NO, those kind of things don't exist in Boxing, especially not in the past, especially not in Britain and most certainly not according to some on here. I don't believe it!
Great video as usual Rummy I do agree that the Tyson team wanted easy match ups and didn't want a risk. However, i don't see this as Tyson "ducking" Lewis. Rather his team were looking for easier fights until he was ready. Had Tyson beaten Holyfield in 96, i am certain a Tyson Lewis showdown would have happened in 97. Lewis was still considered a work in progress in 96 especially considering his close slightly controversial win over Mercer. The irony here is that had Tyson faced Lewis in 96, he would have a better chance vs Lewis than he did vs the iron jawed Holyfield. I do think that since Tyson was a 4 round fighter in 96, Lewis likely decisions him. However, Mike was still reasonably quick in 96 and Lewis was not as polished as the 98-2002 version. Lewis-Tyson in 96 would be a 60-40 fight IMO in favour of Lewis but Mike would have a very good chance. Tyson team really screwed up this one. Tyson taking on the supposedly "easier" and washed up Holyfield turned out to be a disastorous decision.
Both Tyson n Bowe were not eager to face Lewis in the 90s. I do think by 98 that Lewis has even better chances but I still favor Lewis. Tyson n his team underestimated Holyfield which killed any chance of that happening ofc. For what its worth, I favor the Tyson of the Ruddock fights over pre 96 Holy. Even if it was a one-sided beating I'm glad Lewis n Tyson did eventually fight. 90s Heavyweight division was so fun even with Tyson not facing Lewis n Holyfield sooner. Great vid I'll subscribe
"Tyson isn't quite ready for Lewis..." But Tyson, with an extra two minutes of action, vs Seldon, was somehow quite suddenly ready to fight Holyfield. I suppose, for Lewis, there's a backhanded compliment in there somewhere.
Tyson fought Holyfield for a few reasons. He wanted to unify the belts in the same order he did in the 80's: WBC, WBA and IBF with a defense against a solid foe with Holyfield taking the place of Pinklon Thomas. Tyson-Holyfield was also a richer fight than Tyson-Lewis. Fans have been wanting to see that fight since 1988. And last, Lewis didn't want to negotiate with King. He had enough of King when awarded the WBC belt in 1992 and had to defend strictly against King fighters from the get go. However, Holyfield stepped to the plate and knew to get to Tyson he had to go through Don King first.
well, didn't tysons team offer lennox 13.5 million for a fight? yes i saw somewhere that tysons team gave lennox 2 offers, one for 4 million dollars where lennox will step aside so tyson can fight seldom, or one where lennox took the fight and got 13.5 million but instead took the 4 million and stepped aside https://apnews.com/article/cfa48db4c61f4af10e0eb0abc5fe9841 so if this is true, then why is tyson called a ducker here?
