Lennox Lewis v Mike Tyson. Is it just me.....

[funso banjo baby]

...or is the historic importance of this fight over-hyped?

I rewatched the Lennox Lewis doc on sky last night and was a bit perplexed as to why this fight holds such a high status?

Admittedly it is one of the richest fights of all time, but apart from the $aspect my memories of this fight are quite the opposite to the media line.

I didn't consider this a meeting of two greats to decide a definite issue.

to me, Tyson's original title years were almost a different generation.

By the time Lennox was dominant Tyson was a poor shadow of his youthful greatness.

this fight was only ever likely to be a massacre and a sad spectacle

I don't consider this worthy of being considered among Lewis's top 10 performances let alone a historic landmark in time.

Significantly the documentary barely bothered to spend any seconds on the Lewis v Klit fight which seems to me a far more important landmark?

Is this a controversial opinion?

[DrDuke]

Nope, Tyson was well past it, while Lewis was at his best, although for a one last time. Anyway, there never was an opportunity to match them prime vs prime, like Lewis vs Bowe, so it's not that frustrating. This fight is good for boxing, because it helps not to overrate Tyson at least on paper. He often gets to much props.

[margaret thatcher]

pretty sure the consensus is that while it was a big event the result doesnt mean that much historically?

[Noxy]

I don’t think anyone who knew boxing was surprised with the outcome of that fight. It was two HWs making a load of coin + the biggest ref I‘ve ever seen.

[Ambling Alp II]

There were a lot of people who thought Tyson would win. Some people thought Lewis did not have a good chin and Tyson would ko him. The truth was we didn't know how much he had left since he had been fighting weak competition the previous few years.
Tyson went all out in the first round, going for a quick KO. When that didn't work, he didn't seem to have a Plan B or put in much effort. To his credit, Lewis fought a pretty good fight.

As for the original question about the fight's historical significance overhyped, anymore hardly anyone thinks it meant much at all. It's too bad that it didn't happen much sooner.

[Onetimeonly]

The only historical impact to me is Lennox was on edge early, that could have been a big problem years earlier.

[Caractacus]

Tyson had pretty much lost his "demon" by the time of that fight,
so it doesn't really count.

[emallini]

The odds were close

[margaret thatcher]

British bookmaker William Hill have cut their odds on Mike Tyson beating Lennox Lewis in next month's world heavyweight title fight after taking a bet for 10,000 pounds ($14,530) on the American to win.

The bookmaker, who recently took a wager of 2,700 pounds on Lewis to win, shortened Tyson's odds from 2-1 to 7-4 for the June 8 fight in Memphis.

Lewis remains hot favorite at 2-5, having been as short as 4-11.

The 10,000-pound bet, the largest ever placed on Tyson in Britain, was made in a branch in Liverpool.

Hills also offer odds of 14-1 for a first round victory for Tyson with Lewis at 25-1 to do the same. Lewis is 3-1 to win on points with Tyson 14-1.

[Wee Tommy]

Manny was screaming at a timid Lewis to open up. That’s what I remember most about the fight. Tyson was a ghost of his former self.

[orbtastic]

Yeah it was a nothing fight in the scheme Of things.

He could have got him out of there way earlier, he was far too tentative and respectful.

[Monzon83]

For me it's a bit like Roy Jones v Calzaghe. The victory is meaningless as one fighter is clearly shot. Lewis v Tyson in their primes is an interesting match-up. Tyson's speed would have bothered Lewis and his power certainly would have. I would favour him in a prime v prime match-up.

But by the time they fought Tyson is a shadow of what he had been. I didn't actually bother watching it live either i knew it would be a sad sight and it was.

[Monte Fisto]

Outside of those hyping the fight, I don’t remember many folk that I knew who gave Tyson much of a chance.
Not say it wasn’t worth tuning in for of course. Their careers and lives were just at different points. Lewis had proved he could stifle any Tyson threat which would likely last 3 rounds.
It was fight Lewis had to make for the general public as otherwise it would be something that could be thrown at him (not fighting Tyson). Whilst he may big up the importance of the fight up, he knew he was fighting an out of date Tyson.

The Vitali fight is of much more importance in retrospect. He wasn’t given much kudos for that fight as Joe public expected a comfortable victory. and it was always highly likely to be his last fight.

[Onetimeonly]

Outside of those hyping the fight, I don’t remember many folk that I knew who gave Tyson much of a chance.
Not say it wasn’t worth tuning in for of course. Their careers and lives were just at different points. Lewis had proved he could stifle any Tyson threat which would likely last 3 rounds.
It was fight Lewis had to make for the general public as otherwise it would be something that could be thrown at him (not fighting Tyson). Whilst he may big up the importance of the fight up, he knew he was fighting an out of date Tyson.

The Vitali fight is of much more importance in retrospect. He wasn’t given much kudos for that fight as Joe public expected a comfortable victory. and it was always highly likely to be his last fight.

He wasn't even supposed to fight vitali.

[Jaywheel]

The fight was built has Tyson had a puncher's chance against Lewis, and the Rahman loss was close enough in time that it was sellable. The way Lewis handled himself during the first round tells me he would have shat his trunks against prime Tyson and gotten sparked. But at that stage, the outcome was known by round 2, just waiting for it to happen.

[Syntax Error]

Manny was screaming at a timid Lewis to open up. That’s what I remember most about the fight. Tyson was a ghost of his former self.

Absolutely.

Lewis could have flattened Tyson inside three rounds if he had shown more devil, but he boxed as if it was '86 Tyson he was facing.

[Onetimeonly]

Manny was screaming at a timid Lewis to open up. That’s what I remember most about the fight. Tyson was a ghost of his former self.

Absolutely.

Lewis could have flattened Tyson inside three rounds if he had shown more devil, but he boxed as if it was '86 Tyson he was facing.

There was an exact moment in the second round when the ref was about to take a point from Lennox for holding and you clearly can see the look in Lennox face when he realized how silly it was to hold that little dude and just beat him down

[DrDuke]

Lewis' pragmatism can be understood. He had fresh feelings from waking up in the Rahman fight.

[HomicideHenry]

Every generation seems to have a fight where one man is an echo of his former self and gets destroyed by somebody nobody appreciates--- Sullivan vs Corbett, Louis vs Marciano, etc--- and for my generation it was Tyson getting his ass handed to him by Lennox Lewis.

I was a teenager and I bought into the hype that Lewis was a glass jaw and that all Tyson needed was one well placed shot. The fact of the matter is Tyson was only good for one round against world elite heavyweights at that stage.

Like Larry Holmes before him Lennox Lewis is one of those guys who wasn't appreciated until maybe a decade after he was gone. The heavyweight division got pretty damn abysmal after he was gone and it's only picked up in the last few years.

I do roll my eyes and shake my head when people say that this was the best win of Lennox Lewis's career. That's like saying Jack Johnson beating the ghost of Jim Jefferies is the greatest win of his career. Just because it's the most publicized does not equate to the same thing.

I understand why Lennox Lewis does love the fight, because Mike Tyson was the missing puzzle piece in his career basically, but it's comparable to Mike Tyson's exhibition with Roy Jones--- too little too late, and just to say you did it.

[Ketchel]

This win for Lewis was way overrated. Tyson while clearly past it was sedated for this fight to guarantee he collected his purse due to his crazy antics at the press conferences. There was a great fear Tyson was going to kick off so much so that security lined the ring to keep the fighters apart before the start of the fight. When the fight did start Tyson was subdued not the nut job who bit Lennox a few days before. Something was wrong about that fight and it should not be credited as a major win for Lennox.

[rob h]

I don't think it ever was an over rated win for Lewis. Tyson hadn't fought anyone decent in years and was classified as a sideshow at this point - it was just a money fight really. Lewis acknowledged that it was just a name for his record, and what a name it was as Tyson was probably still the biggest draw in boxing at this point. I also don't think Lewis ever claimed that he was fighting the Tyson of old. Lewis was on the wind down and should have called it quits afterwards, however showed guts and determination vs Vitali.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

There was hype.. it was an event. Lewis winning was near certainity for anyone who followed boxing

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

This win for Lewis was way overrated. Tyson while clearly past it was sedated for this fight to guarantee he collected his purse due to his crazy antics at the press conferences. There was a great fear Tyson was going to kick off so much so that security lined the ring to keep the fighters apart before the start of the fight. When the fight did start Tyson was subdued not the nut job who bit Lennox a few days before. Something was wrong about that fight and it should not be credited as a major win for Lennox.

Tyson charged in rd one and ate a huge uppercut. His legs were shot before the fight. That uppercut made him subdued and he ate a ton of jabs in the subsequent rounds

Tysom wasnt a top 10 fighter at this point.

[DrDuke]

Just rewatched the bout including some pre-fight hype. It was a truly big event. No way it shouldn't have happened. Better later than never.

Anyway, it wouldn't go otherwise in any other times, when it was possible to take place. It could happen in 1997, if Tyson wouldn't throw his belt away to face Holyfield instead, when Evander was a bigger and deceptively easier pay day, but by that time Lewis had already reached his prime and, even despite Tyson was obviously fresher, Lewis would be too much for Mike.

The actual bout looked like a masterclass and a brutal one. Lewis was fighting both the referee and Tyson, but still looked stellar. After the 7th Tyson was clearly done and looked ready to surrender in his corner, but his team was urging him instead of trying to save him from the coming punishment.

[Syntax Error]

Just rewatched the bout including some pre-fight hype. It was a truly big event. No way it shouldn't have happened. Better later than never.

Anyway, it wouldn't go otherwise in any other times, when it was possible to take place. It could happen in 1997, if Tyson wouldn't throw his belt away to face Holyfield instead, when Evander was a bigger and deceptively easier pay day, but by that time Lewis had already reached his prime and, even despite Tyson was obviously fresher, Lewis would be too much for Mike.

The actual bout looked like a masterclass and a brutal one. Lewis was fighting both the referee and Tyson, but still looked stellar. After the 7th Tyson was clearly done and looked ready to surrender in his corner, but his team was urging him instead of trying to save him from the coming punishment.

Tyson did effectively surrender.

He told his corner that he was done on two occasions, but they still sent him out to get poleaxed in the 8th.

The corner were obviously thinking about their livelihoods and not their boss's wellbeing.