Ive only seen two fighters ducking an opponent because they just didnt want any part of it. Mike Tyson didnt want a rematch against Lennox Lewis cause he said he wasnt ready to fight a guy like him (Lewis), which for some reason i understand and repect. The other is Chris Bryd, he doesnt want to fight Wladimir. This is the worst one ive seen cause even his own promoter had said Chris doesnt want to fight him, 1st he said he wanted more money and he got it, 2nd he said he didnt want to face Wlad cause Wlad didnt deserve it, now hes facing some wierd bum ive never heard about Lyakhovich.

Can ya name other fighters who avoided opponents cause they were scared, and i dont mean people who avoid fighters cause theres little reward high risk cause the fighter is unknown still(Winky Wright, Harris etc.), i mean people who avoid completly cause their scared.

Ive only seen two fighters ducking an opponent because they just didnt want any part of it. Mike Tyson didnt want a rematch against Lennox Lewis cause he said he wasnt ready to fight a guy like him (Lewis), which for some reason i understand and repect. The other is Chris Bryd, he doesnt want to fight Wladimir. This is the worst one ive seen cause even his own promoter had said Chris doesnt want to fight him, 1st he said he wanted more money and he got it, 2nd he said he didnt want to face Wlad cause Wlad didnt deserve it, now hes facing some wierd bum ive never heard about Lyakhovich.

Can ya name other fighters who avoided opponents cause they were scared, and i dont mean people who avoid fighters cause theres little reward high risk cause the fighter is unknown still(Winky Wright, Harris etc.), i mean people who avoid completly cause their scared.


Tito is ducking Winky!! Bhop is ducking Winky.. Leila Ali is ducking Anne Wolfe.. Prince Naseem was ducking JMM.. Marco Antonio Barrera is ducking JMM and Paquoi!!

lennox lewis is the biggest fight-dodger i have ever known. after his 2nd fight with holyfield, he fought michael grant. the WBA stripped him of his title for failing to defend against mandatory challenger john ruiz. after his fight with mike tyson, he DROPS his IBF title to avoid fighting chris byrd. and after his fight with vitali klitschko, he retires rather than give vitali a rematch (like lewis said he would).

Tito is ducking Winky!! Bhop is ducking Winky.. Leila Ali is ducking Anne Wolfe.. Prince Naseem was ducking JMM.. Marco Antonio Barrera is ducking JMM and Paquoi!!

how is B-Hop ducking Winky ?? the man is training to fight another man for like 4 months now??? Nassem ducked JMM cause he was uknown

lennox lewis is the biggest fight-dodger i have ever known. after his 2nd fight with holyfield, he fought michael grant. the WBA stripped him of his title for failing to defend against mandatory challenger john ruiz. after his fight with mike tyson, he DROPS his IBF title to avoid fighting chris byrd. and after his fight with vitali klitschko, he retires rather than give vitali a rematch (like lewis said he would).

yeah but John Ruiz and Chris Byrd where unknown when Lewis was king. I agree with ducking Vitali

lennox lewis is the biggest fight-dodger i have ever known. after his 2nd fight with holyfield, he fought michael grant. the WBA stripped him of his title for failing to defend against mandatory challenger john ruiz. after his fight with mike tyson, he DROPS his IBF title to avoid fighting chris byrd. and after his fight with vitali klitschko, he retires rather than give vitali a rematch (like lewis said he would).

to be honest he could have done whatever he wanted he was the best heavyweight on the planet at the time bar none!

yeah but John Ruiz and Chris Byrd where unknown when Lewis was king. I agree with ducking Vitali
unknown or not. losing TWO titles because of dodging TWO fighters is just a blantant act of cowardice on lewis' part.

how is B-Hop ducking Winky ?? the man is training to fight another man for like 4 months now??? Nassem ducked JMM cause he was uknown..


Naseemand his handlers knew verywell who JMM was!! They didnt want any part of him.. Look at how badly Barrera countered Hamed, what do you think someone like JMM would have done to him? As for BHop, he is staying away from Winky because of the risk to reward ratio.. Hopkins doesnt like to take chances.. He priced himself out of an RJ rematch a few years back. Hopkins has worked hard for 20 straight tiutle defenses and cares immensely about his legacy.. Why do you think he is moving up to 175? Legacy, legacy, legacy.. He;\'s not about to let Winky stop that

yeah but you gotta remember this is a business, why would Nassem fight a guy nobody knew and have the chance to lose when you could fight sumone like Barrera and get paid a lot of money.

Also belts dont mean **** anymore, its all about fighting big name opponents, Lewis was on top of the boxing World why would he fight sumone who nobody knew like Ruiz or Bryrd its not being a coward its not being a dumass.

dodging a fighter might be a smart decision. dodging two or three in lewis' case is pure cowardice. if they're such no-names, then y doesnt he fight them to make sure that they will never become never-will-bes?

well i think, since u have to prepare for a fight which takes up around 2months then u neen another 2 months to rest and then 2 more months of training for ur next fight, you have 6 months of not getting paid what you are suppose to cause ur fighting no names.

well i think, since u have to prepare for a fight which takes up around 2months then u neen another 2 months to rest and then 2 more months of training for ur next fight, you have 6 months of not getting paid what you are suppose to cause ur fighting no names.
uhh, what point are u trying to make?

:rolleyes: hhmmmm... The fight ducking award of the century has to go to Roy Jones Junior I suppose... He kinda made an art of it.

lennox lewis is the biggest fight-dodger i have ever known. after his 2nd fight with holyfield, he fought michael grant. the WBA stripped him of his title for failing to defend against mandatory challenger john ruiz. after his fight with mike tyson, he DROPS his IBF title to avoid fighting chris byrd. and after his fight with vitali klitschko, he retires rather than give vitali a rematch (like lewis said he would).

Your dead wrong I'm afraid Evil one! Lewis had nothing left to prove.. He was 36 years old, 3 times world champion and the first person to unify the belts in a long, long time!

Quite simply the best heavyweight of his era IMO.

It's not about ducking opponents it's more about 'what is left to prove' and 'do I need the money'

He had the best jab in the business after Manny got to him so what's the point of Ruiz even getting in the ring? Lennox would have kept him precisely 82 inches away for the whole fight!

dodging a fighter might be a smart decision. dodging two or three in lewis' case is pure cowardice. if they're such no-names, then y doesnt he fight them to make sure that they will never become never-will-bes?

Why wouldn't he retire when he was on top and undefeated? How many great fighters go on for those couple of extra fights too many and end up tarnishing there reputation and getting hurt!

Holyfield did it... Sugar Ray Leonard did it... Duran did it.. Joe Frazier did it... and if you want the best and saddest example.. Mohammed Ali mate...

Your dead wrong I'm afraid Evil one! Lewis had nothing left to prove.. He was 36 years old, 3 times world champion and the first person to unify the belts in a long, long time!

Quite simply the best heavyweight of his era IMO.

It's not about ducking opponents it's more about 'what is left to prove' and 'do I need the money'

He had the best jab in the business after Manny got to him so what's the point of Ruiz even getting in the ring? Lennox would have kept him precisely 82 inches away for the whole fight!



Why wouldn't he retire when he was on top and undefeated? How many great fighters go on for those couple of extra fights too many and end up tarnishing there reputation and getting hurt!

Holyfield did it... Sugar Ray Leonard did it... Duran did it.. Joe Frazier did it... and if you want the best and saddest example.. Mohammed Ali mate...


no, he had 1 more thing to prove. he needed to prove that his bull**** TKO victory over vitali wasnt a fluke. who cares he unified the titles? how long did they stay unified? ill tell u how long. 5 months. lewis' WBA title reign ended just before he was to make his first defense. im getting tired of all these "he had nothing left to prove" excuses. he had plenty to prove. he had to prove that his victory over VK wasnt a fluke, he had to prove that he could unify the titles and KEEP them unified, he had to prove he wasnt a fight dodger, he had to prove that he can still beat any heavyweight regardless of his age. he didnt prove these things and he is nowhere near the list of great heavyweight champions in any sensible person's boxing book.

there always that "one more opponent" that one guy who can challenge the champion.

The point was making before was he didnt duck Ruiz and Bryd cause he was afraid he ducked them cause they wouldnt help his career nor his wealth

there always that "one more opponent" that one guy who can challenge the champion.

The point was making before was he didnt duck Ruiz and Bryd cause he was afraid he ducked them cause they wouldnt help his career nor his wealth
his wealth, no. but it would have helped his legacy as the "best heavyweight" of this era. ur legacy is what counts. money can be spent and disappear in a flash (just look at mike tyson). but ur legacy is untouchable. but because he so blatantly dodged ruiz and byrd, his legacy is forever tainted.

Lewis ducking ruiz is a joke. Do you all mean to say ruiz is the man to beat. Lewis could have easily repulsed him with his jabs. After Lewis beat tyson, he was thinking of retiring, he was 36. So why he didn't fight byrd? Because byrd is not the best out there. Byrd of course was outclassed by vitali. So he fought vitali and won convincingly. If not for the cut, he would have knocked out vitali. and then you saying he ducked a rematch? he could have won more easily in a rematch as what happened to rahman and mccall. Lennox is no coward, he's beaten all the fighters he's faced, he has nothing to prove.

Lewis ducking ruiz is a joke. Do you all mean to say ruiz is the man to beat. Lewis could have easily repulsed him with his jabs. After Lewis beat tyson, he was thinking of retiring, he was 36. So why he didn't fight byrd? Because byrd is not the best out there. Byrd of course was outclassed by vitali. So he fought vitali and won convincingly. If not for the cut, he would have knocked out vitali. and then you saying he ducked a rematch? he could have won more easily in a rematch as what happened to rahman and mccall. Lennox is no coward, he's beaten all the fighters he's faced, he has nothing to prove.
"would have knocked him out"? i saw that fight, u obviously werent paying attention. when the last round was over, vitali WALKED to his corner and sat down. lewis on the other hand WOBBLED and STAGGERED his way to his stool. and when he found out he was the winner, he stood up and with a blank look in his eye and no balance on his feet he raised his arms in victory and he looked like anything but a winner.

no, ruiz is not the man to beat, nor is byrd. but they were mandatories and they were contenders, and if lewis was as good as u say he was, he could have knocked them into next year, proved he was the best, and KEEP HIS TITLES. but he decided to take the safe road and not risk anything. he even said "I'm not touching Byrd." i dont think joe frazier ever said that about muhammad ali. i dont think marvin hagler ever said that about sugar ray leonard. lewis' play-it-safe style of life and style of fighting is a true disgrace to boxing.

his wealth, no. but it would have helped his legacy as the "best heavyweight" of this era. ur legacy is what counts. money can be spent and disappear in a flash (just look at mike tyson). but ur legacy is untouchable. but because he so blatantly dodged ruiz and byrd, his legacy is forever tainted.

what the hell!!!! LOL how the hell is Lewis career tainted for not fighting John Ruiz or Chir Bryd. hahaha thats funny

what the hell!!!! LOL how the hell is Lewis career tainted for not fighting John Ruiz or Chir Bryd. hahaha thats funny
its tainted because he his a FIGHT-DODGER! joe louis didnt drop a title to avoid fighting somebody. rocky marciano didnt retire to stay away from a contender. jack dempsey never said "i'm not touching him." but lewis did all of these things. i rest my case.

is there anybody who agrees with him??? (THEEVILSAINT)

do ya think Lewis legacy is tainted from not facing Ruiz and Byrd??

It has to be Roy Jones, it was quite ridiculous.

"would have knocked him out"? i saw that fight, u obviously werent paying attention. when the last round was over, vitali WALKED to his corner and sat down. lewis on the other hand WOBBLED and STAGGERED his way to his stool. and when he found out he was the winner, he stood up and with a blank look in his eye and no balance on his feet he raised his arms in victory and he looked like anything but a winner.

no, ruiz is not the man to beat, nor is byrd. but they were mandatories and they were contenders, and if lewis was as good as u say he was, he could have knocked them into next year, proved he was the best, and KEEP HIS TITLES. but he decided to take the safe road and not risk anything. he even said "I'm not touching Byrd." i dont think joe frazier ever said that about muhammad ali. i dont think marvin hagler ever said that about sugar ray leonard. lewis' play-it-safe style of life and style of fighting is a true disgrace to boxing.
i saw the fight too, about 5 times and obviously we saw diffent ones. i didn't see any wobble. before the fight was stopped, the workrate of vitali was continously dropping as he tired out very fast. if somebody here has the punch stats for that round its pretty clear who was winning. lennox was connecting with regularity and its just a matter of time really.

well byrd and ruiz, if lewis fought either one on his last fight and not vitali, there's someone who'll say he ducked vitali. give him a break.

As far as ducking fighters goes Roy Jones Jr is the king in that category. I get tired of being a Roy Jones Jr hater I dont really like to do it. I dont really hate Jones, but he did duck pretty much all the best fighters in the all the weight classes he was in with the exception of middleweight.

I think Anorak said that Hopkins ducks fighters. I am not really a big Hopkins fan. But he has not really ducked anybody IMO. The fact that he is fighting the dangerous contender Jermaine Taylor shows that. IMO Jermaine Taylor is a much more dangerous opponent than Winky Wright is.

it doesnt matter what ppl say, Lennox Lewis was the bomb, didnt tyson duck lewis in 1996 ??

it doesnt matter what ppl say, Lennox Lewis was the bomb, didnt tyson duck lewis in 1996 ??

Lewis was not even Champion when Tyson fought Holyfield. Tyson had the WBA and WBC titles and think Michael Moorer had the IBF. Then by the time Lewis got the WBC back Tyson was suspended for biting Holyfield. He did not duck him at all. At that time Lewis was coming off his loss to McCall basically.

i saw the fight too, about 5 times and obviously we saw diffent ones. i didn't see any wobble. before the fight was stopped, the workrate of vitali was continously dropping as he tired out very fast. if somebody here has the punch stats for that round its pretty clear who was winning. lennox was connecting with regularity and its just a matter of time really.

well byrd and ruiz, if lewis fought either one on his last fight and not vitali, there's someone who'll say he ducked vitali. give him a break.

somewhere in the last round, lewis lands a really powerful right uppercut to VK's chin and vitali doesnt even take a step back. later in the round, vitali lands a right hand and lewis staggers back, vitali lands another and lewis if flailing around like hes about to fall. and dont u think that it might be a coincidence that all three judges had the fight scored 58-56, 4 rounds to 2, in favor of vitali klitchko?

well, lewis wouldnt be a fight dodger if he fought at least two of those three fighters. or at least given vitali a rematch.

do me a favor: name another heavyweight champion that dropped a title, was stripped of a title, and retired in the prospect of a rematch. i promise you this: lennox lewis is the only heavyweight champion who did this. and REAL heavyweight champions dont run away.

somewhere in the last round, lewis lands a really powerful right uppercut to VK's chin and vitali doesnt even take a step back. later in the round, vitali lands a right hand and lewis staggers back, vitali lands another and lewis if flailing around like hes about to fall. and dont u think that it might be a coincidence that all three judges had the fight scored 58-56, 4 rounds to 2, in favor of vitali klitchko?

well, lewis wouldnt be a fight dodger if he fought at least two of those three fighters. or at least given vitali a rematch.

do me a favor: name another heavyweight champion that dropped a title, was stripped of a title, and retired in the prospect of a rematch. i promise you this: lennox lewis is the only heavyweight champion who did this. and REAL heavyweight champions dont run away.

Tyson dropped the WBC in 1996 to avoid facing the WBC mandatory which was a nobody like Bruce Seldon or something in order to fight Evander Holyfield.

Tyson dropped the WBC in 1996 to avoid facing the WBC mandatory which was a nobody like Bruce Seldon or something in order to fight Evander Holyfield.
he was stripped of the title for avoiding a fight with lennox lewis. alright, but did he drop a title, too? did he retire in the wake of an ass-whooping, like lewis did?

he was stripped of the title for avoiding a fight with lennox lewis. alright, but did he drop a title, too? did he retire in the wake of an ass-whooping, like lewis did?

Maybe that is true. But back in 1996 Lennox Lewis was not as highly regarded by the general boxing public as Evander Holyfield. And people had been wanting to see Tyson fight Holyfield since like 1991. It was the biggest fight out there and that is why Tyson chose to fight Holyfield over Lewis. Lewis was recently coming off the loss to the McCall also.

That would have been interesting fight though 1996 Tyson vs 1996 Lewis. But Lewis was not very popular in 1996.

Maybe that is true. But back in 1996 Lennox Lewis was not as highly regarded by the general boxing public as Evander Holyfield. And people had been wanting to see Tyson fight Holyfield since like 1991. It the biggest fight out there and that is why Tyson chose to fight Holyfield over Lewis. Lewis was recently coming off the loss to the McCall also.

That would have been interesting fight though 1996 Tyson vs 1996 Lewis. But Lewis was not very popular in 1996.
i see where u r going with this. but mike tyson had justification in being stripped of his title. he was stripped so he could go for a big-time fight. lewis wasnt stripped because of the prospect of another fight, he was stripped because he didnt want to take a risk and fight a mandatory.

As far as ducking fighters goes Roy Jones Jr is the king in that category. I get tired of being a Roy Jones Jr hater I dont really like to do it. I dont really hate Jones, but he did duck pretty much all the best fighters in the all the weight classes he was in with the exception of middleweight.
Is this some kind of joke?

Gerald McClellan was the number one Middleweight, Roy Jones was number two. John David Jackson and Steve Collins were the other World Champions at Middleweight (apart from McClellan and Jones) and they were rated much better than Hopkins. Hopkins was never a top five Middleweight until a few years after the Jones Jr fight.

So Jones Jr didn't fight the best back then either.

no, ruiz is not the man to beat, nor is byrd. but they were mandatories and they were contenders, and if lewis was as good as u say he was, he could have knocked them into next year, proved he was the best, and KEEP HIS TITLES.

Lewis was 36 years old at the time and a multi, multi millionaire!

What would you suggest, that people just keep fighting until the get beat by someone younger, more able to recover and hungrier for success. Why?

IF Lewis had defended against Ruiz/Bryd there would have been another bunch of 'contenders' after them... Should he have fought them too or would the 3 times undisputed heavyweight shampeen of the world still be fraud if he didn't?

Crazy talk!

he was stripped of the title for avoiding a fight with lennox lewis. alright, but did he drop a title, too? did he retire in the wake of an ass-whooping, like lewis did?

I don't remember Lewis getting stopped for having a bad cut! How do you define an 'ass whooping' mate?! Klitchko might have been giving Lewis trouble and winning on the cards but it wasn't an unfair stoppage as he made out at the time (jumping around the ring and playing to the crowd like a monkey!). It was a bad cut and if you cut a guy bad enough that's a good way to beat him no?!

and REAL heavyweight champions dont run away.

So what do they do then? As per my previous post... Holyfield didn't retire and got ****ed up, Frazier didn't retire and got a ****ed up and Ali.... :(

Anyway, I'm fighting a losing battle here I'm sure... Lennox will NEVER get the respect he deserves in America (am generalising as I'm aware there are plenty of Americans on here who will say otherwise)..

Hamed pretty much openly ducked JMM. There was much more talk about JMM facing hamed before there was even talk of mab or Morales facing him.