Titles and trashcans...

I know it's been years since the below story happened, but ducking still goes on today and it has always bothered me. It's never about being the best in the world anymore - it's about goddamn money. And it's taken a heavy toll on the Sweet Science over the last 30 years and done quite a bit to ruin the sport thusfar. It's not so much the promoters anymore than the fighters. Here's one example: In 1992, world heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe relinquished the World Boxing Council title when he was informed by the WBC that he would have to fight a mandatory defense against Lennox Lewis, rated #1 by that organization at the time. Citing financial priorities (a bout with a still relatively unknown Lewis wouldn't do much for his wallet), Bowe took a giant shit on Jose Suliman's credibility by tossing the green strap into a trash can. Very symbolic. Afterward, Lennox Lewis said that Bowe was ducking him and called him a coward. Lewis was subsequently named champion by the WBC without even throwing a punch to earn it in the ring. Fast forward to 2000, when the WBA forced Lewis to surrender their version of the heavyweight championship for refusing to defend it against their top-rated fighter, John Ruiz. This time, it was Lewis who stated that such a match would not be as lucrative as one with Michael Grant. Lewis won that fight easily and successfully avoided the roughhousing Ruiz. Then, in 2002, Lewis relinquished the IBF fraction of the crown rather than fight slick mandatory challenger Chris Byrd. Lewis' latest excuse: Byrd offered him no challenge and people didn't really want to see it anyway. Actually, Byrd would would have given the chumpion fits with his defensive prowess. Again, we magically skip to the year 2004. After nearly getting his head knocked off by Vitali Klitschko in June 2006 and escaping with a questionable TKO victory, Lewis, faced with the real possibility of a rematch with the giant Ukranian, retired. Why? One word: fear. In essence, I won't fault a fighter who wants to ditch a useless alphabet title in order secure a more lucrative bout with a better-known opponent. I do, however, fault the guy who calls a another man a coward and then spends part of his professional career doing the same damn thing as the man he labeled. A duck is a duck and a coward is a coward. Slice it however you want to, but it all tastes the same after it's chewed. There's a lot less money in retirement than there is in taking a fight that nobody wants to see (Ruiz, Byrd). Not to mention that there would have been MILLIONS to be made with a rematch with Vitali, but Lewis tucked his tail and ran. Some champion. You'd never see Rocky Marciano or Joe Louis avoiding challengers. Enough said!