Vitali Klitschko's career defining moment?

[Ponysmallhorse]

Originally Posted by johnnykoolkid

you're a ****ing idiot, how the **** is a cut gonna form from a thumb to the eye?????

Vitali wasnt "cheated" or anything like that, Lennox kept working his jab and setting VK up for big right hand shots, and after every round VK would go back to his corner a bloody mess, with blood dripping down to his chest, the towel that VK's corner was using to wipe his face was so covered in blood that you could'nt tell if the towel was white or not, so yes, Klitschko got his ass whooped hands down

Actually Lewis got away with holding and punching. But he always did that. He did some shit with bruno. He did the same with grant. He always do that. Even against Tyson.

[johnnykoolkid]

Originally Posted by Ponysmallhorse

Actually Lewis got away with holding and punching. But he always did that. He did some shit with bruno. He did the same with grant. He always do that. Even against Tyson.

well in defense for his clinching against tyson, when your 6'5'' and you're facing a guy thats 5'10'' thats always trieing to get inside, its kinda hard not not get tied up, and anyways, Lennox won that match (against tyson) fair and ****ing square, i'm tired of hearing the same old shit "Tyson didnt train" "Tyson wasn't in his prime" "Tyson didnt blah blah blah" Tyson got his ass whooped, bottom line, and even if that was true (that Tyson didnt train) than thats his ****ing fault, if you know that you goota fight coming up that is one of the biggest fights of your career and in history, dont you think you're gonna train?????
i'm so ****ing tired of people making excuses for Mike Tyson, is he an ATG? yes, but people seem to lose sight of how great he was because of all the controversy that surrounds the man, so if you ask somebody if Tyson is better than Lennox Lewis what are they're reasons gonna be? because Tyson is from the ghetto? because he had a hard life? because he flips out out press conferences? because he bit somebody's ear off? because he went to prison for rape?

with all that being said, Mike Tyson is one of my favorite boxers of all time, but i WILL NOT make excuses for any of his losses

[Jazzo]

Originally Posted by madballster

What's Lewis career defining moment?

Beating a shot Tyson while hugging him 90 times? Rematching a drug addicted McCall where Lennox couldn't knock down a guy who stood in front of him with no guard? Or maybe it was the 24 rounds of bore and hugfest against a steroid abusing ex-cruiserweight Holyfield?

The more I think about it the more it becomes obvious that beating Vitali was Lewis' most exciting fight and his best altogether win. Never has Lewis beaten a man who after losing to Lewis went on to be a universally recognized belt holder. Never has Lewis shown more will, heart and determination in a fight.

Lewis destroyed Holyfield at his peak. Hell, Holyfield beat Tyson and Moorer in the build up and was more pumped than he had ever been.

Holyfield never looked so good, but he is simply not on Lewis' level.

Merchant was right.

[Jazzo]

He also beat Prime and Peak Tua. He scared the shit out of the little man with the right hand.

He beat Ruddock like a bitch - the same Ruddock that little Mike couldn't KO with his best punches.

Lewis and Holmes are the last Great Champs.

The way Tyson shamelessly picked on a 90 year old Holmes was a disgrace to the sport.

[Fighting Pride]

Lennox is the luckiest SOB in history. He was fortunate to get away with a W and clearly runs away from a rematch. Yet instead of being criticised for that bitch move he is spoken off as some great old master who spanked a young pup that was supposed to beat him.

Fact is Lennox was the champ and he was supposed to destroy the robotic and unproven Vitali. The way Vitali performed in the fight, winning on all cards, and the circumstances surrounding the stoppage, it definately warranted a rematch. Lewis was a smart man ducking it. His name is forever connected to Vitali's legacy and is the main ammunition used against Vitali by Klit haters.

[Jazzo]

Originally Posted by Fighting Pride

Lennox is the luckiest SOB in history.

Yeah, lucky he did not murder Tyson at the weigh in.

Everyone in boxing knows that the only guy not to duck Lewis was Holyfield.

Tyson was worse than chicken Bowe, but Lewis made Tyson his bitch despite Tyson's effort to run.

Lewis is the king.

[Fighting Pride]

Originally Posted by Jazzo

Yeah, lucky he did not murder Tyson at the weigh in.

Everyone in boxing knows that the only guy not to duck Lewis was Holyfield.

Tyson was worse than chicken Bowe, but Lewis made Tyson his bitch despite Tyson's effort to run.

Lewis is the king.

Well I was referring solely to the Vitali fight.
It was a lucky win and he blatantly ducked the rematch, yet his legacy is only enhanced holding a W over the next great heavy after him. By not taking the rematch he basically garaunteed himself another legacy as the gorilla on Vitali's back.

I wasn't taking anything away from Lewis's career. Bowe obviously ducked him and Tyson did the same after his return. He was that good.

[bruce_keyes]

How about going down in history as the boxer with the highest KO percentage?

[Neverchair]

Originally Posted by Fighting Pride

Lennox is the luckiest SOB in history. He was fortunate to get away with a W and clearly runs away from a rematch. Yet instead of being criticised for that bitch move he is spoken off as some great old master who spanked a young pup that was supposed to beat him.

Fact is Lennox was the champ and he was supposed to destroy the robotic and unproven Vitali. The way Vitali performed in the fight, winning on all cards, and the circumstances surrounding the stoppage, it definately warranted a rematch. Lewis was a smart man ducking it. His name is forever connected to Vitali's legacy and is the main ammunition used against Vitali by Klit haters.

Ahh the favourite whine of all Klitschko fans.

Lewis wasn't lucky. He was extremely talented and seasoned.

He obviously wasn't prepared for a Klitschko who turned out to be lot better than everyone thought but he cut his face to shreds with punches (which is clearly visible on the replays) and won fair and square. VK may well have been up on the scorecards but come on, it was only by a couple of rounds and the fight was only halfway through.
It's quite feasible that Lewis could have made that difference up had the fight continued. Not only that but many people feel the fight was already turning in Lewis' favour by the time of the stoppage.
Personally I think Lewis would have gone on to TKO Vitali had it not been stopped on cuts.
The worst thing was the way Vitali cried like a 5 years old after the ref stepped in then went around showing off to the crowd like he won!
A bad loser.

At 38 and with nothing to prove Lewis retired. He didn't want another fight with Klitschko because he was past his best and probably didnt want to risk losing. I think that's fair play. I certainly wouldnt be bullied into a rematch.
If VK didn't want the fight to be stopped on cuts, he should of covered up more and then gone for the knockout but if I remember rightly he didn't even win those last few rounds.
Tough shit VK.

[Neverchair]

Originally Posted by bruce_keyes

How about going down in history as the boxer with the highest KO percentage?

Im really not a Klitschko hater (honest!) but stuff like this really is such rubbish.

Yes, he has the highest KO percentage but lets not pretends this is something it's not.

Promoting this statistic gives the illusion VK is some kind of Tyson-esque human wrecking ball who takes out opponents with one crushing blow.

But he doesn't does he. Most of his wins are TKO's.
In reality he's a safety first fighter who is content to keep opponents at bay all night with his jab until they finally fall over or the ref steps in.
During some of those "KO's" his opponents didn't even touch the canvas.

Statistics can be used to prove almost anything and this is a prime example of this.

Klitschko is what he is. An excellent heavyweight who has some great statistics but dealt with some terrible competition in unspectacular fashion.

[Jazzo]

Originally Posted by Fighting Pride

Well I was referring solely to the Vitali fight.
It was a lucky win and he blatantly ducked the rematch, yet his legacy is only enhanced holding a W over the next great heavy after him. By not taking the rematch he basically garaunteed himself another legacy as the gorilla on Vitali's back.

I wasn't taking anything away from Lewis's career. Bowe obviously ducked him and Tyson did the same after his return. He was that good.

Vitali never wanted the Lewis rematch.

Oh, he says he does, just like with Rahman.

Vitali is full of shit. Remember his pitiful acting job when the fight got stopped? He knew it was over when they put the butterfly stitches in but put the act on for the children.

Vitali probably called Lewis to say that they should not fight.

[Fighting Pride]

Originally Posted by Neverchair

Ahh the favourite whine of all Klitschko fans.

Lewis wasn't lucky. He was extremely talented and seasoned.

He obviously wasn't prepared for a Klitschko who turned out to be lot better than everyone thought but he cut his face to shreds with punches (which is clearly visible on the replays) and won fair and square. VK may well have been up on the scorecards but come on, it was only by a couple of rounds and the fight was only halfway through.
It's quite feasible that Lewis could have made that difference up had the fight continued. Not only that but many people feel the fight was already turning in Lewis' favour by the time of the stoppage.
Personally I think Lewis would have gone on to TKO Vitali had it not been stopped on cuts.
The worst thing was the way Vitali cried like a 5 years old after the ref stepped in then went around showing off to the crowd like he won!
A bad loser.

At 38 and with nothing to prove Lewis retired. He didn't want another fight with Klitschko because he was past his best and probably didnt want to risk losing. I think that's fair play. I certainly wouldnt be bullied into a rematch.
If VK didn't want the fight to be stopped on cuts, he should of covered up more and then gone for the knockout but if I remember rightly he didn't even win those last few rounds.
Tough shit VK.

You know Lewis would've been crucified for retiring if that fight was against anyone other than a Klit. The cut was caused by a missed punch, from the thumb section and laces scraping Vitali's eye. If you want to be technical, yes that classifies as a punch. Still not a convincing way to win, as Lewis fans like to make out it was when they claim simply "he stopped Vitali fair and square". The circumstances of the win merited a rematch. Lewis wouldn't have contemplated it for months otherwise. He took the smart option and retired. If Holyfield had done the same after his draw with Lewis I'm 100% sure he wouldn't be getting the same sympathy Lewis is afforded here.

[Fighting Pride]

Originally Posted by Jazzo

Vitali never wanted the Lewis rematch.

Oh, he says he does, just like with Rahman.

Vitali is full of shit. Remember his pitiful acting job when the fight got stopped? He knew it was over when they put the butterfly stitches in but put the act on for the children.

Vitali probably called Lewis to say that they should not fight.

That's crazy, Vitali chased the rematch like a desperate man. Even had a face to face meeting with Lennox in hopes of convincing him into agreeing to a rematch:




Lennox Lewis's mum stopped rematch, says Vitali Klitschko


[URL="***********.eastsideboxing.com/standard/related-40819-vitali-klitschko.do"]Vitali Klitschko[/URL] has revealed how [URL="***********.eastsideboxing.com/standard/related-36202-lennox-lewis.do"]Lennox Lewis[/URL]' mum stopped him getting a rematch with the former world heavyweight champion.

Lewis beat Klitschko in June 2003 in controversial circumstances, retaining his [URL="***********.eastsideboxing.com/standard/related-40861-world-boxing-council.do"]WBC[/URL] title when the fight was stopped after the sixth round in [URL="***********.eastsideboxing.com/standard/related-582-los-angeles.do"]Los Angeles[/URL].

The Ukrainian had a deep cut above his left eye but led on the judges' scorecards when officials ruled he could not continue.

In the referee's opinion the cut had been caused by a punch, which meant that Lewis was automatically declared the winner.

If it had been ruled that the cut had been caused by a headbutt, Klitschko would have won the title as he was ahead on the scorecards.

Plans for an eagerly-anticipated rematch never materialised, with Klitschko yesterday offering an interesting explanation for why that was the case.

"Lennox promised me but his mum decided he wasn't going to fight," said the 38-year-old ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards in [URL="***********.eastsideboxing.com/standard/related-16471-abu-dhabi.do"]Abu Dhabi[/URL].

"He invited me to [URL="***********.eastsideboxing.com/standard/related-94056-london-england.do"]London[/URL], without managers, he said he wanted to talk just together. I came to the room and his mum is there. We talked for two hours and his mum was looking at me and scanning me.

"After that I went away and he called me a couple of hours later and said 'Sorry, but no'. I felt it wasn't his decision, his mum decided. I tried to change his decision, but it's difficult.

"But I was appreciative to Lennox Lewis that I got the chance to prove my skills against the toughest fighter in the world.

"But he was lucky, because I was ahead but the doctor stopped the fight with the cut."

[Phirsole]

Something I wrote in another thread:


Vitali:

Head to Head: definitely Top10 ATG. I cannot think of more than a very few names who would have been able win consistently against VK (prime for prime). Most of the older ATGs were too small IMHO to compete.

Resummee (names): somewhere Top25-30 ATG list. Lost the two fights with the biggest names (LL and Byrd). Has some good, but no great names on the list (Peter, Gomez, Williams). But he lacks the ATG-names if he does not fight Wlad.

Others:
Plus: extremely high KO-%; comeback after 4 year retirement straight to the championship by destroying the belt-holder; never been back on the cards; the only two losses were due to injuries. Is avoided by other Top10 fighters (Haye, Valuev). Gentelman out of the ring; highly intelligent and generally respectful and polite to his opponents. Always comes prepared and well trained.

Minus: Shares the top spot with his brother and thus will never establish a lineal status. Having two brothers up there was cool for some time, but it hampers them both now. He will be remembered for a valiant but losing effort against the last ATG. Demolishes his opponents in a boring dominating fashion, which turns down many boxing fans.

Summary: ATG status of at least Top20. He brings the quality, but lacks the greatness.

[TheUnstoppable]

Originally Posted by bruce_keyes

How about going down in history as the boxer with the highest KO percentage?

Statistics are a wonderful thing.