Now this has a little life in it IMO compared to Lewis vs Bowe.
Holyfield lost the first fight that was called a draw and Lewis lost the second fight that gave him a win. SO......
Why was there never a third and final fight to settle this thing?
The fans wanted it, Holyfield wanted it. Lewis wouldn't give it, why?
Now IF Holy wins in his upcoming title bout and that's a big if but it could happen, would Lewis come out of retirement and challenge Holyfield for the title and give us all the third and final matchup we all wanted???
IMO, the only way I see Lewis doing that is if Evander was undisputed, I can't see that happening as much as I love the old warrior....
Thoughts?
When Lewis won the Undisputed title he was to face the wba mandatory, Akinwande next. He got hepatitis so the wba gave Lewis permission to fight Grant while they moved ruiz into number 1 position out of nowhere and said he must fight ruiz after grant. Lewis agreed but when he fought Grant Don King sued lewis due to a clause in the holyfield lewis contract to get the wba belt stripped from him. .
Ruiz then fought Holyfield for the WBA belt, Lewis was disgusted at how Holyfield had testified against him and what he had said in don kings court case to get that title fight against ruiz. So as a result he wouldnt give either of them the time of day afterwards. There was no call for him to face Holyfield after his awful trilogy against ruiz which nobody recognised as legit title fghts.
That's not the way I remember it.
I remember Lewis making some gutless smug comments about Holy getting a third shot like "he'll get hurt, he's no longer a contender" as if Lewis domimated Evander which everybody with a pair of eyes could see that "domination" would be the last word used in describing their previous two bouts. I think Lewis was afraid to risk a third fight against Evander hurting his legacy. Lewis has always been insecure about his place in boxing, even now you can sense it when he's commentating on HBO.
I disagree, and so do many others. I feel the opposite. No way Lewis won that fight. Holyfield was robbed! Most experts agree with the opinion that the cards were flawed based on the robbery of the first fight.
When Lewis won the Undisputed title he was to face the wba mandatory, Akinwande next. He got hepatitis so the wba gave Lewis permission to fight Grant while they moved ruiz into number 1 position out of nowhere and said he must fight ruiz after grant. Lewis agreed but when he fought Grant Don King sued lewis due to a clause in the holyfield lewis contract to get the wba belt stripped from him. .
Ruiz then fought Holyfield for the WBA belt, Lewis was disgusted at how Holyfield had testified against him and what he had said in don kings court case to get that title fight against ruiz. So as a result he wouldnt give either of them the time of day afterwards. There was no call for him to face Holyfield after his awful trilogy against ruiz which nobody recognised as legit title fghts.
I think Holy can beat Ibramov, it's hard to right off a legend, though I won't be surprised if he loses.
That being said who would win a Holy/ Lewis bout at this point?
I would love to see these two go at it for a third time. To me there two previous bouts felt unfinished. It left much to be desired. I was shocked lewis didn't give Evander the third bout with so many ring experts doubting the descion.
Lewis seems like he is genuine when he said he says he is permanently retired, and since I have to take people for their word I don't think it would happen just based on that alone.
Also, I too have a lot of respect for Holyfield but I have serious doubts about him beating Imbragimov. In fact, at this point I just hope he doesn’t get hurt.