Lennox Lewis, Greatest Heavyweight of all time

-I've actually shown that his post is not true

-No, he ducked him. Avoided would imply a Byrd challenge was not impending, it was just something he didn't go out of his way to do. That is false.

 

An issue of semantics, I suppose.

To me, 'duck' implies that the 'ducker' has not or will not take a fight because of concern that he will lose, or at least considerable uncertainty about the matter.

'Avoided' to me, indicates that a fight that might well have taken place was just that. Avoided.

A challenge has little do with the matter

Floyd has clearly ducked Pac. The fight is viable, the challenge is there and Floyd has concerns.

Floyd did not duck Bernard. The challenge was there but the fight wasn't really viable.

Floyd did not duck Amir Khan. The challenge was there (very there). The fight was as viable as any other Floyd fight. But Floyd avoided Khan to take what he considered a more suitable opponent. Not from any concern.

IMO, Lewis did not duck Byrd.

He would have beaten him worse than Vitali was doing, before the shoulder issue. To suggest that Lewis had any concerns re Byrd is a bit far-fetched.

 

I can't agree with that outlook because we'll never know a fighter's real thoughts. It's just a projection of your own opinion on the match up. A duck is a duck, the true intentions are rarely known, speculation is up to the individual.

I don't believe it's far fetched at all. Lewis never tested himself against an unorthdox faster fighter like Byrd. Vitali fights nothing like Lewis and despite being up on the cards, he injured his shoulder just as Holyfield would by reaching for Byrd, who likes to stay in range and slip left jabs, and lost fairly.

For the record, I don't think any of those examples are "ducks" nor are they good analogies just yet. Hopkins and Khan are proposed voluntary match ups, hardly a fair analogy to Byrd who earned his spot by beating Tua a year prior and had legally secured first dibs on the Lewis/Tyson winner in court.

If Pac legally secures a fight with Maywho in fact vacates his title at the deadline and bluffs that "Pac offers no challenge" only to sit riingside and watch Pac/whoever fight for his dropped belt than maybe it would be on point.

 

Its not out of the question that Chris Byrd might have decisioned Lewis had they met sometime between 2001-2003.

 

Exactly, Lewis adapted to middle age masterfully but a faster elusive fighter could have presented some difficulty in this time frame. People sometimes get caught up on ducked opponents fitting the stereotype of a powerful, unstoppable monster. Certainly not always the case.

Holyfield admited to avoiding Byrd until he had no choice to fight him, not because he was scared of getting knocked out, but because he knew he was going to get clowned. Byrd had a reputation as being an avoided fighter.

 

Chris was very skilled, elusive and tricky. His chin wasn't granite, but it wasn't weak either. Underrated fighter in my opinion. Lennox did well against the larger, slower moving punchers, but I don't think I ever saw him against a Chris Byrd - Jimmy Young type of guy.

 

Think you will find Byrd and King tried to get the Lewis fight when negotiations for the Tyson fight were happening, that's why they got told to get to fook and no fukcer took them seriously, because no matter how you people try and look back on it now, the Tyson-Lewis fight was the fight every ****er wanted to see... King and Byrd trying to put a stop to that fight was laughable.

Then after the Tyson fight whilst pondering retirement Lewis gave up the IBF and made a tidy some off it.

To imply that Lewis ducked him is laughable, and to suggest anything other than a severe beating would have come Byrd's way is laughable to, go and watch his fights against big guys like Lewis, he gets outboxed and knocked out, only fight he didn't was against Vitali but he had pretty much lost every round prior to Vitali hurting his shoulder.

 

:zzz

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. Absolutely spot on post, imo.

Quality post, hat doffed, for sure.

 

Well thanks for being so straight forward and honest, I did think as much when I first initially read your posts.

 

:zzz

 

Yeah, thought that's what it was. :good

 

Lewis had a great offense but never KO'd a man after 8 rds and most of his impressive KO's were over guys that came right at him and they were not flawless, Botha,Golota,Grant, Rudduck....Its quite logical to think that Byrd could survive the early rounds and pick up steam as the fight progressed and against Lewis he would have to be prepared with his A boxing game. Also Byrd was a southpaw....There was a time that he was more trouble than it was worth for Lewis and we have never seen Lewis against this type of fighter

 

:zzz

 

-That's your personal spin which is of no value considering we have contemporary articles that documented the entire mess.

[url]http://www.reocities.com/Baja/9660/Latest/2002news.html[/url]

The conditions of the exception request granted by the IBF to Lennox Lewis allowing him to defend against WBC #1 Mike Tyson before facing IBF #1 Chris Byrd are as follows:
1. The winner of Lewis-Tyson must fight Chris Byrd next, with no intervening bout and no later than December 8.
2. Tyson must be licensed and a host venue must be in place for Tyson-Lewis by March 25.
3. If it appears Lewis-Tyson will not take place, Lewis must begin negotiations with Byrd immediately.
4. Byrd will be permitted one or more interim fights, but a loss will KO his mandatory position.
5. There will be no further exceptions granted.
6. Neither the Lewis-Tyson winner or Byrd shall engage in a fight after October 8.


-That was not the reason Lewis gave to the public for giving up the title. Are you also calling him a liar now as well?

Prior to today, my team and I had already determined that there was no public interest in a Lennox Lewis-Chris Byrd bout," Lewis said in a statement. "My decision was also based upon the fact that I believe, as I have said repeatedly, that Chris Byrd offers no competitive challenge to me. The fact is that the champion makes the belt important, not the other way around. Accordingly, in light of a court order and an IBF ruling that would have required me to fight a meaningless fight against Chris Byrd in order to keep the IBF belt, I had no choice but to vacate. As I have recently stated, the world has yet to see the best of Lennox Lewis."



-Just like the severe beating he was expected to put on Rahman in the first fight. Nothing is certain in boxing, you prove you are better in the ring.