1996-Tyson vs Lewis - What would have happened?

Yeah. I meant that's the way it would've probably gone imo.

 

There's actually more to it than that. Lewis said afterwards he hurt his hand bad enough that he needed a couple of round to adjust to the pain of throwing it with full force.

 

What were the strings? Whe would the fight have taken place, any other circumstances that led to Lewis declining?

 

Thats a very naive where Don King is concerned.

 

You just said he had a guarunteed offer that he backed out of. What did he have to "force"? When was the offer for, and what was the offer?

 

I see through you. Lewis hating, no biggie. I dug this up and I'm not posting again. If you want a real debate why don't you go post a thread titled 'Why Tyson was better than Lewis'. At least then you'll get out in the open what you're really trying to say:hey

"The step aside money was paid to Lewis for pragmatic reasons. It was paid out to allow the fight between Tyson and Holyfield to take place, and so Don King could stall Lewis, in the event Tyson lost, Holyfield got the title, and, after a few fights, Evander explicitly said he had decided to take on Lewis because Tyson had swerved Lewis to have a supposedly soft defence. Holyfield explains all this in the doc prior to Holyfield-Lewis.

The reason Lewis took the money is because Don King allegedly had the WBC sewn-up at the time. Lennox Lewis fought a fight against Lionel Butler to secure himself a ranking, only for the release of Tyson, who had not gone to prison in possession of a title, to throw everything into disarray. Tyson was installed as the WBC top contender, Lewis, despite promises to the contrary, was shunted down a notch, basically frozen out. On the BBC broadcast of that Lewis-Butler fight King talks aobut the release of Tyson and says his mystique justifies that WBC ranking re-installation, and that Lewis does not deserve the ranking because he does not excite.

Lewis could have easily then gone the WBO route, but he maintained that he wanted the WBC back, then he would move onto the other top three belts. Instead he waited and waited for his WBC chance, the step aside money was simply that, Lewis was in a no-win situation, he took the money and waited on the Tyson fight, which never came, because Tyson lost to Holyfield."

 

Pay careful attention to that line -

the step aside money was simply that, Lewis was in a no-win situation, he took the money and waited on the Tyson fight, which never came, because Tyson lost to Holyfield."

 

On the slide is a bit harsh, but I know what you mean. At this time, Mike was still fit, ferocious, fast & powerful. His defense was neglected some-what but nowhere near to the level it would become neglected in years later!

Mike would have to try to overwhelm Lewis & I think there's a good chance he could have done that! Yes, the size difference is a big one - Lewis is clearly the bigger man, but Tyson was the faster, sharper puncher.

Lewis was not at his peak in 1996. I see Tyson punishing the body, ripping uppercuts through the middle.

Tyson took some big, big shots from Lewis when they did meet & this was some six years after 1996. Tyson had the better chin no doubt about it.

I say Tyson by TKO.

 

The '96 version of Tyson was on the slide, had lost the fear factor, wasn't up to much really - he got bulllied by a former cruiserweight. Lennox would have taken him apart, IMO. Lennox was too big, too strong and too skilled for Tyson to handle. Although, I would say the Tyson of the late 80's wouldn't have been a pushover for anyone, not even a fighter as good as LL.

 

The answer is simple. You don't either understand or know the full story and yet your arguing a position that is only 1/2 right. Yes Lewis accepted $4M in step aside money instead of $13.5 Million to fight Tyson on the condition that he fight Tyson after this particular fight. That's hardly the same as ducking, avoiding, not fighting, dodging, or whatever spin you're trying to play.


This is an article in the NY times regarding this details of this agreement.
As you can see the acceptanace of the $4M was based on the condition that Lewis would fight Tyson after the Seldon fight.


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C06E7DD1039F937A35754C0A960958260

The World Boxing Council wants Tyson to defend against Lennox Lewis of England, a former champion and now its No. 1 contender. Lewis turned down a $13.5 million guarantee to fight Tyson. Lewis then accepted $4 million from King to step aside and allow Tyson to fight Seldon, with the proviso that Tyson, assuming he beat Seldon, would fight Lewis next. Tyson is expected to receive $30 million for fighting Seldon.
Now Lewis's handlers say they will guarantee Tyson $45 million to fight Lewis, but Tyson seems more interested in fighting Evander Holyfield, a former champion. If Tyson bypasses Lewis, the W.B.C. will strip Tyson of his title for refusing to fight its top-ranked contender. It would then match Lewis and Oliver McCall, its second-ranked contender, for the vacant title. If all those things happened, the next big fight would probably be the Lewis-McCall winner against -- who else? -- Tyson.