Why doesn't Lennox have universal approval ?

No, you overstate the situation completely.
There's no compelling evidence to show that Holyfield avoided him.
Bowe, yes, he did avoid Lewis. And, Tyson.
But in the case of Tyson, and even Bowe, it's wrong to imply that these were lengthy consistent periods of ducking. Truth is, they both lost their titles pretty soon after. And Lewis lost too.

And when Lewis lost to Oliver McCall in 1994, is there any evidence to show he was chasing a fight with Bowe and Holyfield immediately in 1995 ? I seriously doubt it. (I know everyone was talking about Tyson) I seriously doubt Lewis's new trainer or his manager were eager to fight Holyfield and Bowe with no title at stake, and of course the reverse is probably true too.

I think it's totally inaccurate to imply that Lewis was chasing these guys for a decade and they were all avoiding him as long as they could. It simply isn't true.
We know instances where ducking did occur, so there's no need to embellish it.

Holyfield has also said many times Bowe was the best he fought, and Tyson was the best he fought.

If you rate him in the top five, that's fine. It's your list. :good

 

Prime Tyson knocks Lenny out:bbbhi:

 

In his first comeback fight Lewis was given a chance to fight for the mandatory challenger position within the WBC and won it by knocking out American contender Lionel Butler. However, at the behest of promoter Don King, the WBC bypassed him and gave Mike Tyson the first chance at the title recently been won by Briton Frank Bruno from Oliver McCall. Bruno had previously lost to both Lewis and Tyson.

Lewis had the number 1 contender's slot in the WBC rankings when he knocked out Australian Justin Fortune, then defeated former WBO Champion Tommy Morrison in October 1995, followed by Olympic gold medallist and former WBO champion Ray Mercer in a close majority decision in May 1996. Lewis successfully sued to force Tyson to make a mandatory defense of the WBC title against him or force him to give up the title, winning a four million dollar settlement from promoter Don King. Rather than fight Lewis, Tyson relinquished the WBC title to fight Evander Holyfield. The WBC title was declared vacant. This set up a rematch between Lewis and McCall, who met on 7 February 1997 in Las Vegas for the WBC title.

 

Exactly .... Lewis was fighting guys like Butler, Fortune and Morrison and aiming for shots at McCall or Bruno.
So, why people act like he spent the whole decade trying to face Holyfield and Bowe, I don't know.

 

That might well be your moronic opinion, but here is a fact.

Prime Tyson WAS KTFO by Douglas.:rofl:rofl:rofl:hi:

 

:rofl

Cheers Mark.

 

Prime maybe

100% trained and focused definately not

The Tyson of the spinks fight destroys buster with ease

 

Proof, NOT opinion, or join the the window licker's queue with all the other Tyson apologists.

 

You need to get a job in politics as a spin doctor. You'd be good at it. Ignoring the fact that he was working to get himself into the #1 contender spot is proof of your ability to spin.

We can talk about King doing anything and everything to keep Lewis out of the mix later if you like.

Meanwhile keep thinking up whatever you can to disparage LL.

 

At least Tyson never got caught sneaking out of a hotel room with sol Campbell :good:good:good

 

You can deny it if you like but Lewis is the guy none of them wanted to fight unless they had to ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K39AbwNl3QU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNp12msEWqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78fnS5uZnx0 (go to 37:00)

 

Perhaps the way he lost to boxers of the calibre of McCall and Rahman, despite winning returns, keeps him from the top tier.
The "revenge" over Oliver was hardly an edifying spectacle, given McCall's mental problems. It should not have taken place.
Following both losses the complacency excuses ended with "it won't happen again", well it did.
Failure to give Vitali, who came in as a substitute, a return stands out as a major omission on his record when assessing his place in history.