Why didn't Holyfield and Lewis fight in '98?

[Pastrano]

After Evander unified the WBA and IBF belts, there was talk of matching him up against Lewis immidiately. But this didn't materialize until a year after it should have. What was the main reason? Lewis lovers always say it was Holyfield who avoided him, but I don't believe that nonsense. Why would he wanna fight him when he was less prime??

[Toney616]

After Evander unified the WBA and IBF belts, there was talk of matching him up against Lewis immidiately. But this didn't materialize until a year after it should have. What was the main reason? Lewis lovers always say it was Holyfield who avoided him, but I don't believe that nonsense. Why would he wanna fight him when he was less prime??

The fight could of happened much earlier, but the IBF insisted that Holyfield fight his mando which was Moorer.

As for Holyfield-Lewis 98, that would of been after Holyfield signed with King and Showtime. It was a very hard fight to make.

[Pastrano]

The fight couldn't of happened much earlier, but the IBF insisted that Holyfield fight his mando which was Moorer.

As for Holyfield-Lewis 98, that would of been after Holyfield signed with King and Showtime. It was a very hard fight to make.

Why is that? Who was Lewis with?

[Thread Stealer]

It was being said at the time that Holyfield wanted more $$.

Probably a case though where we knew it'll eventually come together, but other things had to be taken care of first.

[Scott9945]

There were a number of problems. The biggest one was Lewis being exclusively on HBO while Holyfield was committed to Showtime (and Don King).

[Sugar Adam Ali]

The fight could of happened much earlier, but the IBF insisted that Holyfield fight his mando which was Moorer.

As for Holyfield-Lewis 98, that would of been after Holyfield signed with King and Showtime. It was a very hard fight to make.

Moorer wasn't his mando... Holyfield beat moorer in 97 for the IBF strap.. 98 holyfield fought the mando vaugn bean..

[sonnyboyx2]

Holyfield had looked fantastic in beating Tyson, so Lewis was simply "Not Interested." Then when Holyfield laboured to beat Vaughn Bean, Lewis could see that Holyfield was clearly on the slide so jumped at the chance of a unification fight. And rightly so. Lewis looked to be very unfortunate to only come away with a draw in their first bout, he looked to be the clear points winner in almost every boxing writers opinion. Holyfield looked to be "Robbed" of his titles by the judges in their rematch.. A third fight should have taken place!