Why Did Lennox Lewis Duck Byrd, Wlad and Ibeabuchi?

Byrd was a legit top ten heavyweight and was deserving of a shot. He would have gotten beat but that isnt the point

 

Because of his style I remember even Emanuel Steward saying that he was to boring of a fighter .

 

I don't think Lewis "ducked" any of the above.

Byrd - Probably wasn't going to draw that much interest since he had been handily beaten twice.

Wlad - Wlad was Lewis' mandatory in 2001 and 2002, but Lennox had bigger fish to fry (avenge Rahman defeat and fight Tyson). Obviously I would have liked to see it.

Ike - Very short window to fight LL.

 

Why'd he dodge Holyfield and Tyson until they were washed up old men? Why'd he duck Bowe, though Bowe was probably the one ducking him. Why didn't he fight Foreman or Holmes? Lots of guys not on Lewis' resume.

 

Lewis sued Tyson in 2001 trying to get the fight. Tyson was trying to fight Ray Mercer.

 

Lewis did not duck Ike or Wlad. They were never in a position to challenge him.

Lewis did duck Byrd. Byrd was his IBF Mandatory and was the RING #2 and than #1 contender during his reign, he earned his shot by beating a very game Tua. The IBF even gave Lewis special permission to delay the Byrd fight by several months so he could fight Tyson. Lewis did not follow through on his word and sold the belt to King after the Tyson fight. Lewis own attorney said it wasn't a pay off from King, that Lewis had no intention of ever facing Byrd. Byrd would have made the aging Lewis look foolish. When has Lewis ever fought a faster defensive fighter and won? Most articles from the time accuse Lewis of ducking Byrd. Byrd was a profitable opponent for Holyfield in a less important fight, and Lewis was quick to face Kirk Johnson in a fight that was poorly selling before Vitali stepped in.

I've covered this duck many times and sourced the **** out of the above information in other threads. The End.

 

At the time Lewis was hopeful of getting Tyson in a rematch and fights against the Klitschko. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/2239685.stm

Lewis is believed to be in negotiations about a new three-fight deal involving a rematch against Mike Tyson and defences against the Ukrainian Klitschko brothers.
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Byrd wasn't an attractive prospect for him because the money on offer wouldn't have been worth the risk. Call that a duck if you want, but if it was then it was one made for business decisions more than anything else.

Lewis only agreed to fight Johnson because it had been almost a year since his last fight and if he didn't fight his mandatory he would be in danger of being stripped of the title. He was not somebody who generally cared all that much about titles and accolaides but as the WBC was the last of three big respectable world titles he had it was slightly different scenario than when the WBA stripped him or when he dropped the IBF.

 

The truth

 

In all honesty im not sure you can say Wlad was the one with the glass chin, in all his stoppages he was back up on his feet, Lewis on the other hand was KTFO

 

wlad has glass chin. its easy to say because he got destroyed by nobodies who were meant to fall for him.

 

Tosser

 

Lewis' plan was to beat Tyson and both Klits.

Listen we all know Lewis even in 2003 would have beaten up Wlad during that time. The same Wlad who beat up Byrd. You're probably one of those guys who believe John Ruiz stood a chance vs Lewis. The same Ruiz who got knocked out by a SMW!

I think Ike vs Lewis could have been interesting. Only problem was. Ike was insane and get sent to Prison so the fight never happened. Not quite sure how Ike going to prison is a duck on Lewis's part.

Lewis would have knocked out Byrd. Is Byrd going to dodge the upper-cuts when Lewis grabbed a hold off him once? I don't think he's Remo Williams in all fairness.

 

Lewis one of the biggest over rated heavyweights ever.:-(

 

Lewis had problems with southpaws in sparring so he and Steward agreed that it wasn't a good idea to fight Byrd, the Wladimir fight could have gone either way and Ike would have beat the crap out of Lewis if he didn't go to jail.