Sometimes its better to be lucky then good, but you can't always count on being lucky. If you don't think Vitali put a boxing clinique on Lewis with one eye then there is nothing else I can really say.
Um, what was he supposed to say?!? "I'm out of shape, unmotivated, and slowing down, but it doesn't really matter because I'm only fighting another Grant or Golota". How often do boxers admit weakness before a fight? Of far more relevance than anything you or I say is that a federal court had agreed with Lewis' testimony in 2001 that his skills were diminishing, and that it was unlikely that he would be able to fight at the top level for more than another two years. Combined with his career high weight and how sluggish he looked in the fight, it is ridiculous to suggest that a peak Lewis fought Vitali. Essentially you are using a past-prime Lewis beating a peak Vitali as "proof" that Vitali would beat Lewis 10 out of 10. To make this bizarre leap of faith requires one flawed supposition after another.
No, I actually think Vitali would have caused Lewis problems at any point in his career, but Lewis would find a way to win. No version of Lewis walks through Vitali by any stretch. "Past prime" is also considerably different from "washed up". Against Vitali, Lewis was heavier, slower, less mobile and fluid, and his timing seemed off. These are obvious symptons of a declining fighter, although not necessarily a shot one. Lewis also appeared to underestimate Vitali, making the common mistake of attributing one brother's flaws to the other. In his mind, he could walk through Vitali like he did to Grant, or indeed Sanders did to Wlad. As per the previous post, I'm just baffled how Lewis-Klitschko can be used as evidence that Vitali is better than Lewis, when the opposite would appear to be the logcial conclusion.
In hindsight, I don't think it should make much of a difference whether they fought or not. Vitali got a huge career boost immediately because of his performance, but Lewis got a long-term bump because how well Vitali has performed since then. If Vitali has looked mostly unstoppable until just recently, then it's easy to look back and see that Lewis was the only person capable of outgunning him. Had they not fought then you'd just go by his career which speaks for itself.
he's already top 5 on most peoples lists.....the fact that he beat the hell outa Vitali's face to the point Vitali woulda been brutally KO'd and coulda had his career ended if he fought one more rd when Lewis was old fat, training for someone different and semi retired just adds to Lewis' legacy and greatness. face it no matter how many dicsucking threads you make it's not gonna change the fact that Lewis is consensus top 5 and Vitali isn't even consensus top 20. It's also not gonna change the fact that an old out of shape semi retired Lewis TKO'd a prime young Vitali is 6 rounds meaning a prime Lewis would absolutely destroy the robot with ease.
So you don't think Lennox was good enough in the first fight? Thats the point I am trying to make is Lennox was outboxed and classed. Even you just admited he would have to show up a better boxer to win a rematch. Which may or may not be possible, in reality all we know is Vitali out classed Lewis.
Then Lewis would still be considered the best HW since late 90s-early 00's and I would still have him as the last great hvy and ATG hvy. The fact is that they did fight and a fat,unmotivated Lewis won, TKO 6. At their best Lewis wipes the floor with him imho.