Was Riddick Bowe Afraid Of Lennox Lewis?

Let's quit the small talk here. You and I know Riddick Bowe and Evander went beyond the call of duty that night in the Thomas & Mack Center, LV, NV, Nov 1992. Bowe was mandatory challenger by way of winning the WBA eliminator against Coetzer so even if Lewis beat Ruddock, you could not get two mandatory challengers and one champ in one night!
That being said, Bowe and newman went for a fast job in Dokes and to Mercer but since Ray lost to "boogie man" in a 10 rounder, they took Jesse Fergunson in Washington DC the same night RJJ and BHop fought for the IBF MW title. Bowe was stripped of the WBC title nso the unified title could only be unified again when either part decided to, not just Bowe... Later on, Evander took ithe WBA title from Tyson and avenged a loss to two time IBF title holder Double M Michael Moorer and the stage was set. Bowe had nothing to do with avoiding Lewis a long time apart from right after winning the title. Now, quid pro quo - Did Lewis give Bowe a shot when Big Daddy was coming back with a 12 round decision against Larry Donald? No, he didn't and Bowe had to go for Herbie Hide. The rest is history...