I don't know if I'd classify guys like Frans Botha, Tua, Rahman, and whoever else he was fighting at the time as being better than Byrd. They were hot fighters at the time for sure, but Byrd had that crafty, nasty style that would have given Lewis fits. And Ruiz had that ugly wrestling style.
I'm not saying Lewis would have lost to either of them, but I think it's pretty obvious he felt that there was a good possibility he wouldn't look good fighting either of them.
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