What were your predictions for Lewis-Tyson?

Did you see the Nielsen fight in 2001?
It still puzzles me why everyone didn't totally write-off Tyson's chances right there, as a no-stamina zombie he would be too slow to land a bomb like Rahman did.
He looked a million times worse than Lewis did in the first Rahman fight, despite beating Nielsen.

 

My guess was Lewis KO 10.

 

I honestly thought Tyson had a good punchers chance, but i knew Lewis was in better shape, & in a better state of mind

Our local pub was PACKED, everybody was cheering for mike, & at least he came out swinging for the 1st round! But it was sad seeing him getting beaten up for the next 7....At least we can say mike has a great chin, cause he took a shitload of punishment & could have gone down much earlier had lewis been more keen to come out of his shell....

After this fight i remember staying at he pub all day just talking boxing with evrybody, it was a great day...its amazing how big fights bring people together & create friendships! lol In retrospect we all quietly knew Tysons career had long been over, but i think most of us were hoping for a miracle

 

The Nielson fight to me was hidden in memory. The way I saw it, he showed up in poor shape for a fight against a poor quality opponent.

I figured against Lewis he'd show up in proper shape. And more importantly I thought the fight hinged more on Lewis's chin than on Tyson's condition.

 

Klitschko who lasted 6 rounds, as opposed to Tyson who lasted 8 rounds, you mean?

Stop flogging the dead horse, it's ****ing boring.

 

By the way my prediction for Lewis/Tyson was either one of them to get KO'd inside of 5 rounds. I was totally wrong.

I was disturbed by the pics of Tyson smoking weed in the build up but I still thought he'd be a live contender for 5 rounds, which he wasn't. As soon as Lewis landed that big uppercut at the end of the first, Tyson gave up.

I still don't think it was any reflection as to how the fight would have gone had they both been in their prime though.

 

You must be thinking of David Tua.

Tyson didn't give-up, he was just an utterly shot-to-**** corpse, who was gassed after round 1.

Giving-up would constitute fighting tentatively & not trying to win, like Tua.

Tyson continued to charge forward, looking for that special one-punch, but he was too shot, gassed & horribly lethargic to land anything heavy.

He showed great heart pressing forward, while have the living **** beat out of him by monstrous bombs, instead of quiting on his stool.

 

Being quiet naive at the time and being one of those "Tyson would knock anyone" type fans, i picked Tyson. Purely on the basis if Rahman can do it, Tyson can.

I mean he KOd Brian Nielson and lots of other guys, he can knock out Lennox Lewis

Ah, how wrong i was.

Thing is, there was a documentary shown on UK tv just before the fight (still looking for that documentary) and it was more about Tyson than Lennox, all they showed was footage of a prime Tyson and none of his recent fights.

 

I bet they had a hidden agenda.

 

I didnt realise at the time, but now looking back i believe that too
Just show footage of young tyson and then when Lennox beats him, it make Lennoxs win look greater than it actually was

 

I think he's just going by what Tyson himself later said, and his cornermen (Shields, was it?) confirmed.

 

tyson had to do it inside the first 2 rounds to have had any chance of beating lewis he had poor stamina post prison and weighing in at 234 wasnt going to help and he was shot to pieces anyway .

 

I honestly thought Lewis was gonna be more aggressive early, and really do a number on Tyson due to the history. For me Lennox was actually quite cruel and callous in the ring that night and i think he held the finish off purposefully, has if to teach Mike a lesson, which he did...but not the type i was expecting. I think the uppercut he hurt Tyson with in round one really hurt Mike, and while i would'nt say Mike gave up, his attacks certainly became more timid. I know his stamina was shot anyway, but that uppercut effectively ended the contest. Thereafter Lewis was potshotting and throwing mostly armpunches, aside from one or two in the fourth and the odd powershot in a couple of other rounds. I think he was really enjoying his boxing and at the same time making his point. Then in the eighth he really sat down on his punches and ended the contest.
The fight had to be made for so many reasons. Tyson needed the $$$ and for me he wanted one last shot at greatness. Lewis needed to lay the ghost of Tyson to rest. And absolutely everyone in the world wanted to see the fight, regardless of how competitive they thought it was gonna be, to lay all the ghosts to rest in their own minds.
I seen Lewis 2 days before the fight being interviewed on the news and i immediately knew he wouldn't be getting beat.
Two strong memories i have of the fight are; how ironic it was after all the years of intimidating opponents, how intimidated Mike looked of Lennox when they stood in the ring during the introductions. I always thought Lewis intimidated guys anyway, just strange to see Mike being one of them.
The other is how well Tyson's reputation as a person recovered after that humbling experience, because for years prior he done himself no favours. I am glad it did have this effect, because Mike was always likeable and he became a nice guy again and now is a man who is trying to live his life right.
In a recent interview with Lewis i was glad to learn they are still friends.

 

I'll tell you what "effectively ended the contest".... Tyson taking a year off after Golota, coming in as a disgraceful 240lbs super-shot flabby zombie, gassing & struggling with frigging Brian Nielsen, then having almost another year off before turning up at a crappy 234lbs* for Lewis. A shot-to-****, dope-smoking, coke-snorting, tranquilised corpse with one round of stamina wasn't going to beat bloody Frans Botha or John Ruiz, let alone Lennox Lewis. :deal

Flabby, shot old drug addicts aren't supposed to even take uppercuts like that, they have no conditioning for recuperative purposes.

*I have reason to believe he was actually at least 240lbs, & was dehydrated for the weigh-in to look less shot.

 

Then we might aswell say Tyson gave-up when he bit Lewis on the leg, he knew it was a farcical mismatch in 2002 & that his utterly shot corpse would be beaten from pillar-to-post by bomb after bomb. It was 2 years too late for there to be a competitive fight. I would've liked to see Tyson get a chance in 2000, instead of Botha who Tyson brutally KO'd in '99.