Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis.

[StarshipTrooper]

:deadhorse: :deadhorse: :deadhorse: :deadhorse:

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

i like a peak Tyson over damn near anybody including these two but thats just me.

I realise Lewis and Holyfield have perhaps left a better body of work behind but on his very best night i like Tyson to stop both of em

Holyfield gets greatness points for his excellence as a Cruiser too

Lewis imo is the lesser fighter of the three but may actually have the best HW resume

I couldn't have said it better. You are absolutely right.

[GJC]

Sonny I'm sorry for the delay in answering your latest round of questions re Lewis but better late than never:

1/. Lewis was stripped of his titles for avoiding the No1 contenders.
I'm assuming this is the usual Ruiz, Byrd, Vitali stuff? Sonny you seem to know the sport but not the game. To win an undisputed title is difficult to defend it for any length of time is near impossible. Look at the current top 10s for any weight IBF,WBC,WBA. Chances are you'll find 25 different fighters in those 3 different top tens with 3 different number ones. Ruiz got placed as number one by Don King with zero justification, fight wouldn't have drawn flies Lewis opted out. Byrd got placed at number one by Don King with slightly more justification, again the fight wouldn't have drawn flies Lewis opted out. Lewis reitired instead of re-matching Vitali, given his last performance he retired at the same time. OK he didn't retire straight away after the Vitali fight and probably let negotiations drag on but most champions who retired with the belt didn't retire within 6 months of their last fight. So Lewis liked being introduced as HW champion and let it drag on a bit? He can join Ali, Rocky and Louis in that.

2/. Lewis beat Tyson when Tyson was a shell of his former self.

Undoubtedly but remember Tyson was number one contender wasn't he?
Biggest money fight for Lewis, he'd been after Tyson for years, why not?
It was in Tyson's hans to fight Lewis years before but he didn't want to.

3/. Lewis v Bowe Olympic final was a bazaar stoppage after Bowe was warned 15 times by the referee

It was a strange fight, why did you need to lie about the nationality of the referee?

4/. Lewis turned down career high paydays in the 90s against Bowe in 95 & Tyson in 96

The Bowe offer is based on that self serving video you post from Bowe trying to justify throwing the belt in the bin
Lewis was happy to fight Bowe winner takes all in 93
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...***+bowe&hl=en


Tyson was offered $40 million to fight Lewis by Lewis camp if you believe what you read

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/...for_tyson.html


5/. Lewis was fortunate to get the verdict in his rematch with Holyfield
I thought Lewis fought a lazy fight and Holy raised his game but still thought Lewis won by a couple of rounds.


6/. Holyfield was past it when Lewis fought him in late 1999 and was on the downslide.

1) Holy held the titles so what was Lewis meant to do, stand aside until he retired?
2) Lewis had been trying to get Holy in the ring for some time.
3) Holy had his 3 best wins according to many against Tyson and Moorer after he was on the downside.
4) He was a credible poopoent for Ruiz in 3 fights after Lewis though?


7/. Lewis got poleaxed by 2 journeymen fighters

Agreed and those KO's greatly effect his legacy


8/. Lewis avoided Holmes 93, Moorer 94, Tyson 96, Bowe 95, Ruiz 00, Byrd 01, Vitali 03 and only fought fighters who was on the downside of their career and none who was at the top of their game.

Holmes was an old man, Moorer ducked Lewis if anything, the others i've covered.
THe other opponents you discredit by making Lewis into some kind of fortune teller. Lewis knew Morrison had HIV before Morrison did, He knew Tua would go on a strange diet, he knew Golota would go off his rocker before the fight etc etc.