1996 - "Tyson Ducked Lewis" ?

Those offers were/are not Bull****!

Go read Frank Maloney's Biography, "No Baloney". Its in there! Remember, he was Lewis' Manager at the time!

 

Lewis would have gotten all the fights he always cried about not gettin had he signed the contracts the promoters offered him. Sure he wanted the fights but not bad enough to take short money. That was his choice.

 

I think $13.5million to fight Tyson in '96 was a generous offer by King ($5.5million more than Holy accepted!), especially considering his early stoppage loss to a Tyson sparring partner 2 years previous, which he had not rematched yet. It's just that he probably hated the idea of accepting $13.5million (due to his personal greed for more money), while Tyson got a guaranteed $25million. More importantly, Lennox's supreme confidence in his ability will have meant he was 100% sure of victory, which means the Don King contract options would have definitely applied to him for his next few fights in his mind, after the Tyson fight. Lewis wanted no bull**** purse robbery management by serpentine ******* King...

 

I'm sure the contract was full of bull**** and future options but again Lewis was pretty much the only guy who wasn't going along to get all the marquee fights. He wanted it all in his terms. even after beating Tyson trying to force him into a rematch.

 

I like your examples. I also agree Tyson was in his prime when Douglas beat him. He was only 23 years old, people make too many excuses for him, I like Tyson just as much as anyone but im not a fanboy of his so I have to be objective here. I mean if he was not in his prime how could his prime only last 3 years from 20 to 23? Tyson fanboys are too defensive and are just crazy to say Douglas didn't beat a prime Tyson, just crazy. I got some examples myself.

Look had Tyson had a lay-off before the Douglas fight MAYBE one can truly say well, Tyson was not prime(im an amateur fighter myself and I know lay-offs can be devastating). But Tyson was a young 23 year old champion who was still knocking everybody out at that time. You mentioned Ali before so I'll add to your great examples, Ali's prime was cut too short from 64-67(22 to 26 yrs old), but obviously because the government fought him from 67-70. When he came back from his lay off(29 yrs old), in his first 3-4 fights it was clear he was not the same fighter(example, Frazier I), never the same fighter for that matter YET he actually had in my view the better success in the 70s than in the 60s. My point is Tyson didn't have that type of long lay-off until his jail time, and when he came back(26 yrs old) he was never the same fighter either but still dominated in KO fashion. Certainly not in his prime anymore much like Ali in the 70s. Unlike Ali though, Tyson was not able to have as much success as a revamped fighter. I have to say though, Tyson was more near his prime at 26 after his jail time, I mean he did win the title against Bruno and knocked out almost every fighter that was not named Holyfield, and you can't say Tyson was shot because he was still young and jail time does shoot a fighter. Although I admit his jail permanently rusted him. Im only saying that as great as Tyson was people make too many excuses for him, my point is he was prime vs Douglas, vs Holyfield he was not prime but still a near prime wrecking machine and people make too many excuses for all his losses(the only losses that can be excused in my mind are every loss from Lewis to McBride when Tyson was WAY past it). Thats all. What do you guys think?

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2-aY26Z8ns&feature=related[/ame]

 

I have researched Tyson's history myself, you aren't telling me anything I didn't already know. Its the same old excuses people make for Tyson, its precisely what I was talking about. If he didn't win its because Douglas beat him, simple as that. Tyson tried to end Douglas and Holyfield the same way he did others, he tried to get them out of there quickly but they mastered the blueprint on how to beat him that guys like Bruno designed. Many people will agree that Douglas and Holy could beat any Tyson of any timeline.

 

I agree, I think Holyfield also would have given any Tyson a hard time and beat him at any point in his career. Your point on sparring is also right on the dot, since im an amateur fighter I know exactly how that goes. Even Ali was known to get beaten up in sparring matches sometimes but in the actual fight he would change, an actual fight is a different beast from sparring.

 

Lennox Lewis was the last guy Mike Tyson wanted to face back in 1996.

"Its a known fact that Mike Tyson wanted no part of Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield even states it, neither Bowe or Tyson wanted any part of Lennox Lewis.

 

One thing I will say about Tyson though, any Tyson before his jail time would beat Lewis any day. Maybe even the Tyson that faced Holyfield could beat Lewis but that is up in the air.

 

What do you think about Tyson vs Bowe? Many fans I have interacted with believe Tyson could not beat Bowe...

Opinions....?

 

Never heard of Tyson getting "beat up" in sparring. Please share those reports.

 

I think the best chance to beat Tyson at his best would require what Bowe could bring at his. He could setup his attack correctly and he could fight in close quarters. I don't think Douglas would stand a chance against Tyson in 88. He didn't have all the intangibles that would be required to beat Tyson at his best and the fight wouldn't even resemble their fight in 90. The naysayers will always have their say because Tyson never got a chance to redeem himself and Douglas went back to being a one hit wonder.