Bowe vs. Lewis, late 92' or 93'?

Thanks for the insights.

 

Lewis had the shot and was guaranteed a good pay day , but he wanted more. Not sure what is so hard to understand about that. He deserves blame for making negotiations very difficult.

Also factor in the presence of Don King in the background who wanted to block the fight for his own gain.

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We know that in the end Don King got his way.

It also well known that he and Jose Sulaiman were practically partners.

Bob Arum claimed in deposition testimony that - "

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When Evander Holyfield was asked at deposition why he thought the WBC wanted him to fight Razor Ruddock rather than Riddick Bowe he testified - "

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Don King clearly did now want Rock Newman to have possession of the titles and obviously pulled the string behind the scenes to make sure it didn't happen.
They made sure Newman would drop the belt by making unreasonable demands and setting deadlines. Lewis made a ridiculous amount of money to fight Tucker , so that tells you the lengths Don King was willing to go to block the fight.

 

Cringe.

 

Lewis wanted the title shot and a 25% split, his due as mandatory challenger. He didn't want a 90/10 split, or have to fight on a Bowe undercard against someone else. That's not unreasonable. And then he accepted the $3m offer anyway.

Of course they were going to look elsewhere if it was clear they couldn't get Bowe. This was all going on in December '92. Lewis-Tucker didn't happen until May '93. None of those snippets you keep posting are proof of anything.

December 13, 1992

Lewis was so eager to fight Bowe, however, that late last week, he was ready to accept the $3 million Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, had offered. It was Newman's feeling Lewis never would accept such a low purse when Bowe stood to make $15 million-$17 million from the bout.

Certainly, none of Lewis' advisers wanted him to accept, but late last week, he gave them no alternative.

"We considered that money an insult," said Lewis' manager, Frank Maloney, from London. "We were quite prepared to talk about $5 million, but at the end of the day, Lennox wants it and he has the final say. He wants to call their bluff."

Actually, he didn't. Bowe did and the $3 million offer disappeared even before Newman and Bowe arrived in London Friday to attend the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year awards tonight. There is no chance Newman again will extend the $3 million offer, so Lewis now must go in another direction, as Bowe has.

 

You're just treading old ground now cos that has already been posted. Listen to the words they used about every offer that came their way - "insult , absurd , slap in the face"
Those are not the actions of people who were reasonable in negations.

The links I posted prove everything I have claimed for the last few pages. , its just you have no answer for any of it so its natural to dismiss the facts of having no importance.

Negotiations would spill over into 1993 because Lewis was dragging his feet , rejecting offers and staling negations.
This all aligns up with Don Kings involvement in the backround. Its already been proven as fact that King was doing everything he could to block the fight.
Newman knew what was happening so dumped the belt before the stripped him of it.

1992- Lewis rejects Newmans offer.

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Offering a 90/10 split is not "reasonable". Telling Lewis he had to fight someone else on a Bowe undercard first is not reasonable. Trying to dictate the terms of Lewis' first defence should he beat Bowe is not reasonable. As Maloney said at the time, they were offers designed to be rejected. When Lewis called their bluff and accepted one, it was still rejected.

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Your own snippet confirms what I've been saying.

 

The circumstances to this has already been explained. Im not going to repeat myself because you have no more answers.

 

It says Lewis was playing hardball. If he was keen on the fight , he would have accepted the first offer. Going back proves the offer was fair.
But he was purposefully stalling on negotiations.

 

You haven't explained anything. Your own post confirms that Lewis eventually accepted one of their low ball offers, and they still said no.

Going back and accepting proves he wanted the fight, even if it meant accepting an absurd purse split. Newman/Bowe still refusing the fight proves it was never a serious offer.

Anyway, we're going in circles now. I think I've made my case.

 

I already explained the very important caveat you fail to understand about the 90/10 split. It was only dependent on the fight grossing $32M.
A 90/10 split was never the original offer. Lewis was NEVER offered anything less than $3M - he got the exact same guarantee Bowe got when he was in his shoes.

Lewis would not have played hardball if he really wanted the fight. He played a game of politics with the help of Don King who got him a fight for the vacant belt against a washed up Tony Tucker for 9 MILLION Dollars.
He played the game , he knew exactly what he as doing.

You simply chose to ignore everything about Don Kings involvement behind the scenes as it reinforces everything I have posted throughout the last few pages.
Posts and posts of explanations supported by quotes , testimonials and court documents -- yet you have the ignorance to claim I "haven't explained anything"

 

Lets agree to disagree then We cannot agree on everything

 

And then this:

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Lennox explaining what it was like beating Bowe in the Olympics:

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Holyfield telling it how it is:

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WTG Berlenbach You know what happened OK Great post