Tyson vs Lewis 1996: Don King's offer to Lewis

[Kid McCoy]

That link you provided states that Moloney left the talks with the offer being 75/25 which is what Bowe claimed.

Ferguson beat Mercer who was the No1 contender with Mercer alleged to have tried to bribe Ferguson during the fight.

Dokes was nowhere near as bad as Tony Tucker or Lionel Butler or Phil Jackson.. Tucker was also a ******* addict:
Here is a link from Bowe's trainer Eddie Futch on Lewis vs Tucker.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/61780405.html?dids=61780405:61780405&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+30%2C+1993&author=Ron+Borges%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Missed+match+Bowe+debacle+was+turn-off&pqatl=google

Herbie Hide was undefeated and called-out Lewis on a monthly basis when he appeared on British TV Hide vs Lewis would have been a huge fight.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-106201085.html

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstra...AB0894DB494D81

Lewis turned down a legit $32 million offer in the link above

A legit offer with a string of conditions that Duva said the Bowe camp didn't expect them to accept. $32million was the full purse. It was the split they couldn't agree on. Maloney also said that Bowe's camp rejected the 75-25 offer. Elsewhere Maloney says they accepted the winner-takes-all offer and that Newman dropped it.

I've no doubt Hide called Lewis out, just like every other club fighter in the world would like a payday against the champ. Look at Harrison calling out Haye. But a huge fight? Hardly. When Lewis was heading towards a unification fight with Holyfield, Hide was defending his WBO belt against the likes of Damon Reed, Willi Fischer and Tony Tucker four years on from the Lewis fight. It was never on the radar.

Name anyone outside of Bowe's camp who though Ferguson was a legit challenger. Tucker was considerably better than Dokes, as their respective performances showed, and at least Jackson was ranked #4 when Lewis fought him. Want me to dredge up reports of Bowe struggling to put away washed up fighters like Tyrell Biggs and getting out-boxed by an old Tony Tubbs?

That other link you posted doesn't prove anything except Lewis was interested in a potential Jones fight, and their figure is £170million.

[sonnyboyx2]

A legit offer with a string of conditions that Duva said the Bowe camp didn't expect them to accept. $32million was the full purse. It was the split they couldn't agree on. Maloney also said that Bowe's camp rejected the 75-25 offer. Elsewhere Maloney says they accepted the winner-takes-all offer and that Newman dropped it.

I've no doubt Hide called Lewis out, just like every other club fighter in the world would like a payday against the champ. Look at Harrison calling out Haye. But a huge fight? Hardly. When Lewis was heading towards a unification fight with Holyfield, Hide was defending his WBO belt against the likes of Damon Reed, Willi Fischer and Tony Tucker four years on from the Lewis fight. It was never on the radar.

Name anyone outside of Bowe's camp who though Ferguson was a legit challenger. Tucker was considerably better than Dokes, as their respective performances showed, and at least Jackson was ranked #4 when Lewis fought him. Want me to dredge up reports of Bowe struggling to put away washed up fighters like Tyrell Biggs and getting out-boxed by an old Tony Tubbs?

That other link you posted doesn't prove anything except Lewis was interested in a potential Jones fight, and their figure is £170million.

it is my opinion that the Lewis camp knew that if they refused the 75/25 offer like what Bowe claims in the video that Bowe would be stripped of the WBC belt and Lewis declared champion, then Lewis would be entitled to a 50/50 purse split which would be a substantial more amount of money for Lewis (twice as much)... it was all about money, i don't believe either fighter was afraid of the other yet if they had fought between 93-96 Bowe would have crucified Lewis within 6rds which was also the opinion of Bowe's trainer Eddie Futch, it is also my opinion that Moloney and the Lewis camp did not really fancy their chances against Bowe during that period as Lewis's performances against Tucker, Bruno, McCall & Mercer was all far from impressive and Lewis would have been a betting underdog.

[Kid McCoy]

it is my opinion that the Lewis camp knew that if they refused the 75/25 offer like what Bowe claims in the video that Bowe would be stripped of the WBC belt and Lewis declared champion, then Lewis would be entitled to a 50/50 purse split which would be a substantial more amount of money for Lewis (twice as much)... it was all about money, i don't believe either fighter was afraid of the other yet if they had fought between 93-96 Bowe would have crucified Lewis within 6rds which was also the opinion of Bowe's trainer Eddie Futch, it is also my opinion that Moloney and the Lewis camp did not really fancy their chances against Bowe during that period as Lewis's performances against Tucker, Bruno, McCall & Mercer was all far from impressive and Lewis would have been a betting underdog.

Yes it was about money. Bowe wanted the lion's share and Lewis wanted more than he was being offered. It's my opinion that the Bowe camp weren't seriously interested in the fight. They made offers Lewis wouldn't accept with ludicrous purse splits or other strings attached. Just look at their records. Lewis sought out hard fights through his career whereas Bowe's resume is sorely lacking in prime top heavyweights. It's interesting that Bowe fought none of the fighters you named Lewis struggling with. In that context, I'm happy to believe that it was Lewis who wanted the fight more than Bowe did.

It's hardly a surprise Futch would pick his own fighter to win. He also said Spinks would beat Tyson. It's difficult to say who would win as Lewis was the better fighter through his career but Bowe peaked earlier. It's a pick-em fight up until Bowe started declining. I'd pick Lewis to take out the Bowe who faced Golota.