Was anyone expecting Mike Tyson expecting Tyson to win against Lennox Lewis

He badly needed the money as he was extremely debt ridden so don't think he was getting out of the fight. He knew his antics would drive the PPV numbers up for the fight. Apparently all the money he made in that Lewis fight went straight to show time as he had been in debt to show time. Its crazy how nasty this sport is where you take a horrific beating and getting nothing for it.

 

I would think a bite might have put the bout in danger or some doubt.

 

No. Mike was done. I did actually raise my estimation of Mike in that fight as far as heart goes. In my opinion that fight was basically over after the second round, and should have been stopped two rounds earlier. Mike kept coming back, he didn't give up until it would have been suicide to continue. I respected him more in defeat than I did in most of his victories.

Mike earned his place at number 10 of my ATGs with that fight, he would not give up. A great, great fighter who actually had more of a championship heart than many people seemed to think.

 

One of the few fights I've predicted to the round. I don't recall people, general public people, at the time picking Tyson, but I don't recall them picking Lewis, either. In the boxing world the consensus was Lewis. I suspect that most people, their predictions end up in print types, who picked Tyson were going against the odds just in case there was an upset and they could brag about it after the fight. Sorta like that one reporter who picked Holyfield prior to the first Tyson fight.

 

Press conference fight is common thing, I dont see whats the big deal about it. Bowe threw a punch straight to his opponent face and the fight still happened . Camacho has done similar thing plus kicking table, throws water etc, and none of his fight gets cancelled from that. Barrera and Morales was another one. Lennox fought with Rachman during interview, and we all know these type of things increases the hype.

 

The bite did indeed put the fight at some sort of risk. Tyson had to pay Lewis $335 000 because of it.

 

I remember alot of casuals and pundits picking Tyson, because the Holyfield loss was a few years ago and his demolition of Botha and Golota were fresh in a few people's minds. He was always dangerous to Lewis mid and early rounds. Lennox was the best prepared of his whole career I believe, and Tyson was smoking marijuana and in very bad condition come fight night.

 

Yes I remember a good size legion of Tyson backers going into that one. We Americans are good fans but we get quite emotional and a bit stupid. Many of us never learned a thing about Lennox Lewis. He was the best but as long as the US media could put Bowe or anyone else in front of him they did it. Any excuse to to ignore LL.
Even after the garbage can stunt US fans tried to make it seem like Lennox was wrong for taking the belt Bowe threw in the garbage.

 

No mike was shot to **** !.plenty of casual fans thought he could do it just like they think he can do it at 53 !! Madness.

 

Not shot but past prime.He was shot when he fought Mc Bride.It is a notion that is so overused nowadays

 

There were still heavyweights that Mike could have beat when he fought LL. Just not top contenders, no.

Imo he didn't belong in that ring with Lennox imo. To my eyes he was outclassed badly after the first round.

No offense to fans of Iron Mike, what happened to him happened to a lot of older fighters. He had his day, he was amazing...but it all happened pretty early for him. Look at Holmes, who didn't even win the title until 29. It was incredible Mike won the title so young, amazing. But I think he was done by the late 90s.

 

I believe the fight was originally scheduled for Las Vegas, not sure where, possibly MGM. But that bite pushed the fight back a few months and changed the location to the Memphis Pyramid.

 

Tyson looked preetty bad in thee though and his body looked softer than it was in the Holy fights.

 

Those predictionas are irrelevant, and here is why:

Kelly (Frank) Maloney was VERY bitter about Lennox firing him, he even said here he hoped that Tyson KO's Lennox. Plus Kelly (Frank) was the one who predicted that Scott Belshaw will become the first boxer to earn a bilions of dollars. I can't find any worse prediction that was made in boxing history.

Hollyfield was bitter at Lewis because he thought judges robbed him in the rematch with Lewis. He still always says this in all his interviews when asked about Lewis fights.

Riddick Bowe always hated Lennox, he does it even now, many years after both have retired from boxing

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Larry Holmes was always very critical toward Lewis plus shot Tyson beating Lennox would be good for Holmes' legacy considering he lost to prime Tyson 14 years before.

Point in all those guys were biased - unbiased people who get paid for writing about boxing (and giving a right prediction is a part of their job/reputation) had Lewis an absolutely OVERWHELMING favorite over Tyson.

Media picks for Lewis-Tyson (source - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/stories/2002-06-07-tyson-lewis-cover.htm)

Reporter Affiliation Outcome
Al Bernstein ESPN Lewis KO 4
Ron Borges Boston Globe Lewis KO 6
Tim Dahlberg Associated Press Lewis KO 9
Bernard Fernandez Philadelphia Daily News Lewis KO 7
Colin Hart The (London) Sun Tyson KO 3
Mike Hirsley Chicago Tribune Lewis KO 7
Kevin Iole Las Vegas Review-Journal Lewis KO 5
Michael Katz Maxboxing.com Lewis KO 1
Wallace Matthews ESPN Radio Tyson KO 1
Joe Maxse Cleveland Plain-Dealer Lewis KO 5
Edwin Pope Miami Herald Lewis KO 3
Dan Rafael USA TODAY Lewis KO 5
Jon Saraceno USA TODAY Lewis KO 6
Lem Satterfield Baltimore Sun Lewis KO 5
Tim Smith New York Daily News Lewis KO 2
Steve Springer Los Angeles Times Lewis DQ 4
Calvin Watkins Dallas Morning News Lewis W 12
George Willis New York Post Lewis KO 10

- 16 boxing writers picked Lennox to beat Tyson and only 2 picked Mike
- 13 of those who picked Lennox predicted that Tyson wouldn't last as long as he did in the fight

As for my pick, I had no doubts that Lewis would KO Tyson in 3 rounds and was very surprised Mike lasted that long. Lennox looked as good as ever in his last fight (Rahman rematch) while Tyson looked by far at his worst in his last fight (against Nielsen). It was one of the easiest fights to predict, I considered it a complete mismatch and the only thing that surprised me was that Mike lasted that long

 

Only those who were delusional enough to think Tyson was anywhere near his prime form. I liked Tyson in his prime and it was sad to see him fall dramatically in ability slowly but surely after 1988. By 02 he was a shell.