What do you think is the real reason that Lewis never fought a southpaw?

Actually you've used the pathetic position of 'Bowe may have ducked Lewis but Lewis ducked Ruiz/Byrd' on numerous occasions, pathetic argument

Why on earth do you think Ruiz was fast or slick, he wasnt, he had a decent jab, not as good as Lewis, he wasnt fast at all compared to a quick explosive HW like LEwis. He deserved to lose to Golota, cheated to get the faster slicker Johnson DQ'ed, got schooled by 2 middleweights, and KO'd in 20seconds by Tua, lost and drew to an older Holyfield, lost to Haye

I forget if it was Byrd or Ruiz who Don King paid Lewis not to fight and discard his belt, but it happened with 1 of them

Why would anyone think Byrd wouldn't be as easy for Lewis as Vitali/Wlad? Unless you're deliberately trying to discredit Lewis, with no evidence. Byrd needed gifts against Oquendo and Golota, yet its a hard fight for Lewis?

Lewis had the following choices:

Ruiz or Grant - Grant was the HBO darling and

Tyson or Byrd - ATG of a feather duster who got beaten up by the 2 brothers?

Vitali/Ruiz/Johnson - Johnson got cheated against Ruiz, Lewis picked him but took on the superior Vitali when it fell through

 

In the source I supplied earlier in the thread Lewis stated his camp and HBO weren't interested, it wasn't a money maker. I then proved just what HBO thought of Byrd by sourcing a news article 2 years later when they dropped him whilst IBF champion.

Also, Byrd was his IBF mandatory, not WBC. Which one of those two was loyal to Lewis for years and vice versa?

 

What was Botha?

 

Botha was a fight 2 years before all this kicked off.
What's your point?

HBO weren't interested in Byrd vs Lewis proven by dumping the guy later whilst champion.
The IBF hid behind the WBC with the making of the Tyson fight, they didn't want Byrd either.
The WBC didn't want Byrd and Tyson was the WBC NO1 mandatory.

Lewis went with the organization that had been loyal to him, what's the fuss?

In the two years leading upto the Tyson fight Tyson had beat:
Nielsen, Golota (Bull**** NC), Savarese, Francis
Byrd got lucky vs Vitali, lost to Wlad and beat Vedder, Harris and Tua all on points.

Where's the vast gap in which Lewis should tell the WBC to cram it and go with the IBF, I just don't see it...

 

Powerpuncher that is not my view of the whole scenario. With both Bowe and Lewis it was Purely a risk reward factor. Both were multiple belt champions with better options. Bowe could fight Lewis who was not well known or he could sign a mulitfight deal with a bigger fight with Lewis down the line. Lewis was a risk that could have derailed his future earning potential. As far as Lewis Byrd and Ruiz could potentially make him look bad for a shitty payday. So there were clear reasons why these guys decided to go in different directions. Lewis was trying to maximize his last few big paydays and Bowe was trying to secure the future of his. Both were able to hold onto belts and still be called champions.
Do you really believe either Bowe or Lewis would have given up their belt if it was the only one they had? Of course not, the belts were leveraging power to get the big fights, especially in the early 90's and Tyson coming back into the whole scenario.

 

The point is that if Lewis wanted to defend his IBF title against Byrd HBO would have televised it. They were contractually bound to do so. Non mandatory fights like Botha the challenger had to be approved. I don't think Botha was ever considered more of a worthy challenger than Byrd.

 

Don't you think Botha was a fill in fight between Grant and Tua?
It was held in Millwall England, the capital of boxing!!... afterall.

 

That really has little to do with the point I'm making. The bottom line is if Lewis wanted to keep his IBF belt he could have. Besides the Johnson fight was setup as a similar scenario to the Botha fight only in Canada as both fighters had roots there

 

I wouldn't bother. I've done posted an ESPN article that states Byrd/Lews was actually scheduled to televise on Dec. 7 of that year which this clown has ignored. His argument is not only illogical but simply holds no weight.

I think we all the know real reason Lews was overweight in the Vitali fight as well..Boxing Fan No.1 was up his ass during the weigh in.

 

He had a three fight deal, HBO wanted to milk it, what part of that are you struggling with you ****ing clown?

Again:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/3034060/Lewis-lines-up-Tyson-rematch.html

The plan, under his new three-fight deal with American TV station HBO, is for a fight with former WBO heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, a return with Mike Tyson and a showdown with the younger Klitschko brother, WBO holder Wladimir, before he heads for retirement.
Lewis decided to hand in his belt rather than face a court ruling to meet Chris Byrd who despite being the mandatory challenger, did not rate highly on the earning or entertainment scales.
HBO, apparently, did not see the Byrd fight as a big enough attraction, a fact Lewis referred to when he described the prospect of meeting the American as "not attractive enough" in the statement he released explaining his decision to give up the IBF title.

He fought Klitschko then called it a day. Even if he was to have another 2 fights and fufill the deal HBO didn't want Byrd because they couldn't milk Lewis for what he was worth.

The deal they had laid out was much more lucrative, it was HBO!!

Now, the above makes perfect sense to anyone with half a brain. Klitschko (open up the German market $), Tyson (Even shot he was the biggest draw at heavyweight $$$) then Wlad (Hit the German market again $$), huge money with those 3 fights, as for why Kirk Johnson entered the frame, well you'll have to ask HBO that one, but why don't you guys get it??

Lefthook31 I respect your opinion on a lot of subjects but you keep banging that Botha drum, yeah when HBO knew Lewis had a few years in him that's fine, but with time running out the money had to start flowing and Byrd didn't fit that criteria.

 

So you think if Lewis insisted to defend his IBF title against Byrd, than HBO would have told him to go to Showtime? :-( You're the one who is not getting it, yet your admitting it was a much more lucrative deal monetarily to go in the direction he went, which is precisely the reasoning I pointed out, for Bowe too! The risk reward factor!

 

Did you see the amount of money HBO offered him? No way Showtime could match that deal. Of course it's a lot of money but looking at who they had lined up I hardly think Wlad and Vitali fell under the low risk/high reward banner even back in 2002.

 

If Lewis had the choice to fight the Klitschkos or Byrd for the same money he would most likely have picked the Klistchkos. He was sure they would go the same way as Briggs, Golota and Grant and fold under his instant pressure.. So much so that he called Corrie Sanders before his fight with Wlad and told him exactly what to do to make Wlad crumble and took it right to Vitali in the same reckless offensive manner.
You have to understand bigger stronger doesnt always mean tougher and harder. Stylistically Byrd and Ruiz could have created him a nightmare of a fight and he knew it dam well.

 

Ducking Chris Byrd was not in the PROPOSED deal, HBO set aside Dec. 7 for him to meet the IBF deadline and fight the man. They were prepared to back whatever decision he made on the matter; the first of the deal, Vitali fight, was intended for the following Spring at any rate. THIS IS FACT!

Of course, Lewis had no intention of honoring this 3 opponent deal and HBO spent a year trying to get him in the ring with various opponents. Lewis only expressed interest in Tyson which Mike obviously wanted no part of and also failed to drum up interest. Ultimately, Lewis ducked Byrd to sit on his ass for over a year and ultimately chose Kirk Johnson as his opponent.



http://a.espncdn.com/boxing/news/2002/0710/1404382.html



"Lennox Lewis has dismissed a possible fight against WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko as a "waste of time."
Lewis, 36, has been considering retirement since knocking out Mike Tyson last month to retain his WBC and IBF titles.
Lewis said he had no interest in fighting Klitschko, a former Olympic gold-medalist from Ukraine, who retained his WBO version of the title on June 29 with a six-round win over 41-year-old Ray Mercer.
"Vladimir Klitschko -- he's not tough enough," Lewis said at a boxing ceremony in London. "It would be a waste of my time to go and fight him -- I would knock him out.""


http://a.espncdn.com/boxing/news/2002/1214/1476973.html


ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Two weeks ago, Lennox Lewis said he had his boxing future figured out, beginning with a spring fight against Vitali Klitschko. Now the heavyweight champion appears to be having second thoughts.
Lewis said Saturday he has yet to sign to fight Klitschko, and he plans to wait until after the John Ruiz-Roy Jones Jr. fight on March 1 before deciding whom to fight next.
"I'm going to wait and see who shines," Lewis said.
Lewis, who hasn't fought since stopping Mike Tyson on June 8, said Dec. 1 he was planning to fight Klitschko in March, followed by a rematch with Tyson and then a bout against Klitschko's brother, Wladimir.
But on Saturday, flanked by promoter Don King, he dismissed Vitali Klitschko's talents and said he may look elsewhere for his next fight.
"Vitali Klitschko at this time doesn't deserve a chance to fight me," Lewis said. "Who has he fought? He's another Grant.

http://a.espncdn.com/boxing/news/2003/0124/1498394.html



Lennox Lewis says his next fight may be a rematch with Mike Tyson in June.
Talks for a proposed bout in April between Lewis and Vitali Klitschko have collapsed, Judd Burnstein, Lewis' attorney, said Friday.
Burnstein said Lewis will watch how Tyson does Feb. 22 against Clifford Etienne in Memphis.
``Now that there will be no April fight, Lennox has a contractual obligation to consider Mike Tyson as his June opponent and looks forward to seeing how Tyson performs in his February fight against Clifford Etienne,'' Burnstein said.
Tyson said after being beaten badly by Lewis in Memphis that there was no way he could ever beat him, and the general consensus was a rematch between the two would be tough to sell. But Tyson began training recently in Las Vegas for the Etienne fight, and a good showing might be enough to get him a return match.