Did Lewis duck Byrd

Im a big Lewis fan but in a way after he beat Tyson he got lazy and unmotivated and didnt want to bother with Byrd or Ruiz. He always complained that Bowe threw his belt away rather than fight him so when he gave his belt away rather than fight Byrd that does make him a hypocrite if hes saying he wasnt ducking Byrd. Still, at the end of the day, id pick Lewis (with Steward on his side) against Byrd in a ugly fight the fans complain about. Byrd would have to be perfect to have a chance with that jab in his face. Anything Wlad can do I think Lewis can do better.

 

It would have been a late ko stoppage for Lewis. Wlads jab is just a hair faster and more accurate than Lewis'. Wlad used that jab to set up his monster right to win the fight. Lewis had the tendency to wind up with his right and his jab was more of a pushing/driving jab, so it was delivered with less speed than Wlads. Wlads jab is what I call a "stun" punch. He delivers it so damn fast, most opponents don't see it coming and often look confused after they have been hit with it. It doesn't ko guys, but shocks the hell out of them. After several rounds of that, he starts to unload the real power shots and it's over.

 

Was this the same source that told you that Hatton would fight someone other than Mayweather? If so, you might want to... You know... Stop using that source. Given how Wlad spanked Byrd twice in two one-sided bouts, Lewis would likely spank him twice in the same bout. :deal

Lewis didn't fight Byrd because beating Byrd wasn't worth dealing King.

 

Re : not fighting Byrd in 2003: He retired after the Vitali fight. If he didn't rematch Klitschko for $20m - $25m, why would he even consider fighting Byrd?


Did lewis duck Byrd?

In the strictly technical sense that he did not fight him, yes.

He didn't fight McBride either (nor me for that matter). Both of us could claim he 'ducked' us, but how significant would that be?

In 28 rounds against the Klitschkos, Byrd won 2, maybe three rounds at best.

Prime Lennox was better than either Klitschko.

Was he afraid of losing ? No, he would have KO'd Byrd.

In the meaningful sense of the word, he did NOT duck Byrd.

 

Yeah Lewis was fraid shitless of Byrd and Ruiz.

 

If a man gives up a title to avoid fighting a guy and doesn't take on a more meaningful fight instead then I would call that ducking. Lewis did choose to vacate his title rather than face byrd and at the time he wasn't really fighting any big meaningfull fights so I'd say yes.

 

Actually no your point is not valid. See he did not sign to fight VK. he signed to fight Kirk Johnson. At the time he refused to fight Chris Byrd and instead vacated his title to take a fight with johnson. the VK fight was a fluke simply because johnson was injured.

When all is said and done, Lewis vacated a title instead of facing his number 1 contender and instead signed on a less meaningfull fight against a lower ranked fighter for a lesser payday. we got lucky and got the VK fight instead.

For the record I think if they would have fought Lewis would have easily decapitated byrd but facts are facts. He did duck byrd.

 

I think you have to call it a duck, although not in the chicken**** way Bowe did it to Lennox.

Lewis basically didn't want to bother. He had nothing left to prove, and the public at large didn't give a **** about Byrd. Johnson was a more predictable opponent and figured to make for a short night of work. I very seriously doubt Lewis would have lost to Byrd, and I certainly don't believe he avoided Byrd because he thought he'd lose.

I do think he may have anticipated a difficult, grinding fight that bored and frustrated the **** out of the fans.

 

Bingo. That's my take on the whole subject as well.

 

We both agree that Lewis would have probably have demolished Byrd, and we both agree that in a strict sense, he DID duck Byrd. Our only difference seems to be how significant the term 'duck' is here.

 

Yes. Byrd would have UD'd Lewis wasn't nearly as good at that point in his career as the Klitschkos were. Lewis was on the downslope.