I get what you're saying, and I understand that I am in the minority here, but I still do not believe the facts support "Bowe ducked Lewis". I think it was more like 2 egos clashing (and I do not just mean Bowe and Lewis, but the egos on their respective teams). Was the base offer not more or less exactly the same Bowe received when he challenged Holyfield, meaning the standard challenger rate for the undisputed crown? They also negotiated 3 separate times after this.
I mean, I guess if Turki is the bank, the fight that will pay most will be whichever one Turki fancies most. But in a pre-Turki, normal supply-demand sense, I have a difficult time imagining Wilder being more lucrative than Kabayel for a number of reasons.
Very good. Calling Oleksandr a duck from behind a screen says a lot more about the name caller than it does Usyk. Is he supposed to keep banging on with silverback gorillas & kodiak bears until he is 60?
Wilder is, I'd guess, a much more recognised name for casual fans than Kabayel. The Kabayel fight sells well in Germany or perhaps another European venue. Wilder sells well anywhere. His name, despite his recent frailties, has baggage. It is maybe as close to the name Tyson as we have had in our era. It is such a shame because Usyk is an A side fighter, hell, he's a gold plated double A plus side fighter, but his name on a bill isnt a draw. He needs matched with names that are recognisable outside of our close knit community or be involved in 'superfreak fights' like Rico at the pyramids... A Wilder fight could give him a big Vegas pay day or the like...who knows...maybe its as simple as 'clearing house'. If they don't fight Wilder will always be the asterisk on his career...
Didn't emmanuel stewart say that eddie futch told him years after that he didn't believe in bowe's ability to win against lewis? I remember something like that...
Haha what? Wilder an asterisk on usyk's career? Who would see it like that? Noone, not even ten years from now or later. Wilder, thrice beaten by Fury, himself twice beaten by usyk. Wilder, who's greatest possible, never was, matchup Joshua - twice beaten by Usyk. Wilder who lost to parker and zhang before usyk could even think of fighting him. Wilder who looked soso against old chisora. You could just as well say shannon briggs will forever remain an asterisk on wladimir's career. And wilder the closest thing to tyson? Mike tyson? Yes he is american and had a lot of kos, but he wasn't a great draw at all. Fury is more recognizable in the us than wilder. Joshua is now, too, after the stupid jake paul Fight. Mike tyson is the first thing any casual thinks of when they think of boxing. At worst second behind Ali. Do you want usyk to fight wilder?
Ah I thought that's where I got that from - so you don't believe it? Or you think it didn't translate to bowe or his team not making the fight?
Is it about the split? Or the the market rate for an undefeated challenger to the undisputed throne? Lewis was, as I understand, offered $3 million as a base offer, the same that Bowe received when he challenged Holyfield. Bowe wound up making closer to twice that, I believe, where in the end, Holyfield made approximately 3x what Bowe earned. I'm not seeing the duck here, and I respect that you see it differently. Many fans I respect strongly disagree with me on this point. I think the better question here might be: why did Lewis initially refuse, and then, in wishy-washy style, he changed his mind and subsequently accepted the offer? I am reminded of a certain scene from Ruthless People starring Danny DeVito.
I certainly believe Emanuel had that conversation, and it went down EXACTLY as he depicted. I still, however, do not think that equates to "Bowe ducking Lewis". I believe both sides figured the fight would eventually happen sooner or later, but for various reasons, it unfortunately never did. As I said in the video, many boxers have dropped belts without receiving the same venom that gets directed at Bowe over that type of incident, where Lewis actually received and rejected the offer (before he flip-flopped and accepted it). I maintain egos and politics derailed that initial failed effort at putting the fight together, and I believe the facts and full timeline support this. For whatever reason, Bowe has been forever demonized in ways most vacaters are not. The boxing folklore became a reality.
It's not as Byrd not even was ranked higher than Vitali, he beat him. And Lewis wanted to fight Kirk Johnson, Klitschko was a late replacement.
I see nothing strange with that you give a counter offer to a bad offer. In the end it was Bowe/Newman who said no to getting 90 per cent out of what probably would have been the biggest purse they could get shy of a Holy rematch at the time. As I remember it this was a fight that really was wanted. Lewis had beaten Bowe in the Olympics, was undefeated as a pro and came off a demolition of Ruddock that I remember as schocking, Bowe wouldn't even take it for 90 per cent of the purse...