felt that Lennox was still mentally and physically too strong and if they had fought, that what happened in the ’88 Olympics would have happened in the professional fight—that Lennox would have still just overpowered Bowe at a certain point. So it was his recommendation that Bowe give up the (WBC) title rather than fight Lennox.

Source: Heavyweight History With Emanuel Steward: Part 1 Of 3 • East Side Boxing • News Archives (https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/127858)

 

Byrd getting his ass whooped just like he did with Wlad. Young Klitschko was a white carbon copy of Lewis with stronger punch, weaker chin and no inside game. In my opinion, Lewis would have run through Byrd because of the stylistic matchup that favoured him. We will never know tho.

 

It's a matter of opinion. However, you can't fight everyone - and, if you had one fight left in your career (as did Lewis, following the Tyson win) and the choice was between Byrd or Vitali, then which of those do you think better caps off your CV as a legacy fight?

For me, the answer to that question is a no-brainer.

 

Most definitely, and It could be one of those fights, just like the Ruddock fight, where he dismantles Bowe in devastating fashion.

 

It wasn't tho. Lewis dropped the IBF belt to rematch Tyson. When it didn't materialize, he chose to fight Kirk Johnson. Vitali was the late replacement after Johnson got injured. And we can't forget Byrd was rated higher than Vitali at the time and held a win over him. In hindsight, yes, the fight Vitali was monumental and legacy cementing, looking how he turned out to be the second best heavyweight of the next era. But just like we can't blame and should applaud Lewis for fighting Grant instead of Ruiz, we can criticize him for not fighting Byrd and ultimately choosing Kirk Johnson over him.

In the end, it all turned out good for his legacy.

 

Which was the point I was making. Byrd isn't missed by Lewis's ledger, in view of his eventual match with Vitali K.


Incidentally, Lewis/Vitali was the original target for the Lewis team. So, yeah, Lewis opted for Vitali K over Byrd.

Johnson wasn’t even in view at this point. Only when negotiations with the Klitschko camp fell through, in early 2003, did Johnson come into the picture.

 

Can you send over something about this?