Rank these 3 Heavyweights

[Toney616]

If Tyson REALLY wanted the fight he wouldve gotten it. Everyone remembers how the "eat his children" interview made the Lewis fight happen: despite Mike not having a license, despite having different promoters, despite being contracted to two different networks. Mike Tyson had more leverage than any boxer in history. Also with Don King by his side, , no boxer was out of reach for him.

There have been plenty of fighters who wanted to have nothing to do with King:
Holyfield (forced to give king options to fight Tyson)
Jones (forced to give King options to fight Ruiz)
Eubank (refused to sign with King after Benn II)
Lewis (never signed with King)
Toney- who told King to f*** off

Tyson didnt want to fight Lewis, Lewis took him to court to force him to fight

Question: Are either Tyson or Sanders possible opponents for you down the road?

Lewis: (Silence)…. I think you have your answer.

Steward: Tyson does not want to fight, so how can you fight someone that does not want to fight? We have gone to court to force Tyson to fight. Sanders is not really established as a fighter. His only claim to fame is beating (Wladimir) Klitschko. If the public demands it, maybe we will fight Sanders, but right now, Lewis is focused on fighting only top notch, quality opponents. I do not think Sanders is exciting right now.

http://www.east$ideboxing.com/boxing-news/Lennox-Lewis-Interview.php

There was no rematch clause in the Tyson Douglas contract, so after the fight Tyson had no leverage. They tried to get him stripped with the long count nonsense, after that they tried to negotiate a fight, but Buster wasnt interested and chose to fight Holyfield instead. Holyfield was Tyson no 1 contender that was why he was there in Tokyo, when Douglas won he became Douglas's no 1 contender
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=z...ouglas&f=false

Tyson lost his license after the Holyfield debacle (1 year suspension), he got it back years before the Lewis fight. He was no longer with King after Holyfield II either

Holyfield was scheduled to fight Seamus in June of 1990, Douglas/Tyson was in February 1990. I dont buy that excuse.

Douglas got a purse of 24M to fight Holyfield
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-8177998.html
A champion of any of the sanctioning bodies has two criterias which they have to fulfill:
1: They have to fight their no 1 ranked contender in that year- i.e as long as Douglas fought Holyfield that year then the sanctioning bodies were happy
2: he has to give the sanctioning bodies around 2% of his total fight purse

There was an 8 month gap for Douglas between Tyson and Holyfield, plenty of time for a rematch.

Douglas didnt want one, and I dont blame him after the shameful way team tyson tried to strip him of his belts

I dont blame Lennox for retiring or Vitali for fighting bums. Once you reach age 35 as a boxer you should be allowed to do whatever you want. I love how people call Tyson past prime at age 23, but give Lennox crap for retiring at 38.

Lewis wanted to carry on fighting after Vitali, he wanted to fight Jones next:

Question: How much longer would you like to fight?

Lewis: Let me get over this one. I could probably get a Roy Jones fight after this year. Jones said he is a heavyweight. Let him prove it. I think it would be intriguing to the fans and to Jones because he believes he can beat me.

Question: Emanuel, by getting this fight over with, does it bring about a fight with Jones Jr. more quickly?

Steward: If Jones stands up to the plate and does what he has indicated, it looks very realistic for Nov. 15. If not, there always is going to be someone out there for Lewis to fight. I think Jones is a very good possibility, but I want to get Klitschko out of the way.

http://www.ea$tsideboxing.com/boxing-news/Lennox-Lewis-Interview.php

[Joeyzagz]

Tyson didnt want to fight Lewis, Lewis took him to court to force him to fight

http://www.east$ideboxing.com/boxing-news/Lennox-Lewis-Interview.php

Why are you posting an interview from 2003 when Tyson/Lewis had already fought in 2002? Of course Tyson wanted no part of him after losing! Tyson wanted it the FIRST time which was the point of my post.

Lewis wanted to carry on fighting after Vitali, he wanted to fight Jones next:

Lewis had been contemplating retirement long before he even fought Vitali. I dont think his handlers and Emanuel Steward wanted him to do it but he was talking about it quite a bit after Tyson.

Lewis also admitted there was a "possibility" he may retire now, but he said that he just wanted to enjoy the victory and rest for a few weeks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxi...ht/2034186.stm

But regardless of what was said, I ask you again; What is so terribly wrong about a boxer retiring at age 38? If you are going to make excuses for Tyson being shot at 23 Years of age then you are in no position to criticize Lennox.

Its natural for a body to lose athleticism once it reaches 35, it is NOT natural to go around raping people, and being a shell of your former self at 24.

[Joeyzagz]

Once again you try to twist the facts to suit your nuthugging agenda, the link you posted does not show who the No1 contenders are it shows " 3 Top Young Heavyweights" - Not No1 contenders like what you are trying to insinuate.. The No1 contenders in 1990 was John Ruiz (WBA) who stripped Lewis of the belt for refusing to fight.

Put your revisionist hatred aside for one second and go look at John Ruiz's resume' circa 2000: The best name on there was an old Tony Tucker and Ruiz then lost to a 38 year old Holyfield in August. But what hurt him more than anything was being put in a coma by this man:

David Tua was grossly out of shape when Lewis agreed to fight him, Tua weighed more than 20lbs heavier than he had when losing to Ike Ibeabuchi and was The Fattest man to ever fight for the title.

David Tua was knocking guys out in 3 rounds or less when Lennox signed to fight him. Tua was actually 8 lbs lighter in the Lewis fight than he was when he scored this 1 round KO victory in June of 2000.

yet if Lewis had fought Bowe 93 & 95, Tyson 96, Holyfield 94, Byrd 99, Ruiz 99, Sanders 97, Wlad 01, Vitali 03 then he would not have been the heavily favored favorite against any of them in fact Lewis would have been the betting underdog which is why Lewis never fought any of them.

Holyfield admits that he got most of his big fights because of guys ducking Lennox Lewis. Bowe and Tyson both saw Evan as the shorter easier opponent and in turn ducked Lennox throughout the 90's.

First 15 seconds....

[sonnyboyx2]

Put your revisionist hatred aside for one second and go look at John Ruiz's resume' circa 2000: The best name on there was an old Tony Tucker and Ruiz then lost to a 38 year old Holyfield in August. But what hurt him more than anything was being put in a coma by this man:





David Tua was knocking guys out in 3 rounds or less when Lennox signed to fight him. Tua was actually 8 lbs lighter in the Lewis fight than he was when he scored this 1 round KO victory in June of 2000.





Holyfield admits that he got most of his big fights because of guys ducking Lennox Lewis. Bowe and Tyson both saw Evan as the shorter easier opponent and in turn ducked Lennox throughout the 90's.

First 15 seconds....

address the question of Lewis being the only ever undisputed heavyweight champion to be stripped of every belt for refusing to fight the No1 contenders... instead of the nuthugging agenda you constantly spew out

[Joeyzagz]

address the question of Lewis being the only ever undisputed heavyweight champion to be stripped of every belt for refusing to fight the No1 contenders... instead of the nuthugging agenda you constantly spew out

Your statement is false because Lennox was never stripped of the WBC title. He announced his retirement in early 04 while still champ, and only after was the title declared vacant.

Your statement is also false because undisputed Bowe was stripped of one of his titles long before Lennox.

If Lennox was the only person to land on the moon in 17 years, youd criticize him for only staying up there 21 hours! My point is that no one has been able to do it, and LL is the only undisputed hw champ since 1992.

[BigStereotype]

Holyfield - Arguably the best heavyweight resume ever, definitely top 2
Tyson - Force of nature in his prime
Lewis - Great heavyweight, but I don't think he compares

[crold1]

The WBA gave Lewis permission to fight Grant then he must face their No1 contender John Ruiz but Lewis chose not to fight Ruiz and instead fought Frans Botha who was ranked No10... The WBA then stripped Lewis of their belt and Ruiz fought the No2 contender Evander Holyfield for the vacant title... here is a link below.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4529125.html

You're wrong.

He was taken to court by King after the WBA ruling cited in the link and the court order the WBA title must be vacated. It would be more accurate to say King/Ruiz ducked Lewis via the courts rather than wait their turn for a shot not earned on merit anyways.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/boxing/2000/0413/boxing.html

[Earl-Hickey]

Lewis

Holyfield

Tyson

[sonnyboyx2]

You're wrong.

He was taken to court by King after the WBA ruling cited in the link and the court order the WBA title must be vacated. It would be more accurate to say King/Ruiz ducked Lewis via the courts rather than wait their turn for a shot not earned on merit anyways.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/boxing/2000/0413/boxing.html

you are wrong... the WBA let Lewis keep their belt as long as he agreed to fight John Ruiz after Grant... link below.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4529125.html

[DR.ORGYY]

Damn there all close as ****.......