Was Tyson favoured much against Lennox in '02?

[PittyPat]

I watched the fight live, but wasn't able to follow any of the build-up or discussions going into it. Were people predicting the fight to be so one-sided in favour of Lennox, or did some hopefuls give Tyson a chance to KO the "glass-chinned"(!) ( :laff2: ) champ?

Me, I expected Lennox to have a tough fight but come out with a comfortable UD in the end. After he laid into Tyson with those uppercuts in the first round, however, I knew he'd be fine. Tyson didn't have any answers after that initial onslaught of pressure.

Watching (and hearing) the echoing 'thud' of that KO in the eighth was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. I enjoy watching Tyson's classic fights now and have huge respect for him, but back then I wanted him to lose really badly.

[CarlosG815]

It was known that Tyson was battling divorce, heavy partying, drugs, and weight problems, on top of not training seriously.

Tyson was not favored by anybody in the boxing world but many fans such as myself were watching live hoping to see the Tyson of old. I can still remember after the first few rounds feeling terrible and thinking to myself "There's a guy who's shot and all used up." It was really a sad fight to watch, and I do not believe that Tyson was favored to be competitive. Lewis was very particular in his timing with choosing Tyson and the fact that he picked him to fight at the time he did tells us all that everybody including Lewis himself knew Tyson to be totally shot.

Edit: I believe that 2000 Tyson would have had a very good chance of knocking Lewis out.

[PittyPat]

Lewis was very particular in his timing with choosing Tyson and the fact that he picked him to fight at the time he did tells us all that everybody including Lewis himself knew Tyson to be totally shot.

But that's really a different story in itself which goes all the way back to Tyson's imprisonment. During that time, Lewis was busy clawing his own way back to the top after both McCall fights, and only in '99 did the Holyfield fight(s) come together. Meanwhile Tyson was doing his own thing and looking like a monster again, whilst Lewis was getting rid of his mandatories.

They met at the same age of 35-36, anyway. Granted, Tyson was shot, but that was no fault of Lennox - I'm sure he would've wanted to fight Tyson during his first title run (along with Bowe), but the latter was in jail. After he came out, Lennox was starting from scratch. Some things take time, and in their case it took much too long.

[StarshipTrooper]

It was known that Tyson was battling divorce, heavy partying, drugs, and weight problems, on top of not training seriously.

Tyson was not favored by anybody in the boxing world but many fans such as myself were watching live hoping to see the Tyson of old. I can still remember after the first few rounds feeling terrible and thinking to myself "There's a guy who's shot and all used up." It was really a sad fight to watch, and I do not believe that Tyson was favored to be competitive. Lewis was very particular in his timing with choosing Tyson and the fact that he picked him to fight at the time he did tells us all that everybody including Lewis himself knew Tyson to be totally shot.

Edit: I believe that 2000 Tyson would have had a very good chance of knocking Lewis out.

Yeah, I don't think any of the experts were picking Tyson but the casual fans were. For casual fans it's all about name recognition and Tyson loomed large in their imaginations. Mike could have gone into that fight with an arm amputated and casual fans would still have picked him because he's Tyson.

Personally I don't think any version of the post-prison Tyson beats Lewis.....pre-prison, that's a different story.

Poet

[CarlosG815]

But that's really a different story in itself which goes all the way back to Tyson's imprisonment. During that time, Lewis was busy clawing his own way back to the top after both McCall fights, and only in '99 did the Holyfield fight(s) come together. Meanwhile Tyson was doing his own thing and looking like a monster again, whilst Lewis was getting rid of his mandatories.

They met at the same age of 35-36, anyway. Granted, Tyson was shot, but that was no fault of Lennox - I'm sure he would've wanted to fight Tyson during his first title run (along with Bowe), but the latter was in jail. After he came out, Lennox was starting from scratch. Some things take time, and in their case it took much too long.

Wrong - there was negotiation and a huge opportunity for Lennox to beat Mike Tyson, although not at the top of his game, but a Tyson who was still hungry and looking to unify a title - much more impressive than the Tyson of 2002. Instead, Lewis declined this opportunity to beat that version of Mike Tyson, take his WBC belt, and he himself take the next fight at Seldon for the WBA and on top of that get a purse that he never thought possible by fighting Tyson.

Instead he let Tyson fight Seldon for the WBA belt. It really makes no sense to me as to why Lewis would not have fought Tyson at this point other than the fact that he knew it was a fight that he could not win. He had the glory, a belt, career highest purse, and would then get a shot at Seldon for the WBA.

To say Lennox is just a victim of circumstance and it isn't his fault the version of Tyson he fought was shot is just not true.

His win over Tyson, like many of his wins, are mediocre at best, as they are all wins that would have been much more impressive had he not been fighting guys who were on a major downslide in their career.

[Miburo]

Wonder what the odds actually ended up being since, as was stated, casual fans were behind Tyson big time.

[1SILVA]

Wonder what the odds actually ended up being since, as was stated, casual fans were behind Tyson big time.

Here is an article describing the odds on the fight. Tyson was never favored.

Friday, May 24, 2002
Odds shift on Lewis-Tyson fight
Memphis Business Journal
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British bookmaker William Hill have cut their odds on Mike Tyson beating Lennox Lewis in next month's world heavyweight title fight after taking a bet for 10,000 pounds ($14,530) on the American to win.

The bookmaker, who recently took a wager of 2,700 pounds on Lewis to win, shortened Tyson's odds from 2-1 to 7-4 for the June 8 fight in Memphis.

Lewis remains hot favorite at 2-5, having been as short as 4-11.

The 10,000-pound bet, the largest ever placed on Tyson in Britain, was made in a branch in Liverpool.

Hills also offer odds of 14-1 for a first round victory for Tyson with Lewis at 25-1 to do the same. Lewis is 3-1 to win on points with Tyson 14-1.

Read more: Odds shift on Lewis-Tyson fight - Memphis Business Journal

[The Iron Man]

This was the only fight of Tyson's career where he was the underdog (according to the bookies). Everyone who knew something about boxing already knew Tyson was shot and wasn't going to win.

[Sugarj]

Tyson was indeed the underdog. But Sky TV's pundits Spencer Oliver, Glen McCory and I seem to remember Johnny Nelson too going for Tyson by KO, moments before the fight started.

Tyson won the first and looked quite good behind the jab, but he had no stamina after the round ended.

Whole different story if these two met prime for prime. I personally cant think of a fighter better suited to beating Lewis prime for prime.

[GoogleMe]

In my eyes Holyfield were more a ******nite to Mike then Lenoxx.