They came down very dramatically near to fight-time, if I recall correctly. Something like five or six to one.
They did come down, but even 5 or 6 to 1 are pretty one-sided odds. Even at those odds, Tyson was a really big favorite. The bottom line is that pretty much everyone thought Holyfield was going to get beaten up. Occasionally I hear someone try to claim they picked Holyfield, but I usually call bullshit on that because I don't recall anyone seriously picking Holyfield at the time. It was awesome to see him prove everyone (including me) wrong and beat the crap out of Tyson, but it was a big surprise when he did so.
True. I was just thinking out loud how it's pretty unusual for odds to swing that hard, that close to fight time. A lot of big money came in for Holyfield in those final twenty-four hours.
There is no doubt that Tyson wanted NO part of Lewis in the 1990's. None at all. As BWJ correctly states, Tyson and his team were supposed to fight Lewis as his mandatory, but instead paid him $6million to 'step aside' so that he could beat on Seldon, Bruno and then Holyfield instead, who was supposedly shot to fuck and was being set up as a big-name 'patsy'. The only reason the Tyson-Lewis fight happened at all was because, by that time, Tyson was clearly markedly declined and he had no choice but to take the fight he had spent so long avoiding if he wanted to make one last big payday. The idea that Lewis somehow ducked a man who paid him to go away is one that only LOK could come up with. MTF
Beat me to it. :bears: I do find it interesting how Holy's heart problems all but disappeared around that time.
F*ck off LOK, you tyson dick rider! :atu: Your bitch ass hero refused to fight Lewis for YEARS!!! 1996, Tyson relinquished the WBC belt to avoid Lewis. Was Tyson on drugs then too? 1999 Lewis was open for the Tyson challenge and Tyson like a bitch kept fighting bums and saying "I still need 2-3 more fights" all the while talking sh*t about how he was gonna skull f*ck Lewis when they fight. Tyson was a good fighter and all but he had the mental fragility of a f*cking 10 year old. He had no self confidence and he was scared of losing.
Douglas beat the f*ck out of Tyson. That's one of the best beatdowns ever! :bears: Tyson was overhyped. He beat bums and sh*t. Never fought any really good fighters in their primes. Best guy he beat was a shot Holmes. Even Spinks took a sh*t in the dressing room and came to lose.
You're brain dead LOK. Lewis wanted to ass f*ck your precious Tyson for many years all the way back to 1996. How you gonna be making bold faced lies like that on this forum? We're boxing fans, we already know all the facts about what went down. You can't bullsh*t us LOK. The fact is your boy was scared of Lewis. Name any other fighter whom Tyson said "I need 2-3 more fights before I'm ready!" There is nobody. Tyson believed Lewis was his most formidable challenge which is why he kept stalling.
@ "your precious Tyson" :laughing: dude.. i dont even care about all that.. i'm just saying the fight never came off until it was VERY clear that Mike was not in a position to even be competitave
Come on LOK. If Tyson wanted the fight, he'd have gotten it anytime he wanted. Why did he fight Lou Savarese instead of just taking the title fight with Lewis? Tyson even after whupping Savarese still said he didn't want Lewis. Heck Tyson beat Golota and still he didn't want Lewis.:dunno: Maybe we just got to call a spade a spade here and admit Tyson was unsure of whether he could actually beat Lewis? I mean, I know it's easy for you to disrespect Lewis but then again, you weren't the one who had to step in the ring with Lewis. Tyson was the one who had to face the guy and it's obvious Tyson was unsure of himself. I mean afterall, Lewis is like twice the guy's size with twice his reach. Could be intimidating for the much smaller Tyson to face a guy that big and who can hit that hard. Just saying.. How many guys you ever sparred with who had 20lbs in weight, 13" in reach and like 7" in height over you and who could box as good as you? Tyson was at a disadvantage.
Why not address the point about Tyson opting to fight Savarese and Golota instead of fighting Lewis, LOK? :dunno:
Well why didn't he fight Lewis in a title fight instead of wasting his time fighting those bums? Answer!!!! ::
dude.. you dont come out of jail and while on drugs fight the top guy without getitng back in shape and working off ring rust you are right.. he did not feel confident that he could win and he was right.. he was a shell of his former self
Come on LOK. If I challenged you to a fight and you said "No problem Hanzy, just give me a phone-call at this number and we'll set it up!" And I went around fighting 5th graders while telling everybody "LOK is a f*cking bitch who's afraid and I'm gonna knock his ass out!" But at the same time, you're saying "Come on Hanzy, put up or shut up, just call me and let's fight!" But I keep avoiding you while still talking sh*t about you and saying how I'm gonna rip your brain outta your skull, wouldn't you after a while think I'm full of sh*t and just a chicken sh*t who talks a lot but doesn't want to fight? :: I mean come on now...it's clear as day! One guy was talking sh*t but was afraid to fight. It's obvious.
