Why does Tyson get a pass?

Lewis gets a pass as well for both his losses by his fans
1) Both losses are claimed as lucky punches
2) McCall fight is claimed as early stoppage
3) Lewis gets a pass as being not fully prepared for Rahman which resulted in KO loss

 

But….Lewis avenged those losses which superseded said performances that he wasn’t really given a pass for.

 

Okay, so finally - did Tyson lose to a boxer better than himself but so horribly underrated that literally none of the recognized boxing people gave him a chance and his CV is so far below his actual value that he was an underdog at an unheard of level of 1-42 or did he lose to a weaker boxer? Shouldn't Douglas repeat Tyson's success under normal circumstances? Shouldn't he beat Jesse Ferguson? Tucker? and all those who mattered in the Tyson era - Thomas, Williams, Spinks, Tubns, Biggs, Bruno, Ruddock?

 

I rate him above all these guys, maybe except for Marciano, but that's debatable.

 

But that doesn't erase the losses right ?

 

Agreed.
Lewis also used the "quick count" excuse against Rahman (whereas it was clear as daylight that he wouldn't have rose from the KD).

 

Well I said he wasn’t given a pass for those losses, rather, his revenge victories superseded those losses.

The position was that Lewis gets a pass for his losses “as well” (read: “as well” as Tyson) - but the obvious difference is that Tyson did not avenge any of the losses that some still find reason to excuse him for.

 

I don't think the McCall rematch superseded the first fight. What stood out most from the fight was McCall's mental state.

 

He shouldn't have been in the ring then. And remember - Lewis wanted to rematch McCall straight away and WBC agreed, but McCall flat out refused to fight him again.

 

Agreed McCall had just got out of rehab and was in a terrible place mentally.

McCall was giving Lewis free pops at him and Lewis couldn't make any impression on McCall. So I was more impressed with McCall's durability rather than Lewis's performance against a fighter that was mentally not there.

Not that I'm saying Lewis couldn't beat a 100 percent version of McCall but I don't think the 2nd fight made anywhere near the impact that the 1st meeting did.

 

No, the WBC didn't agree because they normally don't allow immediate rematches. Lewis was supposed to be demoted to n°6 or n°7 before being ranked n°2.
Lewis did offer a rematch to McCall but because he kept disrespecting him, McCall basically told him to get lost and looked for other opponents.

 

I don't think WBC threatened not to sanction the rematch offered by Lewis.

 

From https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/25/sports/boxing-lewis-halted-in-2-rounds-by-mccall.html
« Jose Sulaiman, president of the W.B.C., said he would be happy to consider a protest. But, he added, "An immediate rematch is seldom ordered.»

 

So Sulaiman would consider a protest (which Maloney filed to force the rematch), even tho WBC rarely orders them. But in case McCall wanted to fight Lewis, they wouldn't have objected.

 

Reading again the articles about it, yes that's very likely.