The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire

I started out thinking Holyfield would have an easy type with the clumsy, off balance style of Lewis. About a week before the fight I started thinking wait a minute, if Lewis does this right he will beat Holyfield, possibly knock him out. I really didn’t know who was going to win this fight. As it turned out, nobody did.

A split decision draw was the outcome. A travesty of justice towards Lennox Lewis and boxing. When both fighters were being introduced, I looked at both of them and couldn’t believe how much bigger Lewis was. I knew was going to outweigh Evander by about 25-30 pounds but he just dwarfed him. I realized then that Evander needed God to win this fight.

But I was wrong again. All he needed was the man who thinks he’s God, Don King. Never in Evander’s career has he received a completely ridiculous gift decision. Is it a coincidence that his first one comes when DK is on the verge of losing control of the heavyweight title ? I don’t think so. A rematch will not occur unless Lewis signs some deal with King. King knows that as long as Lewis is that big, Evander will not win.

Will Lewis make a deal with King in order to get a rematch ? If he does he’s insane. Lewis is not one of the best fighters in boxing. He has no balance, is often clumsy moving around the ring, and really depends too much on his right hand. But what he has is enough to beat most of the current crop of heavyweights, including Evander Holyfield. With that said, he has no reason to sign with King. He is good enough to stand on his own.

A good friend of mine and I were watching this fight together and we just looked at each other when the first judges score was read and it was in Holyfield’s favor, you know the rest. My friend turned to me and said " This is good, this will make something happen to bring down Don King". I did not share the same optimism, and as I watched the news the next day, I believe I was correct .

The first thing I saw was ESPN’s The Sports Reporters. This show usually has people who are speaking their mind good or bad about any topic in sports. This show was no different, except that there was little or no mention of Don King. Just that Holyfield looked old, the judges were inept, etc. I’m sorry but no judge in the world is THAT inept. I personally scored the fight 118-112 for Lewis. Anyone who would have scored every round for Lewis had a case. But to score the fight a draw let alone Evander winning by two or three rounds is obviously a coerced effort.

I watched four reporters talk about this fight and completely overlook this. If they believe what they say, then it goes to show that no one respects boxing anymore. It continues on when I watched a New York network’s sports guy on the evening news say "Oh well, that’s boxing". Boxing has dragged itself down so low that a major crime is committed and no one cares.

I have always said that boxing is a sport that can be viewed from different tastes which could lead to many people seeing a fight differently. This was not one of the occasions. You do not fight the way Evander Holyfield did and get a draw. You fight that way and you lose, then you go home and retire.

As bleak and dreary as this may sound, it needs to be said, " Don King is not going away folks". He is more of a "Teflon Don" than John Gotti ever was. I don’t see anything happening that will rid boxing of him. So the future will bring more of the same until boxing is pushed beneath the WWF and WCW wrestling circuits. It might already be there. That is a god damn shame.

I would like to believe that every fighter starts his pro or amateur career to be the best fighter in the world. To see a fighter that had to work his ass off to get to a fight like this, then go out and overcome what has to be a gut wrenching nervousness just to get in the ring, then win the fight hands down and have it stolen from him is horrifying. At least in wrestling we know it’s just entertainment. No boxer is an entertainer by job description.

A boxer takes far more risks than any wrestler ever does. To treat a fighter like the way Lewis was treated is unforgivable. He is a professional athlete not an actor. But this continues on and on. No crime in the sport of boxing is too shocking anymore. From obviously coerced decisions to glove tampering, it all adds up and then gets forgotten. Just like this will.

So the next time you plunk down that $49.95 to watch a main event and boring undercard remember, "Caveat Emptor", let the buyer beware.