Lennox Lewis: A little selfish?

[GasPed]

There is allot of truth to this post. He did not seem overly eagar to challenge Holyfield when he was champ and he didn`t even want Moorer and Moorer would be an eay option. He waited till Tyson was totally shot before he tangled with him also. One could argue that Bowe dumped the WBC belt in favor of Dokes over Lewis and Tyson did the same and fought Seldon in 1996. But i believe that was because Lewis being a Mandatory challenger he would have commanded 25% of the purse, greatly reducing his payday. I think the biggest mistake Tyson made was in 1996 when he fought Holyfield over Lewis and surrendered the WBC title. I think Tyson would have had more of a chance Vs Lewis that year then he had over Holyfield. But Lewis didn`t want to fight Klitscko again because he knew it was a hard fight, he knew he could have lost the first and he wasn`t getting any better with age. The biggest weakness with Lennox wasn`t his chin, it was his heart. He got knockdown but was unable to continue because he just didn`t wantg it as much as a real fighter.

Wow. You actually believe this stuff you've posted? I mean, you think Lewis was ducking Holyfield and Tyson??

For once, I'm speechless. There are no words...

[Sir_Jose]

are you kidding me?

Lewis didn't sit on any sidelines. Bowe shamelessy ducked him in 93 and Tyson did the same in 96. Moorer? please. Micheal Moorer had a 1 fight career he beat Holyfield and then what else? thats rigfht he got KO'ed by a 70 year old Foreman thats all.

[Rocko]

Bowe threw his belt in the trash can and refused to fight Lewis because when he won the undisputed championship he was a promotional free agent, had he completed the tournament that included Lewis-Ruddock and Bowe-Holyfield, he would have been contractually obligated to the promotional outfit that put on the tournament (Main Events?). Thus he opted to stay a free agent and let Lewis be called a paper champ (which is what you are when you are handed the WBC belt twice in a row for doing nothing but A. Sitting on a beach, and B. Beating a crackhead just out of retirement with severe emotional problems. When HBO had already signed Bowe to fight Lewis all Lewis had to do was beat unthreatening challenger Oliver McCall who had lost all of his most important fights. Instead Lewis was knocked out and HBO threw him back onto the scrap heap. When both Lewis and Bowe were making comebacks Lewis was being interviewed live on BBC and Bowe actually called into the show and challenged Lewis to sign a contract for them to fight. No belts (neither of them had belts) just for honor. Lewis' reply was that he was more interested in chasing then champion Michael Moorer. MICHAEL MOORER! That shows you how much he really wanted to fight Bowe.

Its like when he said he was ducked by Tyson. Yeah Tyson paid Lewis 4 mil to step aside but people seem to forget or never knew the actual contract that he entered into with Lewis. He paid Lewis 4 mil to WAIT until he had beaten Seldon then he would fight Lewis with Lewis to get an additional 12 mil (his highest purse by far). Tyson beat Seldon and Lewis hid behind his HBO contract saying he could only fight on HBO (It was later revealed that Lewis had a "one time out" clause that would have allowed him to fight on showtime PPV). He tied Tyson up in litigation and rather than stall his career and the mega millions he was making Tyson dumped the WBC belt (sound familiar) and pursued the fight with Holyfield. Lewis for the second time in his career picked the WBC belt out of the trashcan by fighting a crack head who lost his last fight (against a christmas tree) and Tyson went on to fight in the highest grossing PPV fight in history.

People need to realise that Lewis manipulated the system as much or more than Tyson, Bowe or anyone else, the difference is he was so boring and such a low profile HW champ that nobody cared or paid any attention accept his fans and they were so ignorant they cheered anything he did.

[paulmmv]

very good point i also thing that lennox is scard of vitali for not giving him a rematch

[Floydmayweather]

Lennox is not scared of Vitali he just does not want to go through all the hard training to whip him. If he is out of shape Vitali will lay him out so Lennox just said the hell with it.

[Kimmy]

The Bowe fight had several chances of happening and Lewis didn`t seem interested. In the spring of 1996 Lennox was ranked number 1 by the WBC and number 2 by WBO. Bowe had just beaten Holyfield in November 1995 and was not lined up for any fights. Rock Newham approached the Lewis camp about a WBO title fight in April 1996. Although Bowe was champion Lewis was in the running to recieve something like 40% of the purse, thats more than fair. Problem was Lewis` made the excuse that he wanted the WBC belt and the Tyson fight. Tyson had already signed to fight both Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon, freeing him up for a September clash ( the Seldon fight was scheduled for July, later, Tyson pulled out with some sort of illness ). Bowe and Lewis could have fought in May 1996 and the winner to face WBC/WBA champ Tyson. Lewis, in his quest for `the better belt` fought Ray mercer instead. I think Lewis would have only fought Bowe when the most beneficial option was on the table, the reason being one of risk. I think Tyson would have been an easier option for lewis and on the back of a Tyson win Lewis would have commanded a much greater purse. It was business smart, but what do you expect, lewis was probably the best fighter ever who didn`t love his sport. It was something he was good at, not something he loved doing.

[RobbieD]

Lewis has always been a little *****, just sitting on the sidelines while Holyfield-Bowe, Holyfield-Tyson pounded each other in their primes. Then Lewis sweeps in to fight smaller, shot fighters- that's why he struggles to crack the top 10 hvy of all time.

What drugs are you on? Tyson paid Lewis $4 million NOT to fight him in the 90's and Rid**** Bowe threw the WBC title in the bin rather than face Lewis who was the mandatory challenger. How is that Lewis' fault?

[RobbieD]

Did somebody seriously just call Lennox Lewis "a paper champion"?

[Vikingblood]

It would of been better if Lewis came back to fight Klitschko one more time instead of retiring. I think by not doing so his ego has been somewhat damaged. You can see it in the way LL speaks the way he does as a commentator about Vitali during broadcasts or in the news.

[Mr. Ryan]

Lennox is not scared of Vitali he just does not want to go through all the hard training to whip him. If he is out of shape Vitali will lay him out so Lennox just said the hell with it.

Lennox is an old man, who fought like an old man the last time against Vitali. I wouldn't ask Willie Pep to fight Juan Manuel Marquez, just as I wouldn't ask Lennox Lewis to put himself in harms way for no reason at all. It would be a bloodletting and a black mark on boxing if Lewis was to fight Vitali again.