Bowe, Foreman, Holmes, Whitearspoon, Moorer, Hide, Wlad, Sanders, Ruiz, Byrd.. Some were champions, some held the belt, consider that Lewis has NEVER defended the unified title ONCE and refused a mandatory defense three times.
Well Bowe refused to fight him. Foreman and Holmes lost to Holyfield which probably killed any momentum. Witherspoon and Sanders are fair criticisms - i levelled those criticisms myself.
Did the subject of the post ask how many times he defended the unfied title, or how many times he "refused" a mandatory defense? Read the subject of the post carefully.
Lewis defended the unified title 4 times. You probably meant undisputed. Refused a mandatory defense only once, with Byrd. When was Lewis supposed to face Witherspoon? And Sanders was in the mix only after he beat Wlad in 2003. Lewis didn't refuse to face Ruiz and it has been explained to you like 10 times at this point.
Lennox wasn't fighting world class fighters at that stage. He was fighting domestic and European level fighters. There was absolutely zero talk or interest in fighting Mike. His breakthrough win was the Ruddock one, the following year. No 15 fight novice would have fought Mike Tyson at that stage of their career.
Come on, when asked about Tyson from the Spinki fight, you started masturbating over the Douglas fight. But it's best to let the author decide. For me, it's quite simple – name those he didn't fight, regardless of the reasons, and however you name Bowe – it's not his fault. Although the author clearly emphasizes that the reasons aren't important. For me, there are also Ruiz and Byrd, among others..
A well-managed career, whatever that means. Marvis Frazier could at least get beaten like that in the 17th fight. And he was still able to fight Holmes in the 11th fight, even if he got beaten like that. It looks like Marvis' career was mismanaged - whatever that means.
Nah, it's just not easy to find a prospect who would challenge the number 2 HW in the world after fighting only 2 years as a pro. Tyson is the exception and Spinks was a cherry pick gone wrong.
I am not saying he ducked Sanders. I am saying he could have fought Sanders in 2000 instead of a notably weaker opponent in Botha. Witherspoon had 1 loss between 1991 and end of 1996 so this fight could have happened anytime then. Again, i do not believe Lewis ducked Witherspoon (he didn't). But Witherspoon was notably better than a lot of guys Lewis beat in this timespan.
It's not a fair critique as Botha fight was between fighting 2 number 1 contenders in Grant and Tua and he was a replacement for Ruiz who ducked him. Basically a stay busy fight. BTW, Lennox fought Botha after Sanders already lost to Rahman. And he fought Raham next year. Witherspoon was not in the circle at that time. He was a second tier HW after losing to Martin. Nobody from the top guys faced him. Not Holyfield, not Bowe, not Lewis, not Tyson, not Foreman. Not even Mercer.