In 1993, was there a bigger fight than Lewis vs Bowe?

[Steak]

Lewis was retired in 2003. so Ruiz was only his #1 contender from 2001 to...2003.

2001 he(Ruiz) was still fighting Holyfield in their controversial trilogy, and Lewis was fighting Tyson in 2002...which everyone wanted to see much more than Ruiz.

[sonnyboyx2]

lets be realistic here.

when could a Ruiz-Lewis fight have happened? 2000 and 2001 Ruiz was tied up with Holyfield(trilogy). 2002 Lewis was busy with Tyson(no way he was going to skip out on that). early 2003 Ruiz had lost to Roy Jones. Lewis retired in 2003.

Lewis had opportunities to fight Ruiz and keep hold of his title but he instead fought Frans Botha

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

[Steak]

Ruiz had done nothing before the Holyfield fights. Botha wasnt the best opponent, no, and in hindsight Lewis should have fought him. but Ruiz at that time was probably no higher regarded than Botha, who at least had gone to a draw with Shannon Briggs.

yes, Lewis should have fought Ruiz instead of Botha. but at that time there was no call for a Ruiz fight, wheras Bowe and Lewis were much more relevant in the boxing world, and both highly ragrded.

[JAB5239]

Ruiz was WBA No1 contender from late 2007 to 2001

How did he get that ranking? Don King. Are you suggesting wins over Anis, Tucker (who was 5 years past the Lewis fight), Ballard, Crawley, Feliz and Williams were top fighters who made him worthy? Should I touch on Holyfield again who you claomed was shot when Lewis fought him? Please.

JAB... you just cannot bring yourself to admit the guy should have been given a world title fight yet in other posts to claim Pacquiao v Margarito was unworthy of fighting for the vacant Light-middleweight title and claim that contenders like Angulo, Martiroysyan or Alvarez was more worthy.... BUT NOBODY wanted to see those guys they wanted to see Margarito vs Pacquiao.... so in your logic it only works one way and that one way is without John Ruiz or Chris Byrd...

The difference between the Pac-Marg fight and this is that those other fighters actually fought in that division and were ranked there. And if he should have been given a shot (your opinion) than why shouldn't Lewis have gotten one with Bowe. You keep avoiding my questions.

they should never have taken up the sport of boxing as their profession because when they get to the very top then nobody wants to see them fight for the title....

Tell me who was calling for a Lewis-Ruiz fight outside if Ruiz's camp I'll wait.

Did everybody want to see
Lewis vs Butler
Lewis vs Jackson
Lewis vs Rahman
Lewis vs Akinwande
Lewis vs Mavrovic
Lewis vs Botha
Lewis vs Fortune

Mavrovic and Akinwande were mandatory. Why not mention Golota who twice beat Bowe to a pulp? Why not mention The ring had Rahman ranked higher than Ruiz? Tua, higher than Ruiz. Grant and Briggs higher than Ruiz.

How was Ruiz more worthy of a shot against Lewis than Lewis was against Bowe?

Pull up your pants my friend, you agenda is hanging out.

[sonnyboyx2]

Ruiz had done nothing before the Holyfield fights. Botha wasnt the best opponent, no, and in hindsight Lewis should have fought him. but Ruiz at that time was probably no higher regarded than Botha, who at least had gone to a draw with Shannon Briggs.

yes, Lewis should have fought Ruiz instead of Botha. but at that time there was no call for a Ruiz fight, wheras Bowe and Lewis were much more relevant in the boxing world, and both highly ragrded.

Lets be fair here... Botha had been poleaxed by old Mike Tyson and had fought a draw with Briggs who Lewis had hammered whereas Ruiz was virtually undefeated save for a 18 second KO loss years earlier to Tua when getting caught with the first punch of the fight....

we accept lucky punch theories for Lewis on this forum as well as corrupt referees who count too quickly so it should be accepted that Ruiz 18 second loss to Tua was down to being caught cold.

[Steak]

Lets be fair here... Botha had been poleaxed by old Mike Tyson and had fought a draw with Briggs who Lewis had hammered whereas Ruiz was virtually undefeated save for a 18 second KO loss years earlier to Tua when getting caught with the first punch of the fight....

we accept lucky punch theories for Lewis on this forum as well as corrupt referees who count too quickly so it should be accepted that Ruiz 18 second loss to Tua was down to being caught cold.

I am being fair. Lewis should have fought Ruiz instead of Botha.

but in reality nobody gave a damn about either fight, wheras a lot of people cared about Bowe-Lewis.

[JAB5239]

Lewis had opportunities to fight Ruiz and keep hold of his title but he instead fought Frans Botha

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

The same Botha who a year before was schooling Tyson and than held a ranked Shannon Briggs to a draw. At that time Ruiz was having controversial fights with a washed up (your words) Holyfield.

[JAB5239]

[QUOTE=blackirish137;9963694]I am being fair. Lewis should have fought Ruiz instead of Botha.

but in reality nobody gave a damn about either fight, wheras a lot of people cared about Bowe-Lewis.[/QUOTE]

BINGO!! Back to reality!

[sonnyboyx2]

The same Botha who a year before was schooling Tyson and than held a ranked Shannon Briggs to a draw. At that time Ruiz was having controversial fights with a washed up (your words) Holyfield.

JAB once again you are wrong mate.. Ruiz was on a 4yrs undefeated winning run (11 bouts) and was WBA No1 contender.. he was scheduled to fight Lewis on July 15th 2000 yet Lewis baulked and fought Botha on that date.. Lewis was then stripped of the WBA belt for refusing to fight John Ruiz so Ruiz & Holyfield fought for the vacant belt

[JAB5239]

JAB once again you are wrong mate.. Ruiz was on a 4yrs undefeated winning run (11 bouts) and was WBA No1 contender.. he was scheduled to fight Lewis on July 15th 2000 yet Lewis baulked and fought Botha on that date.. Lewis was then stripped of the WBA belt for refusing to fight John Ruiz so Ruiz & Holyfield fought for the vacant belt

Lol, you keep ignoring my questions AND the issues. Who had Ruiz fought during the winning streak to make him worthy? The answer is NO ONE. So why did he deserve a shot against Lewis? Who wanted that fight? And Why shouldn't Lewis (who destroyed Ruddock who was rated #2) have gotten a shot against Bowe? You can't answer because it will contradict your argument for Ruiz. So who's wrong?