You’re one of the most annoying and argumentative posters on this forum. You ask for opinions and then argue with people who have knowledge and who were watching the sport at the time. Stop fighting me and take onboard what I’ve said. Shelly Finkel wasn’t putting Mike into the ring with Vitali Klitschko in the early 00’s. Mike fought Julius Francis and Brian Neilson, before fighting Lennox in a monster pay day fight. Mike was embroiled in many lawsuits in the late 90’s-early 00’s, and his life was a mess. He didn’t even want to fight. He only fought because he had to. He got his face tattoo when he should have been in camp etc. He wasn’t even training properly. I’m telling you straight that nobody who had anything to do with Mike would even have considered a Vitali fight in 2000-2001. It was a fight which wouldn’t have made any sense at the time.
Vitali was regarded as an unproven robot. Give him the WBO belt and it could've happened. It would've even fit in with Tyson's world tour narrative if done in Germany. Francis was a late sub. Nileson was a financial decision if you have any awareness of where that fight was hosted.
Steve, I believe the fight was in the works after Lewis beat Tyson. It would have been a huge pay day for both fighters.
How was he an unproven robot? He was up on every card against Chris Byrd before he withdrew and had surgery the following week. Everybody knew how dangerous Vitali was. It was a bad stylistic match up for Mike at that stage of his career. It would never have happened. Shelly had Mike fighting certain types of opponents on route to fighting Lennox. You’ve asked the question, but won’t acknowledge the answers of people who were watching at the time. And you clearly weren’t watching at the time, hence your thread.
Byrd was actually a late sub and not very highly regarded. Vitali was basically in Seth Mitchell territory at the time. HBO honestly hyped Mitchell a lot more.
We’re not talking about fan perception. We’re talking about people behind the scenes. Knowledgeable promoters, managers and trainers etc. Try and put yourself in the shoes of Shelly Finkel and the rest of Mike’s team. Why would they have put him in with a huge, dangerous HW like Vitali, when it wouldn’t have brought even a 3rd of what the Lewis fight brought? If you didn’t know already, boxing is a ruthless business. Do you think he fought a domestic level British fighter by accident in Manchester? Do you think he fought Lou Saverese in Scotland by accident? These were carefully matched opponents that he could knock out in front of large crowds of people to sell a Lewis fight down the line. It wouldn’t have mattered if Vitali had’ve beaten Byrd. Shelly Finkel wouldn’t have pursued that fight for Mike in 2000-2001.
It was easiest available path to a title for Mike. As for Vitali, he was at least as protected as Tyson. The first guy he fought who was perceived as a serious threat was Lewis. He was like 30 fights in already. I think this a forgotten “what if?” fight that definitely could have happened if Vitali split beat Byrd. They could’ve split up some serious money in Germany. As for the fight itself, it wouldn’t be a blowout in 2001. I think Mike would outperform Corrie Sanders and create his share of drama.
What on earth are you talking about? Vitali had beaten Hide who was a respectable fighter. He’d won nearly every round against Byrd before he had to withdraw. The easiest path for Mike to a title? Ha! What?? It would have been as hard as the Lewis fight for him. He was a 3 round fighter who had no love for the sport. You’re talking absolute nonsense. You’ll just argue against whatever I say. I’m telling you how it was back then. Ask someone else if you don’t believe me. Lewis was a cash out fight after carefully selected opponents. Only a fool would have made a Tyson-Vitali fight in 2000-2001.
Perhaps you were unaware. Hide was regarded as a joke by anyone outside of England, and was unranked year after year. Byrd was unranked in 1999 and was regarded as being too small and light hitting to be a top tier heavyweight...which is specifically why he was allowed to fight Vitali on short notice. Vitali finished in 1999 as 7th ranked by The Ring and wouldn't regain a place in the rankings until 2002. Tyson was 6th ranked in 1999 and 2nd in 2000. Mike would have been a moderate or possibly several fold favorite to beat Vitali in 2000 or 2001. You're speaking from a position of hindsight bias and intellectual inflexibility.
I’m not unaware of anything. I lived through the era. There was a valid reason why Shelly had him fight guys like Julius Francis. I’m not going to debate with you anymore on this subject. You are completely ignorant. You haven’t got the response that you wanted so you’re digging your heels in. Mike Tyson was dangerous for 3 rounds and he was fed low level guys who weren’t a big stylistic threat to him. Fighting Lewis for huge money was always the goal. Vitali would have smashed him up in 2001. If you don’t agree with what I’ve written then go and debate someone else who lived through the era. Boxing is a business. If you were a businessman and Mike was your fighter with a potential fight against Lennox on the horizon, you wouldn’t have considered Vitali as an opponent for even a second. He fought a European level HW in the U.K. in order to look good against the casuals. Vitali didn’t ruin his chances to fight Mike. He never had any chance of fighting him back then. You have now been told the same thing by 2 other posters. You asked the question, and 3 posters have answered you. The thread has now reached it’s conclusion.
