THE TRUTH: Vitali Klitschko vs Lennox Lewis

Probably.

 

Lewis TKO 6

Would have loved a rematch, though.

 

Well i don't need an history lesson on him and i can't speak for other Lewis fans.
All i can say is i watched him from an amateur in the '86 commonwealth games, welcomed him when he decided to come back to his birthplace, and believed him to be the real deal and one day to be the best in the world. He proved me right.
I took some stick for supporting him in the early days but i didn't give a **** because i had big faith in him. His mental strength was obvious to see all the way through his career and i knew even his harshest critics knew deep down he was a class fighter. Even though they would go out of their way to tell you otherwise (including HBO).

The man is one of the most complete HW's ever, no matter how you wanna slice it.

By the way you've done well getting such a reasonable response from me considering your avatar is a pile of ****! :bart


So yeah my support of Lewis goes way back and as nothing to do with the Klitschko's.


ps
I've just noticed you've changed your avatar. Good lad!

 

The heavyweight division will be good when there is some excitement. Lewis either sparked guys out or got sparked out himself. You never knew what was going to happen.

With Wlad you know it's 10 rounds or more of pawing and grabbing. No way any sports network is going to replay any of his fights after he retires.

The last exciting heavyweight championship fight was Arreola vs. Vitali. It was one sided, but both guys came to fight.

 

Lewis was the first to really break the US monopoly in a century, other than a few blips were Schmeling, Johanssan etc were champ.
Lewis was here to stay and although the US tried to downplay his ability and achievements, eventually they couldn't.

But right now it would be good for the sport of boxing in general if we had some good US heavyweights coming through.
It's all good that the Europeans are now in the mix, but it would be better allround for everyone if we had some good Americans in there too.

 

it would make americans interested and america has HBO showtime and ESPN some of the real big networks

problem is the best ams here busted and our best prospect was only a Bronze at the olympics

it sucks when your big blue chip is a bronze medal and thats who we gotta get behind

 

True. It was a generalisation :deal

 

Exactly.

It's easy for people to disregard the US involvement in the division, but it really would be for the better if you guys could get some big men coming through again.

The only US amateur HW i'm familiar with is Lenroy Thompson, he is supposed to be pretty tasty. There has got to be more from a great boxing country like the USA.

Who could ever imagine HW boxing taking a back seat in the US 20 years ago.

Times change, but these are strange times.

 

Indeed. A great American HW would be good. There are some good alright-good ones, but not a great one.

 

That would be my ideal scenario. A couple of good U.S. guys, a couple of good Europeans, maybe a Canadian or Latin American or two. A truly global division with a little national pride involved in some of the matchups.

It would be great from a promoters angle as well. Look at the Super Six.

 

Exactly.

There is too many supremacists on here who like to mock the Americans for not having any really good or as many heavyweights as they used to.
But if they look at it as a fan of the sport then they would realise it would be benificial. Why wouldn't it be?

I mean with how global it is now, it's like you say, it would be a matchmakers dream.

 

Well the US most recent batch of am stars didnt do well

Guinn, Walker, Scott, Estrada, Bey, Williamson all failed as pros

but also other ams like Audley, Vidoz, Levin, Sam from Europe never fully materialized either

in the US boxing gyms as a whole and interest for children is dying as are the old techniques of the Futches and D Amatos

I know we crucify guys like Atlas who can be unlikeable at times and sometimes sappy but he is a dying breed of old school American boxing brains

i get the idea that the next big American may just come out of nowhere

i know ppl knock Wilder i do too but they are doing it right

him and Fury will be 28 or 29 by the time Wlad and Vitali will be 40 plus and at least one if not both will be retired

by then if managed right and not rushed or failed when they stepped up they could easily grab the reigns

any heavy 32 and over has lost their chance at greatness the Klits or atleast Wlad will be around another 4 or 5 yrs

and nobody is dethroning them at this moment so it would seem

 

Yeah, in 20 years we might be talking about the Chinese Undisputed HW World Champ

 

That's exactly right about the trainers.

There is a lot of pad men out there and no real trainers who understand everything about the sport. You need great trainers to pass they knowledge on to their apprentices then hopefully they will go on to pass these teachings. Hopefully the likes of Manny Steward and Freddie Roach have some apprentices under their wing now. Or make sure they philosophies are passed on as best they can.

Obviously it would help aswell, if all your big men didn't see pro football and basketball as easier more lucrative options.

 

Maybe