Boxing

 

Has the Lion lost its way?

By Steve Trellert

18.02 - Like the Egyptian Pharoah's, Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis seemed to have chosen a pyramid to close out what had been an exemplary career. The destruction of Mike Tyson had been the final piece of the puzzle to be added after the title unification and the victory over Evander Holyfield. It seemed the perfect time to ride off into the sunset. Lewis himself hinted of retirement as well, but then stated he would reconsider if the price were right. Since then we have had nothing but ambiguity from Lennox Lewis and limbo for the Heavyweight Division. Lennox has in essence become the mummy, unrecognizable and immobile. Does Lennox Lewis know what he wants?

The answer at first glance would appear to be a firm no. First he vacillates between continuation and retirement, then he chooses the former but acts as if he is doing the latter by first negotiating with prospective opponents and then continually deeming them unworthy. The latter pattern has been going on for months on end with no apparent end in sight, and he has even been flip flopping on his conclusions regarding them being unworthy. He was due to fight a mandatory against Chris Byrd until designating him a waste of time. This could have been justified, as it had been when he refused to fight John Ruiz to take on the more highly regarded Michael Grant. Instead we have Lennox Lewis choosing to negotiate with Vitali Klitschko who not only lost a fight to Chris Byrd, but also had also never defeated a top ten heavyweight. If this was not confusing enough, Lewis then played the role of color commentator for the International 'Showtime' broadcast of the Evander Holyfield-Chris Byrd fight, and witnessed Byrd basically dominate Evander Holyfield. His reaction? More or less admitting he may be willing to fight Chris Byrd and that he was impressed by him. Do negotiations then get re-established to make this fight a possibility? No, Vitali remains on target. Then Vitali is dumped as well and stated as undeserving, and Mike Tyson, whom he had just dominated, is back on as the next most likely opponent. To most boxing observers, Mike Tyson is the least deserving of the three mentioned to have a shot at Lewis, does this make any sense? Yes, if you interpret the term "deserving" in the context of dollars rather than the quality of opposition.

I find it highly likely that Lennox Lewis is sitting back thinking "everything is going exactly according to plan". First of all he has just defeated the 'baddest man on the planet,' who despite being a shadow of his former self, still carries more name recognition and marketing power than the rest of the heavyweight division combined (excluding Evander Holyfield). This places Lennox Lewis at his peak in terms of public prestige that in turn places his stock at an all-time high. He is therefore at his maximum possible peak in terms of negotiating power.

Additionally, threatening retirement at a time when the next generation of heavyweights still languishes in relative obscurity was also wise. Boxing's popularity tends to lag at times when there is no natural bridge between generations. Sonny Liston to Ali/Clay, Ali to Holmes, Holmes to Tyson, Tyson to Holyfield, and Holyfield to Lewis. Each era had a kind of symbolic torch passing to the next era. If Lewis hands off to nobody, there will be more nobody's coming to Boxing, and HBO knows this. So what does HBO do, they offer more money to Lennox to keep him in the game. But this comes at the worst possible time for them as Don King has been simultaneously reasserting himself in an almost desperate manner over the last two years to enhance his influence over the heavyweight division. This reassertion has created a bidding war where both sides try to sway Lewis into following their respective agenda's, and Lewis is in exactly the right place at the right time to reap the rewards. He knows exactly what he is doing. Remember the smile on his face during the Evander Holyfield-Chris Byrd broadcast when he stood between Don King and the HBO commentators in Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant? Lennox's grin was from ear to ear while Lampley and Merchant barely concealed their disdain for Don King and his ever-present monologue.

So why is Lennox Lewis stalling and not fighting at the present? The most logical explanation is that it will diminish his bargaining power. If he fights and loses, it will significantly diminish his power to negotiate. If he fights and wins, the same will occur as any fight in comparison to his last with Tyson will suffer a large discount in terms of PPV ratings and its associated dollar value. HBO and Don King would only have to point at those ratings and start reducing their bids. So what is Lewis stalling for?

Lennox Lewis has essentially two options available. The first is the HBO route of taking on Mike Tyson first, which is still his best current choice in terms of maximizing revenue, and then the Klitschko brothers in Vitali and Wladimir. This offer has been on the table for some time by all reports so this is not what Lewis is waiting for. The only reason to hold out at this time is to await the winner of the upcoming fight between John Ruiz and Roy Jones Jr. Of course if John Ruiz wins, Lennox will likely take the HBO route as Ruiz has little market pull. But if Roy Jones wins, the opportunity for Lennox may be the 'best of all possible worlds'. Although Roy has stated his fight against Ruiz is the only heavyweight opponent he shall face; I have some serious doubts. Roy would have far less to lose, in terms of prestige, than against Ruiz, and much more money to gain. And if he won, he may even go down in history as the best fighter of all time. For Lennox Lewis, he also gets a monstrous windfall perhaps even greater than taking on Mike Tyson a second time and at probably even less risk. Additionally, he could point to Roy Jones Jr's. ability to defeat a top five heavyweight and claim he defeated not only the top P4P fighter in the world, but perhaps the best heavyweight contender as well. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but most of the general public would not know any better. Stalling therefore creates the best possible situation for Lennox Lewis at this point. If he waits beyond March 1st his options become crystal clear while still residing at his peak in terms of negotiating power. For Lennox Lewis, and perhaps only Lennox Lewis, waiting is the best policy. With the unification goal completed in the past and his nemesis easily vanquished, there is little motivation except to await the inevitable green light of March 1st. Only then will the mummy awaken to negotiate his best possible terms at the best possible price.

If you have any comments regarding this article, post them here at Eastsideboxing or email me at Vancanste@aol.com

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