1 Tyson willingly fought rematches against Ruddock, and Holyfield. All of these fights were difficult for Tyson, and in all of them, Tyson stood a good chance of losing.
Lewis fought rematches against McCall and Rahman. But on considering McCall and Rahman in comparison with Lewis we see that McCall and Rahman were no where in the same league as Lewis, and Lewis should have beaten them promptly in the initial fight. But since he lost his first matches against them due to neglegience on his part, he willingly fought rematches, knowing that he would have beaten them if he took these rematches a little more serious.
But here is where the trouble comes in.
The only rematch that Lewis knew that he could possibly loose was against Vitaly.
The only heavyweight rematch that Lewis knew that the public demanded was a fight against Vitaly.
What did Lewis do with all these weighty factors.
A huge demand.
an unsatisfying outcome of the first fight.
Lewis knowing the above factors willingly retired.
I don’t know how you guys want to spin it, but it was a total act of cowardice.
Now comparing that to Tyson and Holyfield. I have yet to see Tyson and Holyfield willingly retire instead of pariticipating in a fight that the public was demanding.
Vitali was on the way up… Lewis was on teh way down… fight fans expect people to stay at the top of their game until they get beat… that doesn’t have to be the case…
with that slick way of excusing cowardice, you can be a lawyer. I bet you win arguments against your woman, then have her pull her hair out in frustration. ;D
The one stat that is amazing in one aspect, but damns him in another, is that with the exception of the Lewis fight, Tyson was always a betting favourite for every other bout he had as a pro.
Lewis was almost 40 years old,being boxing since he was a kid,beat the best fighters around at the time,very very rich and he already beat Vitley once.
From Lewis point of view what was the point of a rematch.
If you think the above offers any scintilla of credibility for Lewis ducking out of a highly demanded rematch against Vitaly, you are extremely wrong.
Do you remember when Lewis decided to give up the IBF belt rather than fight Byrd. Remember his excuse, “Its not a fight the Public wants?” (But we all know that he was scared that Byrd outslick him and win him on points). Now this same two faced Lewis when face with a fight the public wants, in which this fight is against someone who could legitimately beat him; Lewis then said, he has nothing left to accomplish as a heavy weight?
Nothing left to accomplish as a heavyweight?
Can you imagine is Joe Frazier had retired after beating Mohammed Ali?
Can you imagine if Ward had retired after beating Gatti?
Can you imagine if Bowe had retired after beating Holyfield?
Yes, Lewis had nothing left to accomplish as a heavyweight EXCEPT, remove lingering doubts as to whether he was really better than Vitaly. And Lewis did not remove these lingering doubts, hence only suspicion of cowardice remains in place.
i respect any man who holds the heavyweight titles for a good run, yeah tyson did some things that were disgraceful but he was a great fighter much better then lewis, think about it
riddick bowe droped the wbc belt so he could have the rematch with holyfield ( which was a much awaited fight ) without even fighting anyone lewis became a world champ like its a wwe story line
he regained the wbc belt after macall came to the ring crying and continued to cry while walking around the ring without throwing a punch so the ref stoped the fight and once again lewis is champ without beating anyone
lewis had 2 fights with a spent holyfield and couldn’t stop nor ko him, if the first fight was dodgy as draw the second was didgy in lewis’s favor.
tyson came out of jail weighing 280lbs, lewis says that they fight then or never, we all saw the pictures of tyson with his gut hanging over his trosours, his last fight was nearly 2 years ago and the man was well past his prime, still lewis was worried and would only fight him while he was not ready nor in any shape to do so ( what a true champ lewis was)
bottom line - lewis was 3 time champ ( 2 of them paper reins or hand downs the 3rd when he beat journyman fighter rahman) he was big, had a boring style, had no chin his stamina was suspect and while holyfield was a warrior, lewis was a worry er. he only fought the main guys when they were old and past there prime or when they were in no fit shape to fight bums never mind have title fights.
my verdict TYSON WAS BETTER, and my favorite boxer is holyfield
HANG ON A MINUTE TYSON BEAT RAZOR RUDDOCK BUT GAVE A REMATCH, THERE WASN’T MUCH OF A STRONG REASON FOR TYSON TO GIVE A REEMATCH AS HE NEARLY KNOCK RUDDOCK IN 7TH, AND ALSO TYSON ALSO LEADED ON POINTS.
KLITSCHKO WAS BEATING LEWIS ON POINTS BY 4 ROUNDS TO 2, THE PROOF ON BOXREC.COM
ALSO KLITSCHKO ONLY FIND OUT 11 DAYS BEFORE THE FIGHT THAT HE WILL FIGHT LEWIS, BECAUSE KIRK JOHNSON PULLED OUT THE FIGHT WID 11 DAYS BEFORE THE FIGHT WITH LEWIS.
LEWIS SAID VITALI IN FOR A BIG SHOCK BECAUSE HE NEVER EXPECTED THE FIGHT, BUT WE KNOW WHO WAS SHOCKED EVEN THOU LEWIS PREPARED 12 WEEKS BEFORE THE FIGHT.
Some felt |(not me) Steele was too quick on the stoppage, and Ruddock caught Tyson’s attention with the hybrid ‘Smash’ in the sixth, hence the rematch.
why the hell is it such a big deal thyat lennox would beat tyson, who the hell thought otherwise tyson was done against holyfield did he get better with age to me that victory is meaningless many could have beaten tyson, also as far as ruddock tyson you could visually see a decline in mike prior to his loss to buster, his defense graduall went away you notice it against bruno, I noticed a big difference no head movement, mike started to not train and he decided to stay that way and he nevwer looked back, his skills had already strted to erode
He lost because of a cut over his eye. The referee called it in.
The cut was caused by Lewis ’ punches
Vitali was leading on all score cards and beating Lewis
.Many fighters have been ahead on the before losing . Look at Byrd -Vitali
Lewis was tiring.
Vitali was tiring more . The 6th round showed Vitali was spent but Lewis was getting better
When the fight was stopped, it was Vitali who was coming on, after taking a solid uppercut from Lewis and shook it off.
Lewis won the 6th and was one round away from stopping Vitali but the dr saved him
General perception is that if Vitali did not suffer the cut, he would have beaten Lewis.
Thats life , he got beat fair and square . People who know their boxing knew that Lewis would have gone onto win
This general perception lead to an overwhelming demand for a rematch.
Lewis didnt need one cuz he won . Nothing to gain
Lewis in reaction to this demand for a rematch, RETIRED.
He beat everyone he ever fought . Why rematch a guy hed beaten when he was at his worst . Vitali retired at the prospect of fighting a Lewis victim .
Lennox Lewis is an all time great, vitali was a good fighter but his achievements doesn’t come close. As game said, Lennox at his worse was still capable of beating Vit in his prime, score cards or not, both men were tiring, Vitali was just physically unable to withstand Lennox’s punches (and couldn’t get out of their way either, which is vital against a heavy puncher).
Lennox didn’t even have to fight Vitali in the first place, he could have retired after the Holyfield fights, he belonged in a different era to klitchko. Why the hell should he carry on fighting, if he fought Klitchko 10 times, and vitali managed to win the last one when Lennox was 50, what the hell would that prove?
