I look at it this way, if a promoter makes a fighter a ridiculous offer to fight, then hes trying to avoid the fight. I dont think that any of these fighters were scared of each other, but I do think they were purposely trying to avoid the fight for better financial reasons. King didnt want the Holy fight because he couldnt make as much money King didnt want the Lewis fight, because he couldnt make as much money Bowe signed a monster contract with HBO with a potential fight down the line with Lewis. I dont care what anyone says, Lewis was not highly regarded or known that well at the time, even when he knocked out Ruddock, because it was in London on ****ing Halloween, noone even watched the dam fight here in the US for the most part. Its more about money and control than the fighters actually being scared of each other. King would fight Tyson against King Kong if he could control the entire promotion, he just didnt care.
I can't go against what your saying because i agree with you regarding the monies situation. I do wonder about Bowe fearing Lewis though. Honestly. I also know Lewis wasn't highly regarded in the US around that time, or any time for that matter. But i'd bet my last penny if he was american he would of been, and the big fights would have come quicker for him. I have a feeling you'll disagree with that.
No I agree, because the titles were running through the US at the time. If Lewis was American bigger fights would have come quicker, same as if he was promoted by King. If Lewis was truly British, bigger fights would have come quicker. He wasnt even embraced by his country because noone knew where he was from. Jacobs and Cayton were going to take Tyson to London to fight Bruno in Wembley because that fight was monetarily huge for them, but Tyson got injured with the whole Mitch Green thing and then Tyson bolted for King. I dont agree Bowe was scared of Lewis. Bowe was a tough dude and he always felt Lewis got a BS stoppage in the olympics. Gonzalez beat him up worse in the amatuers than Lewis did.
Yeah that's totally true about him not being representative of one place. Maybe it's because i come from a mixed-race family that i was more tolerant of him. You see i got behind Lewis from the start. I seen this talented gold medalist who chose to come and represent his native England as a pro, and thought we should be grateful of that. We ain't ever had anyone else this good, and i didn't think Bruno or Mason could go has far has him, Bruno having already failed twice to Spoon and Tyson. But obviously i was in the minority for a long time and put up with a lot of stick from friends for liking him, at the same time i seen he wasn't getting any respect in the US for pretty much the same reasons. Even when he seemed to be going backwards under Pepe Correa i never doubted he would be a major player, and was always aware his identity was a stumbling block on both sides of the pond. '92 - '96 were frustrating times has a fan. It was in these times were Lewis could have really proved his critics wrong but wasn't really given a fair crack because of his identity, plus the McCall defeat set him back quite a bit. If he had been American, or indeed fully British then i don't think it would have been as a bad a set back has it turned out to be. I also think that defeat was a direct source of frustration of not getting the fights he wanted, and thinking he could just keep landing the right hand until he did get them. Has for what you say about Bowe; well that just compounds my belief that Riddick did hold fear for Lewis. Because if he thought it was such a BS stoppage, then he should have done all he could in the pro's to put that right. Don't you think? Also you still haven't answered which challenges you thought Lewis could have took on. Other than Byrd and Ruiz.
you ask who did Lewis not face and the list is quite long my friend.. Holmes 93, Hide 94/5, Bowe 93/95, Tyson 96, Sanders 95, Witherspoon 96, Foreman 94-7, Moorer 94, Ruiz 99, Byrd 01, Wlad 00-03.. You say Lewis "immediately called out Moorer" yet i can recall Moorer calling out Lewis in 94 and Lewis himself admitted in the SKY interview 2010 that he "Avoided Moorer" you cannot have it both ways. Tyson offered Lewis $13.5 million in 1996 and a guaranteed title fight which Lewis turned down. yet you are claiming Tyson was not ready or that he chose Holyfield.. Lets get this right in that he chose Holyfield because his No1 contender Lennox Lewis DID NOT want the career highest payday and Title Shot.. This is the reason why Lewis is despized so much, because he claims Tyson ducked him in 96 and paid step-a-side-money yet anyone with only half-a-brain can see that $13.5 million + guaranteed Title fight out trumps any $3 million step-a-side money.. if Lewis had taken the $13.5 Million and won the title fight against Tyson the rewards was astronomical. Lewis chose to wait 6yrs more unto Tyson had completely self-destructed then fought him with 40 police officers cordoning off the ring so as Tyson could not eye-ball him during the intro's and give him diarrhea. Who wanted to see Lewis fight the No1 contenders Ruiz & Byrd... every hard core Boxing fans. thats who wanted to see those fights.. styles make fights and Ruiz & Byrd proved many times over that their styles was difficult for all other Heavyweights to beat.. Ruiz beat & floored Holyfield something Lewis never came near to doing in 24rds. Byrd easily out pointed both Holyfield & Tua far easier than Lewis managed to out-point them. We then had The Klitschko Brothers whom Lewis boasted, "i will have one brother for breakfast the other brother for Tea"... we all seen what happened, with Lewis being very fortunate to get the win over Vitali and wanting nothing to do with the better younger brother.. Lewis promised the entire boxing world he would face Vitali in a rematch. yet dragged out his title reign for another 9 months and announced his retirement 3 days before he was to be stripped of his last remaining title. You also make several quotes claiming "Not Lewis Fault" yet i and many others feel it was always Lewis fault. 1/. it was Lewis fault he never accepted $13.5 million and a guaranteed title fight in 96 to fight Mike Tyson. 2/. it was Lewis fault he never accepted $3 million offer from HBO in 93 to fight Riddick Bowe for the undisputed title. 3/. it was Lewis fault he never rematched Vitali 4/. it was Lewis fault he never accepted $10 million in 95 to fight Bowe. 5/. it was Lewis fault he never agreed to fight his No1 contenders Ruiz & Byrd
I dont think Lewis missed any challenges. I dont have a problem with his resume. For the most part he fought the best possible opposition that was out there, I just dont think much of it at all. I think Lewis would have had trouble if he came into his prime a few years earlier because the guys were better boxers and they were bigger than the Byrd Ruiz type guys, so they would have probably given him some better challenges. Lewis doesnt really have that stellar KO record against guys who actually did show him some movement. As far as Bowe, if you think about that time, Lewis shouldnt have been going anywhere after winning the title. He held the title after clearing out the most dangerous contender at the time (Ruddock), but he should have defended it against the guys he was facing, just as Bowe did against the Dokes Ferguson guys who were somewhat comparable to Mcall and Jackson types so the fight with Lewis was there, and it was going to get made, just after Bowe made some money with some BS defenses. Holding the title and fighting on HBO against American fighters would have made Lewis more popular than he was so the fight could have gotten bigger and more hyped with the whole olympic fight deal. Like Ive always said, you dont get too many chances in boxing to make a lot of money, and I dont really blame Bowe for not making the fight, its not like Bowe had an easy title fight with Holyfield, so taking a couple easy fights to make some money with the possibility of the Lewis fight down the line, was not a financial mistake on their part at all. Lewis was as much a part of it as Bowe was for one, not taking short money if he really wanted the fight, or two, losing to Mcall, a guy he should have had an easy time with defending his title.
It was a good shot just as I've previously stated. But did anyone see him grimace in pain at the time of the punch or anytime there after?
You can't see Lewis face. That guy said he was at the fight and saw his face. No way to tell really but Lewis did look to hold after so it probably did hurt.
Your effort is commendable that your putting in trying to discredit what i'm saying. But it's falling on deaf ears, as you are so transparent it's untrue. I already mentioned every name you listed other than Hide. So what! It's easy to look at one side of a story and then claim it to be true. Which is exactly what your doing. I have already said, i'm not sure in which thread? That Lewis has to take some blame for fights not happening, but you blame him for everything! That's a funny way for a fan to act, which you said you are?!? I'd carry on but my time is limited and i get the feeling your winding me up! You got to be haven't ya? Has i've said already we ain't gonna see eye to eye on Lewis and you ain't showing me anything new. So it's a waste of our time. Good luck with the rest of your anti-Lewis campaign. No doubt you will leave another response because you seem the type to wanna get the last word in. Crack on sunshine.
it's called debating and nothing to do with getting in the last word.. do you agree like Lennox himself said in the SKY interview that he "avoided Moorer"? Do you agree Lewis was offered $13.5 million and a guaranteed world title fight to fight Tyson in 1996? Do you agree Lewis was stripped of his belts for refusing to fight the No1 contenders Byrd & Ruiz?
Well you have now stated that that you don't think Lewis missed any challenges and you have no problem with his resume, which is fairplay. Has for saying you don't think much of it! Well that's up to you, maybe it's more to do with your view on the division at the time rather than a negative on Lewis. I personally think his resume is only equalled or bettered by Holyfield in the last 25 years. And apart from the timing of two fights and one not happening there isn't much more he couldv'e done. Has for Bowe, well i think they both could've tried harder to make it happen at some point. But Bowe for me shouldv'e wanted it more to put the olympic defeat to bed.
Bowe became the man after beating Holyfield who was the top guy at the time. Holyfield was the pinnacle of the division, Lewis was just an amatuer fight just as Gonzalez was. Bowe didnt really have much against Lewis until he started talking ****. Im sure youve seen the youtube deal where Lewis and Bowe were argueing after Bowe beat Holyfield. The fight with Lewis was made two times after that fight. He was supposed to fight him after Mcall and then after Bowe fought Golota.
Why did he not uphold his oral agreement to fight Lewis after they had both won than? Why low ball an offer and trash your belt?
Yep i know the times there were supposed to fight but circumstance kicked them into touch. But surely with Bowe being the percieved better man in late 92 early 93 he shouldv'e seen it has the perfect time to avenge that defeat to Lewis, and finish the HBO tourney. Lewis wasn't just another amatuer fight just has Gonzalez was, otherwise Lewis wouldn't bother him as much as he obviously did or does. Plus the man denied him olympic gold. So i can't buy that. The incident after the Holyfield fight with Bowe saying to Lewis you had help from the ref shows that it bothered him. We won't agree LH, and like i said some blame should lay with Lewis' team, but Bowe for me shouldv'e done more to settle the score at some point. Has i've said before i think Bowe always had doubts about beating Lewis, that's my opinion.
Read some of the prior posts and you will find out. Lewis wasnt some upstanding champion once he held the title, he looked for the most money, easy paydays etc, just like every champion in the history of big purse boxing.