I mean exactly that! They were bot grossly overrated commodities in the heavyweight division at the time. They should just have got it on, and the the winner would have won, while the loser made a lot of money!
For what it's worth, here's the Ring ratings from before the fight: The Ring – October 2002 (as of May 19, 2002) World Champion: Lennox Lewis (WBC/IBF) 1. Wladimir Klitschko 2. Mike Tyson 3. Chris Byrd 4. Hasim Rahman 5. Kirk Johnson 6. Evander Holyfield 7. John Ruiz 8. Jameel McCline 9. David Tua 10. Vitali Klitschko
I definitely remember loads of people picking Tyson in this fight. All Tyson had to do was land a bomb on Lennox glass jaw and it would be over they said.
We never saw that. But we saw Mike punch that guy as soon as he walked out, where he completely missed him.
I remember watching this fight with 2 friends. They were sure Tyson was going to win. I'm still suprised as to why anybody thought Tyson had a chance (even without the benefit of hindsight) at this point in time. Though the first round did give me pause. We all got super emotional as the fight went on and the end result was inevitable. The old gunslinger's last hurrah. Both friends are now deceased so this fight holds a special place in my heart. Incidently, the referee of that fight died today of covid-19!
Agreed. Cotton isn't even the first one in the boxing world to succumb to Covid-19. It's absolutely insane.
Might have been true in Tyson's prime, MAYBE even up until 96/97 when Holyfield fought him(for maybe 5-6 rounds) but 2002 Tyson was a overweight, mentally and physically shot mess
Mike looked good considering his age and wear and tear. Technically I mean. I like what roach was trying to do with him. Obviously it was far too late but it would have been a pretty good performance if it wasn't for the knee
Tyson was still ranked in the top 10 by Ring Magazine going into the fight but is there really much evidence to support him still being a top 10 heavyweight? Prior to the fight he beat Brian Nielsen and afterwards he beat Clifford Etienne but that doesn't really tell us much.
I remember watching this fight with 30 people in a room, many of whom felt Tyson would just walk up and hit Lewis and that would be that. I was pretty sure Lewis would win easy. And he did. Tyson had but one round in him. After that is was all Lewis. Lewis probably could have finished Tyson sooner if he was willing to risk it. The fight wasn't close at all. Afterward, Tyson begged for a re-match. Not that it would be close, he just wanted more money. Like many super fights that end up being one sided, this one would have been better 3-4 years ago.