Lennox undisputed Title resume - your thoughts

I honestly think that Bowe felt he became a superior fighter around this time and I also believe that. Bowe became a much better pro quicker while Lewis was still finding himself. It worked out for Lewis, because I think Bowe would have handed him his head just like he did Gonzalez if they fought right after Bowes fight with Holyfield. Lewis just had too many holes in his game around that time.

 

I agree with al of this, but Lewis still deserved that opportunity.

 

Did Chris Byrd deserve his opportunity to prove himself against the best fighter? How about John Ruiz? He went on to show me he did. Its all money driven.

 

I would entertain arguments for Byrd, but Ruiz certainly didn't deserve nor earn a rightful shot. Are you suggesting we shouldn't hold champions accountable for ducking fights because of money? That ludicrous.

 

No they actually didn't anymore than Tyson, Vitali, Grant or even Rahman. This is all the 'Lennox should of fought Ruiz/Byrd' boils down to for you, it's an excuse for Bowe ducking Lewis.

The only fights you can hold against not happening for Lewis are probably Wlad and you could argue Ibeabuchi, although there was no money in that 1. You could also argue he should have taken 5%-10% of the pot against Bowe, which he wanted to do and Maloney advised him not to. Or you could argue he should have took the small money against Tyson in 96. But saying he should have fought Ruiz/Byrd is the most bizare criticism I've come across, they were nothing more than gatekeepers plain and simple

 

Lennox should have fought Wlad. Wlad was the Ring Magazines # 1 contender for two straight years.

 

Well when the Tyson fight was agreed Tyson was the no1 Ring contender I believe, then he bit Lennox's leg

Wlad was the natural contender after that, it seemed Lennox was only hanging for a big money Tyson rematch as he'd been talking retirement since the year 2000

 

They were mandatories dummy.

 

Yes, but as you said it's more complicated than that. For starters if you have three belts you have 3 mandatories. To make that work you need promoters and TV stations to agree on things on a fairly regular basis even if you actually want to defend all 3 belts.


And with King in the middle of things, and Lewis not willing to allow King to get his hooks in him, at lot of fights that could have happened never did.

But in general I do agree that all of who avoided who, is money and/or control driven as much as anything.

The only out and out duck I feel that happened was Bowe ducking Lewis, but even then, I believe money was likely the main cause.

And I remember Lewis saying he didn't want to fight Byrd or Ruiz because there wasn't a market for the fight. I don't recall him saying they weren't worthy opponents, but it just didn't make financial sense.

Who in their right mind would take fighting Ruiz to defend a title verses fighting Tyson
especially at this stage of their careers when the actually outcome of the fight was barely in question?

So I certainly agree that Lewis wasn't above taking the most lucrative fights over those who may have been more deserving of a title shot. He essentially complainted about it as he was comming up and then ended up doing the same thing.

 

Agreed Bowe did adjust to becoming a pro quicker than Lewis, which was largely down to the tutelage of Eddie Futch, and he got a 9 month head start on Lewis in turning pro. Plus he was a bigger man than Lewis at that point. So yeah Bowe woulda been rightly the favourite.
Lewis was doing ok though until he knocked Ruddock out. Then after that he seemed to think he could just beat everyone by landing the overhand right. But even with the 'holes in his game' and regardless of what you think of Razor at the time. Lewis showed in that fight that when he felt threatened, he could impress and come through a percieved banana skin. I mean Razor landed **** all, and for me Lewis looked compact and tight in defence. So i think a fight with Bowe straight after would not of been a foregone conclusion, not by any stretch. Not with how Lewis looked against Ruddock, defensively and offensively. No doubt he showed cracks in his next 4 fights, but the fear factor wasn't there, which it woulda been with Bowe.
Riddick also said Razor was scared of Lewis, which say's to me he was impressed by what he saw that night.

 

Ruiz and byrd were simply never the number 1 contender.

 

Yes they were.