Does Lennox Lewis not fighting Bowe the second best HW from his era ruin his legacy?

Bowe was a badass, but he remembered what Lewis did to him in the ams. Most of the world knows he gave up his belt instead of facing Lewis. It would of been a great fight. Bowe actually doing better than Lewis when Bowe was beating Holyfield. Bowe's short time at the top he could of beaten Lewis or at the least made it a classic. Had great boxing skills, but had that type of bully, short fuse mentality where he could get frustrated easily and lose his cool. Lewis was the complete opposite.

 

Bowe ducked him so it has no negative impact.

 

I would have loved to have seen that fight. I couldn't believe what I was watching when Bowe threw the belt in a garbage can. Bowe was a tough guy from a tough neighborhood, but I don't think he wanted any part of Lewis.

 

This is as far as I could get.

Bowe shamelessy ducked Lewis. What did Lewis do to supposedly duck Bowe?

 

Stop reading there...You must just started watching boxing or something??? Its well documented that Bowe wanted no parts of LL.

 

Horrible thread.

 

The two never having met as pros hurts Bowe's legacy, or lack thereof, far more.

At least Lewis has a legacy. He's a near-consensus top-5 HWOAT, and certainly nobody who isn't trolling places him outside their top 10.

Bowe's legacy, his place in history, is merely "the guy who popped Holy's cherry and edged him in a trilogy; the only man to officially beat him twice (although many feel Lewis and Ruiz should both hold that distinction as well)

 

The Golota fight was a great achievement for Lewis, I will say that. But, looking back, how good does it now appear?

Tua was in embarrassing shape when he fought Lewis. But that was Tua's own fault.

Ruddock -- Great win. I'll give Lennox credit for that.

Tucker -- excellent win, even if Tony may not have been at his prime coming up on 35 years old.

Holyfield was 36 and 37 when he fought Lewis. The Tyson that Holyfield fought was considerably past his prime.

I respect Holyfield, though, and so I won't discount Lewis' win over him.

Still though: How many fighters did Lewis face who were at or close to their peak, truly?

Golota? Ok, but that guy just lost twice to Bowe, under whatever circumstances. Mental midget, apparently.

Vitali? Tough fight, and no rematch.

Ruddock? Ok. But Faded Tyson already beat him twice.

Tua? Was a fatty when he fought Lewis. Not Lennox's fault, of course.

I respect Lewis, he was a fitting champion. But I also try to keep his accomplishments in perspective.

I think one of Lewis' best fights, from a fan's perspective, was against Mercer. That was a war.

I'm just not sure Lewis won the fight.

 

The purpose of this thread seems to be to criticise Lewis because Bowe did not want to fight him. Bowe and Lewis were evenly matched. It should have been a 50/50 split. Bowe just asked for a 90/10 split because he knew it was ridiculous and he knew Lewis would not accept it. Therefore he made Lewis look like the one who was ducking.

 

Have you even seen that fight? The ref called it off after Lewis landed one good punch on Bowe. Hardly a brutal beating.

 

You can't blame Lewis, but it's a great shame this fight never got made. It would have added a huge amount to either fighters legacy should they have won.

 

You are one clueless *******. I will bet Lanceuptheasses life that you're a Klitschsko fan.

 

Exactly. Bowe blatantly and shamelessly ducked Lewis. This is a known fact in boxing. Anyone who argues otherwise needs to follow another sport.

 

Vitali ducked the Byrd rematch, and Wladimir ducked the Sanders and Purrity rematches. Why do I say this? I know that the t.s is a diehard Klitschskos fan.

 

yep, he got his ass kicked at the 88 olympics in seoul and he didnt want

any part of lewis as a pro. while lennox got better as time went on bowe

regressed.