Lennox Lewis vacated his IBF belt yesterday in order to set up a three fight series that will see him fight Vitali Klitschko, Wladamir Klitschko and Mike Tyson. Vacating the IBF belt eliminated the need for Lewis to fight Chris Byrd who would not have been a challenge at all and would have been a fight that the public was not interested in.

King paid Lewis $1 million!

Promoter Don King reportedly paid heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis $1 million plus threw in a Range Rover to help entice Lewis to discard his IBF title. King is now planning a four-man tournament to eventually unify the WBA/IBF portions of the world title. In King's grand design, WBA champ John Ruiz would defend against the as of yet unsigned Roy Jones Jr. on December 7. Chris Byrd and Evander Holyfield would meet for the vacant IBF belt on December 14. Lewis, still the WBC/IBO king, will likely look toward fights with the Klitschko Brothers and a possible rematch with Mike Tyson.

EDIT: from FightNews
[This message was edited Fri Sep 6 8:24:04 PDT 2002 by IceNine]

Lewis: Byrd no challenge

Official statement from heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis:
"Today I announced my decision to vacate my IBF heavyweight title. Prior to today, my team and I had already determined that there was no public interest in a Lennox Lewis/Chris Byrd bout. My decision was also based upon the fact that I believe, as I have said repeatedly, that Chris Byrd offers no competitive challenge to me. The fact is that the champion makes the belt important, not the other way around. Accordingly, in light of a court order and an IBF ruling that would have required me to fight a meaningless fight against Chris Byrd in order to keep the IBF belt, I had no choice but to vacate. As I have recently stated, the world has yet to see the best of Lennox Lewis."

Lewis will retain his WBC and IBO heavyweight belts. The IBF title, which was scheduled to go to purse bid Thursday, will now be contested between Byrd and a contender to be named.

HBO: Lewis to get 3-fight deal?
By Flattop
A compulsory title defense of his IBF championship with #1 mandatory challenger Chris Byrd was the biggest obstacle to Lennox Lewis completing his new 3-fight, mega-million dollar HBO contract. FightNews had reported on August 22 a HBO multi-fight, multi-million dollar contract with Lewis was imminent. Now it seems Byrd was not part of the big picture - on or off the television screen. Lewis was penned in for a December 7th HBO date since his victory over Mike Tyson back in June but the network boxing powerhouse did not want to televise a Lewis-Byrd showdown. HBO - and Lewis according to his statements on "Why" he dumped the IBF belt - did not feel Byrd was 'attractive' enough for their discriminating their audience. Lewis and HBO have penciled in his "last" three fights with HBO, including pay-per-view alternatives and options if he should lose or make a comeback after his "retirement." The plan is for Lewis to fight older brother, Vitali Klitschko followed by a possible pay-per-view rematch with Mike Tyson (if the time is right for Tyson and/or a pay-per-view) and "end his career" with a super-showdown on pay-per-view with WBO champ Wladimir Klitschko. The deal is worth upwards of $100 million with the pay-per-view revenue factored into the equation. HBO and Lennox have loopholes if one of the proposed opponents falls out or if champ declares a retirement.

IBF: Your move, Evander
By Scott Shaffer
In the wake of Lennox Lewis' decision to vacate the IBF belt, the next move belongs to Evander Holyfield, who occupies the second position in the IBF's heavyweight ratings. Holyfield must decide if he wants to fight the top-rated Chris Byrd to fill the vacancy. Because the matter is the subject of ongoing litigation, Holyfield will be forced to make his decision fairly quickly as Byrd is entitled to fight for the IBF belt by December 8. "There's no timetable at this minute, but I don't want Chris Byrd to be penalized by having to wait much longer," said IBF attorney Linda Torres. "We have to start moving quickly to get Chris his title shot." Torres added that she planned to confer with IBF president Marian Muhammad after she arrived in Portland, Oregon, where Roy Jones will defend his light heavyweight championship this weekend. Holyfield expressed a preference not to face Byrd during his post-fight interview after defeating Hasim Rahman. However, Holyfield has never been known to shrink from a challenge and he has consistently stated that his goal is to unify the heavyweight titles before he retires.

Holyfield camp responds
"It is Evander Holyfield’s destiny to retire from the sport of boxing as the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. To do so, Evander will need to regain the IBF, WBA and WBC Heavyweight Titles. As a result of Lennox Lewis’s decision to vacate the IBF Title, it now appears that Evander will need to defeat three different opponents to achieve his goal, and the order in which he defeats those opponents is unimportant. Therefore, a fight with Chris Byrd is an attractive option for Evander, if the terms can be agreed upon, because that fight will take Evander one-third of the way toward his destination. Chris Byrd is a worthy opponent with a great record, and Evander looks forward to meeting him in the ring for the opportunity to become the only Five-Time, Heavyweight Champion of the World."
Jim Thomas, Evander Holyfield’s attorney and boxing management advisor

WHY IS MIKE STILL FIGHTING???
i mean,
i dont want to see if just anybody
can beat dat ass... i dont think i could take it.

So eventually Don King will cheat Lennox out of the $1 million dollars!

The crook.

sag10 said:

Don King is definitely a crook... but look at this:

"The deal is worth upwards of $100 million with the pay-per-view revenue factored into the equation."

I think Lennox can spare the 1 million

IceNine said:

Yes, that is if he gets it!

IceNine said:

BTW... De La Hoya is going to lose.

AzureStar said:

DLH is going to win the fight and you know what you have to do to pay up when you lose the bet!

IceNine said:

We made a bet? De La Hoya should lose. I really don't like either of them. But, I really, REALLY don't like him. Are you going to make me participate in a game of hoops if I lose? That is, if I were to make a bet with you?

AzureStar said:

Don't try to be coy now... you know EXACTLY what the bet was...

Do I need to tell everyone?

IceNine said:

I am so not being coy... we never made a bet. I don't think I should make a bet with you... you frighten me!

AzureStar said:

Whatever, Heather...

IceNine said:

AzureStar said:

Do you prefer ChapStick or just plain old Vaseline?

IceNine said:

i'm with azure on this...
LET THE GHETTO WIN..
dlh is soft!!!
but then, Mr. Nine has shocked me with not being wrong YET!!!

I hope Vitali Klitschko wipes the floor with Lennox Lewis...


.

Go for it Lennox. I was there for you in Vegas, do it again.

00769BAD said:

He WILL be wrong on this! I am going to will it to happen!

DLH makes me ill, so that's all I'm basing it on... well, that and I can't stand to watch him box.

Supernova said:

Fernando Vargas on September 14th. I just realized I am going to be out of town that weekend and can't watch it! BTW... Vargas will most likely lose.

AzureStar said:

How come you don't like De La Hoya, Azure?

Supernova said:

Many reasons... the top two are that he is an annoying, arrogant, little prick and he is a bore to watch in the ring. The fights that I have seen him in he is always running away and never really getting into it. I guess when I watch boxing I actually want to see somebody hit someone else, or at least have a chance without a certain someone running away. But, I suppose that is why he wins. That, and he is an annoying, arrogant, little prick. I just really don't like him. lol


.
[This message was edited Fri Sep 6 13:12:08 PDT 2002 by AzureStar]

giotto said:

NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!

AzureStar said:

Okaayyy.

AzureStar said:

Oh if you were'nt betroved to the GEN.