Heavyweights: Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis

[elmersalsa]

Once and for all. What if this fight happened in the 80s or early 90s? Would have been the same outcome as in 2002 when Lennox Lewis caught Iron Mike at the tailing end of his career?

Put Kevin Rooney in Tyson's corner. Put the great Emmanuel Steward in Lewis' corner. I am talking prime vs prime here.

I was reading things like Lennox beats Tyson even the 80s version. Say what?

Who got the better career?
Who beat the better opponents?
Who had the better skills in their primes?

[Kalan]

Lewis would destroy Tyson just like he destroyed Ruddock...very quickly... Tyson struggled with the huge punching bag Ruddock... just like he struggled with big guys James Smith, James Tillis, Tony Tucker, Evander Holyfield, Buster Douglas, and all the other guys he couldn't knock out.

Tyson could have fought Lewis any time he wanted to... He waited for many years because he knew he was going to get flattened... He could have fought Lewis in 1995 instead of Peter McNeeley... He could have fought him instead of Buster Mathis Jr... He wanted to duck Lewis forever... He's younger than Lewis so he could out wait him... Lewis finally cornered Tyson and KTFO of him... Mike wisely declined a rematch.

[Give up]

No doubt Tyson.
Tyson( the 80s or early 90s) would destroy Lewis just like he destroyed Berbick, Spinks.

[Kalan]

Yeah... Those guys were so good (Berbick)... and so big (Spinks)...

[Keko]

Comedy. Double standards do you have a strong street.Berbick was better than a lot of Lewis opponents and has a better resume(Briggs,Akinwande,Mercer,Grant,Biggs,Mason)
As much as Spinks was a little much better than the vast majority of Lewis opponents.



I think the prime Tyson whip better than prime but Lewis is a prime Tyson was too short on top. I have no doubt that the prime Tyson won.
Tyson had impressive victories but had no a better overall career of Lewis as this lasted longer on top.

[Give up]

Yeah... Those guys were so good (Berbick)... and so big (Spinks)...

Spinks was twice defeated Holmes and he(Holmes) is not so small and he(Holmes) was better than Lewis.
Berbick was better than McCall for me.

[Kalan]

Spinks was very small for a Heavyweight.. He had a Light Heavyweight's frame and his knees were shot for Tyson.. They were both bundled up for the fight and he couldn't run anymore.. This was Spinks' cash-out fight.. With his knees gone he knew he was done -- like Sergio Martinez for Cotto.

McCall had a great chin and great punch... Berbick had neither... If you're a good fighter how do you get knocked out by Mercado.. and lose to guys like TS Gordon and Reynaldo Snipes? ... Both Berbick and McCall were beaten by Buster Douglas.. but the McCall fight was closer.. Both McCall and Berbick would slow down and give rounds away.. Guys weren't hurting McCall at all, so he would think they weren't winning and his fewer punches were scoring better .. but a lot of judges look at who's throwing the most and give A's for effort.. Berbick was inconsistent and he'd get lazy. A lot of times he looked as if he didn't want to be in there. You can't dog it. You have to be charged up for every fight.

[Keko]

He thought of Holmes that was not small.

[Syntax Error]

If Lewis can smother Tyson & dampen him down early, he stops Tyson late.

Tyson was useless in clinches & was easily discouraged.

If Lewis can't do that successfully, Tyson would spark him.

[Keko]

McCall had a great chin and great punch... Berbick had neither... If you're a good fighter how do you get knocked out by Mercado.. and lose to guys like TS Gordon and Reynaldo Snipes? ... Both Berbick and McCall were beaten by Buster Douglas.. but the McCall fight was closer.. Both McCall and Berbick would slow down and give rounds away.. Guys weren't hurting McCall at all, so he would think they weren't winning and his fewer punches were scoring better .. but a lot of judges look at who's throwing the most and give A's for effort.. Berbick was inconsistent and he'd get lazy. A lot of times he looked as if he didn't want to be in there. You can't dog it. You have to be charged up for every fight.

And my voice would perhaps went McCall but I do not think there is big difference. If Berbick beat Pinklon ,Page and Tate then can and McCall. Not really that much difference between them.

McCall has 14 losses and are not really all of the top boxers. He was losing it by Hunter, Norris.
Beating by him and solid boxer like Bruno, Douglas, Tucker.
Realistically Berbick and McCall are both solid and not a big difference between them.

[NateJR]

I got Lewis all day. He would have been extra sharp against Tyson and picked him off at range and ultimately stopping Tyson mid to late fight. Lewis got caught twice due to being reckless because he didn't have full on respect for his opponent, but mentally prepared Lewis peppers the shit outta Tyson.

[Ambling Alp II]

As for the who had the better career question:

Head to head : This is where I disagree with most people. thieir fight has to count for something. Tyson is actually a little younger than Lewis. going into the fight, where was everyone that was saying Tyson was shot? Many people were insisting that Lewis chin would not not stand up to Tyson. Lewis wins easily and the fight is supposed to mean nothing at all? If Tyson would have won, would as many people really being saying that Lewis was over the hill?
It doesn't count for as much as it should if it happneded earlier, but it has to count for something.
For head to head, Lewis gets a slight edge.

Common Opponents -Lewis was more impressive against Ruddock and Botha. Tyson was more impressive against Bruno. Both beat Biggs handily. Lewis had a little less trouble with Tucker, but Tucker was a better fighter at the time he fought Tyson. The record books have Lewis as 1-0-1 vs holyfield and Tyson at 02. However, Holyfield had more left when he fought Tyson.
For common opponents Lewis probably has a slight edge.

Overall best wins. Besides the fights already mentioned, Lewis beat Mercer, Morrison, Tua, Klitschko, Ruddock, and McCall. He was lucky to get the decision against Mercer and McCall didn't even try.
Tyson beat Berbik, Smith, Thomas, Tubbs, and Spinks. He didn't look good against Smith.

Slight edge goes Tyson for best overall wins.

Relevant losses/draws, bad performances, close calls - Tyson lost to Douglas and Holyfield and to some degree the Lewis fight has to count. Lewis lost to McCall and Rahman. Lewis lost to McCall and Rahman. He also had controversial wins against Holyfield and Mercer. He looked awful in the Holyfield "win" but actually fought a good fight even though he should not have got the win against Mercer. (Mercer probably fought the fight of his life.) Tyson looked mediocre against Smith.
Tyson lost to fighters who fought great fights and was more competitive. However, Tyson's 2nd loss to Holyfield really hurts him.
A little tricky since Lewis should have got the decision in the draw against Holyfield and the McCall fight was stopped prematurely.
Calling this even.


Overall, I think Lewis was slightly better. Both of these guys have their detractors and fans, so naturally there are going to be people that act as if one guy was light years better. The truth is that they pretty close.

[Boxing Writer]

As for the who had the better career question:

Head to head : This is where I disagree with most people. thieir fight has to count for something. Tyson is actually a little younger than Lewis. going into the fight, where was everyone that was saying Tyson was shot? Many people were insisting that Lewis chin would not not stand up to Tyson. Lewis wins easily and the fight is supposed to mean nothing at all? If Tyson would have won, would as many people really being saying that Lewis was over the hill?
It doesn't count for as much as it should if it happneded earlier, but it has to count for something.
For head to head, Lewis gets a slight edge.

Common Opponents -Lewis was more impressive against Ruddock and Botha. Tyson was more impressive against Bruno. Both beat Biggs handily. Lewis had a little less trouble with Tucker, but Tucker was a better fighter at the time he fought Tyson. The record books have Lewis as 1-0-1 vs holyfield and Tyson at 02. However, Holyfield had more left when he fought Tyson.
For common opponents Lewis probably has a slight edge.

Overall best wins. Besides the fights already mentioned, Lewis beat Mercer, Morrison, Tua, Klitschko, Ruddock, and McCall. He was lucky to get the decision against Mercer and McCall didn't even try.
Tyson beat Berbik, Smith, Thomas, Tubbs, and Spinks. He didn't look good against Smith.

Slight edge goes Tyson for best overall wins.

Relevant losses/draws, bad performances, close calls - Tyson lost to Douglas and Holyfield and to some degree the Lewis fight has to count. Lewis lost to McCall and Rahman. Lewis lost to McCall and Rahman. He also had controversial wins against Holyfield and Mercer. He looked awful in the Holyfield "win" but actually fought a good fight even though he should not have got the win against Mercer. (Mercer probably fought the fight of his life.) Tyson looked mediocre against Smith.
Tyson lost to fighters who fought great fights and was more competitive. However, Tyson's 2nd loss to Holyfield really hurts him.
A little tricky since Lewis should have got the decision in the draw against Holyfield and the McCall fight was stopped prematurely.
Calling this even.


Overall, I think Lewis was slightly better. Both of these guys have their detractors and fans, so naturally there are going to be people that act as if one guy was light years better. The truth is that they pretty close.

I was saying Tyson was totally shot since Brian Nielsen fight. He looked awful against European-level heavyweight who was well past his prime himself. Plus he was overweight and extremely inactive when he fought Lewis - he had just one fight in the last 20 months. Lewis himself knew Tyson was completely shot then, that's why he sued him when Tyson was going to fight 41-years-old Mercer. Lewis was afraid that even that version of Mercer would beat Tyson and steal his payday. As for their age, lets look at Fernando Vargas and Wilfredo Benitez - both were completely shot in their mid-20. Gerald Washington and Eddie Chambers are the same age, but Washington is in his prime, while Eddie is shot to sh1t. Povetkin is 1.5 years older than Arreola, but he is in the best shape of his life, while Arreola is beyond shot.

I remember that >90% of boxing experts were predicting easy victory for Lewis in 2002. Michael Katz predicted that Lewis would demolish Tyson in 90 seconds. I expected Lewis to KO Mike in one round too. I was shocked when the fight went past three rounds. People, who knows boxing, knew Tyson had no chance. In 2002 only Tyson's most delusional fans and casuals thought Mike could beat Lennox.

But, while I consider Lennox's victory over Tyson almost irrelevant for his resume (I think Lewis had more than 10 wins that were better than his win over shot Tyson), I clearly rank Lewis ahead of Mike in my all-time list. Lewis longevity should be taken into account, as well as the fact that he developed his skills throughout his all career, while Mike was deteriorating since 1988.

[Ambling Alp II]

I don't remember 90% of boxing experts saying that Lewis would win easy. Not at all. A lot of so called experts were picking Tyson. This was supposed to be a showdown. There really was very little talk about Tyson being shot before the Fight.
I kept hearing how Lewis glass jaw (for some reason it's not considered as good as Tyson's) would let him down.

This was really the last fight in which a lot of the public was actually talking about before it happened. This was supposed to be a showdown. Then it happens and Lewis gets virtually no credit at all.

If Tyson would have won, would this fight really be considered meaningless?

[Ambling Alp II]

That was not what was being said before the fight. I remember this well.

[elmersalsa]

In 2002, I knew that Lennox Lewis was going to beat the crap out of Iron Mike.

And happened just like I thought. A nasty beat down. I wonder if that would have happened in the 80s or early 90s? I don't think so. Tyson by a NASTY KNOCKOUT before 1996.

[Boxing Writer]

I don't remember 90% of boxing experts saying that Lewis would win easy. Not at all. A lot of so called experts were picking Tyson. This was supposed to be a showdown. There really was very little talk about Tyson being shot before the Fight.
I kept hearing how Lewis glass jaw (for some reason it's not considered as good as Tyson's) would let him down.

This was really the last fight in which a lot of the public was actually talking about before it happened. This was supposed to be a showdown. Then it happens and Lewis gets virtually no credit at all.

If Tyson would have won, would this fight really be considered meaningless?

If Moorer would have beaten Foreman, it wouldn't be considered a big win. If Tyson would have beaten Douglas in 1990 and Holyfield in 1996, those wins would be considered regular. But all those fights turned out to be huge for boxing in retrospective. So yes, if Tyson somehow would have beaten Lewis in 2002, it would be considered a huge victory for Mike. It would be the biggest victory in his career, just like win over Tyson was the biggest win in Douglas' career, but if Mike would have beaten Douglas him, it would have had the same effect for his legacy as beating Carl Williams.

But anyway, this wasn't going to happen since Tyson he had none/zero chances of beating Lewis in 2002, because Lewis wasn't going to threat him like he did Rahman in the first fight.

And here is the list of expert's predictions 1 day before the fight:

Reporter Affiliation Outcome
Al Bernstein ESPN Lewis KO 4
Ron Borges Boston Globe Lewis KO 6
Tim Dahlberg Associated Press Lewis KO 9
Bernard Fernandez Philadelphia Daily News Lewis KO 7
Colin Hart The (London) Sun Tyson KO 3
Mike Hirsley Chicago Tribune Lewis KO 7
Kevin Iole Las Vegas Review-Journal Lewis KO 5
Michael Katz Maxboxing.com Lewis KO 1
Wallace Matthews ESPN Radio Tyson KO 1
Joe Maxse Cleveland Plain-Dealer Lewis KO 5
Edwin Pope Miami Herald Lewis KO 3
Dan Rafael USA TODAY Lewis KO 5
Jon Saraceno USA TODAY Lewis KO 6
Lem Satterfield Baltimore Sun Lewis KO 5
Tim Smith New York Daily News Lewis KO 2
Steve Springer Los Angeles Times Lewis DQ 4
Calvin Watkins Dallas Morning News Lewis W 12
George Willis New York Post Lewis KO 10

link - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/b ... -cover.htm

16 expers predicted Lewis' victory, 2 predicted Tyson's victory. 13 experts predicted Lewis to stop Tyson eariler than he actually did - in 7 rounds or less.

Jon Saraceno: "If heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis really is the fighter he says he is, he should destroy Mike Tyson on Saturday night. It should be George Foreman-Joe Frazier I revisited, though for different reasons."

[Keko]

2002 was no fight should be.

[Syntax Error]

I don't remember 90% of boxing experts saying that Lewis would win easy. Not at all. A lot of so called experts were picking Tyson. This was supposed to be a showdown. There really was very little talk about Tyson being shot before the Fight.
I kept hearing how Lewis glass jaw (for some reason it's not considered as good as Tyson's) would let him down.

This was really the last fight in which a lot of the public was actually talking about before it happened. This was supposed to be a showdown. Then it happens and Lewis gets virtually no credit at all.

If Tyson would have won, would this fight really be considered meaningless?

Lewis probably didn't get the credit he deserved because he dragged the fight out.

He could have finished Tyson inside of 3 rounds if he really wanted, but he was over cautious.

I could understand him being wary in the first round when Tyson was fresh, but Tyson had no stamina by 2002 & was just about done after a couple of rounds.

[Ambling Alp II]

I don't remember 90% of boxing experts saying that Lewis would win easy. Not at all. A lot of so called experts were picking Tyson. This was supposed to be a showdown. There really was very little talk about Tyson being shot before the Fight.
I kept hearing how Lewis glass jaw (for some reason it's not considered as good as Tyson's) would let him down.

This was really the last fight in which a lot of the public was actually talking about before it happened. This was supposed to be a showdown. Then it happens and Lewis gets virtually no credit at all.

If Tyson would have won, would this fight really be considered meaningless?

If Moorer would have beaten Foreman, it wouldn't be considered a big win. If Tyson would have beaten Douglas in 1990 and Holyfield in 1996, those wins would be considered regular. But all those fights turned out to be huge for boxing in retrospective. So yes, if Tyson somehow would have beaten Lewis in 2002, it would be considered a huge victory for Mike. It would be the biggest victory in his career, just like win over Tyson was the biggest win in Douglas' career, but if Mike would have beaten Douglas him, it would have had the same effect for his legacy as beating Carl Williams.

But anyway, this wasn't going to happen since Tyson he had none/zero chances of beating Lewis in 2002, because Lewis wasn't going to threat him like he did Rahman in the first fight.

And here is the list of expert's predictions 1 day before the fight:

Reporter Affiliation Outcome
Al Bernstein ESPN Lewis KO 4
Ron Borges Boston Globe Lewis KO 6
Tim Dahlberg Associated Press Lewis KO 9
Bernard Fernandez Philadelphia Daily News Lewis KO 7
Colin Hart The (London) Sun Tyson KO 3
Mike Hirsley Chicago Tribune Lewis KO 7
Kevin Iole Las Vegas Review-Journal Lewis KO 5
Michael Katz Maxboxing.com Lewis KO 1
Wallace Matthews ESPN Radio Tyson KO 1
Joe Maxse Cleveland Plain-Dealer Lewis KO 5
Edwin Pope Miami Herald Lewis KO 3
Dan Rafael USA TODAY Lewis KO 5
Jon Saraceno USA TODAY Lewis KO 6
Lem Satterfield Baltimore Sun Lewis KO 5
Tim Smith New York Daily News Lewis KO 2
Steve Springer Los Angeles Times Lewis DQ 4
Calvin Watkins Dallas Morning News Lewis W 12
George Willis New York Post Lewis KO 10

link - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/b ... -cover.htm

16 expers predicted Lewis' victory, 2 predicted Tyson's victory. 13 experts predicted Lewis to stop Tyson eariler than he actually did - in 7 rounds or less.

Jon Saraceno: "If heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis really is the fighter he says he is, he should destroy Mike Tyson on Saturday night. It should be George Foreman-Joe Frazier I revisited, though for different reasons."

On the other hand:
Bobby Czyz strongly favored Tyson
Evander Holyfield picked Tyson
Frank Bruno picked Tyson
Frans Botha picked Tyson
Monte Cox hedged his bets, picking Tyson early and Lewis late

This was only a year after Lewis got ko'd by Rahman. There were a lot of peole that were either not sold on Lewis and/or had a lot of belief in Tyson. I remember heated arguments on Boxing website about this before the fight. The next day, everyone ws stunned how bad Tyson had looked. Now, it seems, everyone knew Lewis would win.

[Boxing Writer]

I don't remember 90% of boxing experts saying that Lewis would win easy. Not at all. A lot of so called experts were picking Tyson. This was supposed to be a showdown. There really was very little talk about Tyson being shot before the Fight.
I kept hearing how Lewis glass jaw (for some reason it's not considered as good as Tyson's) would let him down.

This was really the last fight in which a lot of the public was actually talking about before it happened. This was supposed to be a showdown. Then it happens and Lewis gets virtually no credit at all.

If Tyson would have won, would this fight really be considered meaningless?

If Moorer would have beaten Foreman, it wouldn't be considered a big win. If Tyson would have beaten Douglas in 1990 and Holyfield in 1996, those wins would be considered regular. But all those fights turned out to be huge for boxing in retrospective. So yes, if Tyson somehow would have beaten Lewis in 2002, it would be considered a huge victory for Mike. It would be the biggest victory in his career, just like win over Tyson was the biggest win in Douglas' career, but if Mike would have beaten Douglas him, it would have had the same effect for his legacy as beating Carl Williams.

But anyway, this wasn't going to happen since Tyson he had none/zero chances of beating Lewis in 2002, because Lewis wasn't going to threat him like he did Rahman in the first fight.

And here is the list of expert's predictions 1 day before the fight:

Reporter Affiliation Outcome
Al Bernstein ESPN Lewis KO 4
Ron Borges Boston Globe Lewis KO 6
Tim Dahlberg Associated Press Lewis KO 9
Bernard Fernandez Philadelphia Daily News Lewis KO 7
Colin Hart The (London) Sun Tyson KO 3
Mike Hirsley Chicago Tribune Lewis KO 7
Kevin Iole Las Vegas Review-Journal Lewis KO 5
Michael Katz Maxboxing.com Lewis KO 1
Wallace Matthews ESPN Radio Tyson KO 1
Joe Maxse Cleveland Plain-Dealer Lewis KO 5
Edwin Pope Miami Herald Lewis KO 3
Dan Rafael USA TODAY Lewis KO 5
Jon Saraceno USA TODAY Lewis KO 6
Lem Satterfield Baltimore Sun Lewis KO 5
Tim Smith New York Daily News Lewis KO 2
Steve Springer Los Angeles Times Lewis DQ 4
Calvin Watkins Dallas Morning News Lewis W 12
George Willis New York Post Lewis KO 10

link - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/b ... -cover.htm

16 expers predicted Lewis' victory, 2 predicted Tyson's victory. 13 experts predicted Lewis to stop Tyson eariler than he actually did - in 7 rounds or less.

Jon Saraceno: "If heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis really is the fighter he says he is, he should destroy Mike Tyson on Saturday night. It should be George Foreman-Joe Frazier I revisited, though for different reasons."

On the other hand:
Bobby Czyz strongly favored Tyson
Evander Holyfield picked Tyson
Frank Bruno picked Tyson
Frans Botha picked Tyson
Monte Cox hedged his bets, picking Tyson early and Lewis late

This was only a year after Lewis got ko'd by Rahman. There were a lot of peole that were either not sold on Lewis and/or had a lot of belief in Tyson. I remember heated arguments on Boxing website about this before the fight. The next day, everyone ws stunned how bad Tyson had looked. Now, it seems, everyone knew Lewis would win.

A lot of people thought Ali wuld beat Holmes in 1980, which was absolutely impossible.

From the article:

Holmes was slowly establishing himself as the dominant force within the division. This fight would mark the eighth defense of his crown against the legend, Ali. In his seven previous defenses, not one opponent saw the final bell. Still, the confidence that the public had in Ali was unmistakable. He was like Superman or the Incredible Hulk. No obstacle was too big. No opponent was insurmountable. He had been there and done that so many times before in defeating the likes of Liston, George Foreman, Frazier, and Spinks. Many simply expected him to win. That unshakable belief was reflected in the betting line. Holmes opened as a 3-1 favorite. Those odds quickly dwindled to 2-1 and ultimately settled in around 9-5 by fight night.:

Link - http://roundbyroundboxing.com/flashback ... st-hurrah/

Another article on Holmes - Ali fight:

It's difficult for great old legends with big egos to realize they don't have it anymore.
And who among his friends, aside from Pacheco, would have dared tell the legend his time as a fighter had past. Despite Ali's sluggishness in training, slurred speech and broken down appearance, his entourage continued to praise him and bolster his ego as they had in years past.

No one stepped up.

Why did Ali vs Holmes happen? Perhaps the answer is simple.
Ali's purse was $8 million, while Holmes earned $2.3 million. And keep in mind, this fight was in 1980. For the same fight today, Muhammad Ali would have earned $23.Million USD while the champion 6.7 Million USD.

So perhaps the public is to blame? After all, public demand generated the enormous sums of revenue the fight garnered.

As sports fans, we often puts our athletes on a pedestal, never wanting to see great old performers exit the stage. Perhaps this event taught sports fans a great and valuable lesson: Everyone, even the great ones, can't be on top forever.

Link - http://www.fightsaga.com/news/item/2613 ... ything-But

Public wants to believe miracles. People had hopes that their idol would beat a fighter, whom in reality he had no chance of beating. It was in Tyson - Lewis, Ali - Holmes and many others fights. But experts, who earn their money writing about boxing, knew much better what was going to happen.

[Ambling Alp II]

I didn't know anyone who actually thought Ali would win. He was clearly well past his best the last time he had fought, which was more than two years previously. I remember a lot of fight fans (not just the general public) that were confident that Tyson would or at least could win.

Tyson clearly had more left than Ali had.
Holmes was in his prime, Lewis was not.

Even those that thought Lewis would win, thought Tyson had a least a puncher's chance.

[Boxing Writer]

I didn't know anyone who actually thought Ali would win. He was clearly well past his best the last time he had fought, which was more than two years previously. I remember a lot of fight fans (not just the general public) that were confident that Tyson would or at least could win.

Tyson clearly had more left than Ali had.
Holmes was in his prime, Lewis was not.

Even those that thought Lewis would win, thought Tyson had a least a puncher's chance.

Well, if odds went to 9-5 it's obvious that many people bet on Ali. Casuals are what they are. The want to believe in unbeliveable. And, by the way, Lewis himself said many times he was at his absolute best in Rahman-2 fight. In my opinion, his first fight against Holyfield and second fight against Rahman were by far his best, his peak performances. And Tyson fight was just 7 months after Lewis demolished Rahman in epic performance. But I agree that Lennox looked slightly slower against Tyson than before. But he was only slightly worse than his peak version, while Tyson was beyond shot. Even Ali, who who also beyond shot and had Parkinson desease, looked much better against Berbick than Tyson looked against Danny Williams. And Berbick is MUCH better than Danny Williams.

[crusader]

That was not what was being said before the fight. I remember this well.

I remember Lewis being a strong favourite

[Kalan]

I didn't know anyone who actually thought Ali would win. He was clearly well past his best the last time he had fought, which was more than two years previously. I remember a lot of fight fans (not just the general public) that were confident that Tyson would or at least could win.

Tyson clearly had more left than Ali had.
Holmes was in his prime, Lewis was not.

Even those that thought Lewis would win, thought Tyson had a least a puncher's chance.

Anybody who can punch has a puncher's chance... "Puncher's Chance" is code for slim and none -- to try to convince fans there's going to be some kind of drama in the fight -- when it's really going to be one-sided beat down that won't be that much fun for anybody.

And you don't remember the period well... Many naïve Ali fans thought he was going to pull off a miracle and beat Holmes... Everybody at my company got to see the fight free and many predicted an Ali win. Even into the 5th round they were saying “Ali is playing possum. He’s setting him up.” ... Hope springs eternal.

It was the same thing for Lewis-Tyson.. Tyson avoided Lewis for many years...possibly thinking because he’s younger than Lewis and could wait him out... But quality lasts and Lewis had it... Fluff, hype, and jive artistry sell a lot of tickets – and Tyson, Ali, and Mayweather were the 3 best at that... The difference is: Floyd could actually box well enough to back up all his boasts and Ali and Tyson couldn’t.