Lewis v Rahman II

[loaded_gloves]

Rahman turned down a lucrative multi-fight contract with HBO in favour of King's duffel bag of cash.

The reason he got paid less for the Lewis rematch is that Lewis took a guarantee whereas Rahman gambled on a slice of the PPV which turned out not to be lucrative.

Oliver McCall scored an equally crushing knockout on the undercard, roughing up Henry Akinwande and smearing The Octopus and his odious career across the mat in the final round.

[thepocketrocket]

Always found Rahman rather classless post Lewis 1...not the gay comments towards Lewis, just his 'I am rich now' comments and total lack of respect for Kushner.

Still, it is those losses to Rahman and Mcall that damage Lewis's reputation in the all time rankings. The real greats would never have lost to guys like this in their prime.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I liked the shot from above with Rahman and the crown.



Looks like a effing cartoon character

'crowned'

Probably my favourite shot ever, a great irony right there.

[orbtastic]

I remember when Bruno fought Tyson the 2nd time. Bruno was champ but Tyson got five times more money!

More I think! Bruno got £3m from memory and Tyson $25m.

Bruno had signed a cast iron contract with Bunny prior to the McCall fight and Bunny was then in bed with King.

Waaay wrong. Tyson $8 to Bruno's $3.

Tyson was the star in this Showtime US PPV.

Are you sure?

I'm fairly certain that Bruno got ~3m UKP for the rematch and bitched about Tyson getting around 30m USD (you would think the champion was Tyson with those amounts for purses). This fight was the first SKY PPV and there was a lot of TV money on the table.

This article backs up those figures:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-0 ... n-king-mgm

[jamesmcdonnell]

Truth is, whether or not he consciously thought about it, SUBconsciously, I think Rahman always knew he got lucky in fight one. A combination of poor preparation and arrogance on Lewis's part and that right hand, meant he beat a guy he really deep down knew was going to kick his butt in the rematch.

In fight one, he was getting busted up pretty bad by Lewis' jab, before Lewis' lack of acclimation to the altitude took it's toll and he started blowing like a steam train. Lewis was pretty much fekked after a few rounds, and couldn't get out of the way of the right hand due to fatigue.

Rahman knew it was a chance for a big payday, and that really, he wasn't good enough to hold on to his title for long, nor marketable enough to parlay routine defences into good paydays.

Rahman looked nervous as hell and panicked the day of the fight, both in the dressing room, and during the ring walk, he made a huge to do over the hand wraps, and he looked dry mouthed on camera. Lewis, as ever, slept in the dressing room before the fight. The die was cast, and in truth, both men knew what the outcome would be.

Fight two was much like fight one, except this time, Lewis wasn't fatigued after 3 rounds, and finished the job he started in fight one.

[orbtastic]

The crack that the final right hand makes as it lands is fantastic.

[loaded_gloves]

Are you sure?

I'm fairly certain that Bruno got ~3m UKP for the rematch and bitched about Tyson getting around 30m USD (you would think the champion was Tyson with those amounts for purses). This fight was the first SKY PPV and there was a lot of TV money on the table.

This article backs up those figures:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-0 ... n-king-mgm

Sorry, you are right - Bruno got 3 million POUNDS, so 6 million dollars.

I saw the figures the other day in a magazine article, will go check, Tyson was around 8 million dollars. 25 million is a ridiculous sum for that fight.

[orbtastic]

I'm fairly sure Tyson got around 30m USD for that fight. He was getting huge money around that time because of the intense interest from the public and everyone wanted a piece of him. DK was getting into all sorts of deals with the MGM and Showtime.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/spo ... e-1.720871

"The champ has bit his lip and downplayed what many of his countrymen call a promotion that has disrespected his championship status. Of course Bruno isn't happy about the disparity in purses. Tyson will earn $30 million Saturday night, while Bruno will cash a $6 million paycheck. "That's life," Bruno said after the press conference. "All I know is that I'm the champion and I'm staying the champion. . . . I wasn't happy at the end of the day, but that's immaterial. I got more respect here than I thought I was going to get."

[lillywhite14]

Tyson was getting $20m plus for all his fights back then wasn't he? Even McNeeley?

That proves that in the right hands, the heavyweight title is still the richest prize in sports.

Imagine a prime Tyson, Ali, Dempsey coming through the ranks now? Guys that captured the imagination and were bonafide US and world stars. They would make "money" Mayweather and PAC look like hobos. Would command purses in excess of $50m a fight!

[loaded_gloves]

Those Tyson, Foreman, Holyfield, Bowe fights were much bigger and part of the culture in America than Mayweather and Pacman's 'record breaking' PPVs. Mayweather fans leap on this to prove how 'great' and wonderful he is, but they don't allow for inflation (i.e. doubling price of PPV), as well as less homes back then were fitted for PPVs. Those fights were huge back then. Even Tyson/McNeeley was world news in a way no Mayweather fight ever will be.

[Rocky Balboa]

Bruno's purse was £4,000,000. Tyson's was $30,000,000 for the rematch. Yes Bruno was the champ, but Tyson was the BIG draw. He was doing massive PPV ratings at the time.