No... Lewis said he was planning to fight johnson after having a year off after the tyson fight. But with only 10days to the fight he finds out Vitali payed johnson to step aside saying he's been training for two years and will beat lewis,after he promised to give johnson a crack at the title... Unfortunately for Quitali he underestimated the strength of a shot lewis and got his **** pushed in and half his face ripped off.. Que an angry vitali running around the ring crying like a little girl , plans in tatters and out of pocket ..
Well, Vitali did throw a tantrum like a spoiled kid after the fight. What Lennox is qouted for (no sound either) aint clever either.
He left off the part about holding the WBC belt hostage and waiting to see him Johnson could somehow beat Vitali and then he retired. Had Johnson beat Vitali do you really think Lennox wouldn't have fought him? :roflatsch Lennox was hoping Vitali would lose so he could say "yeah, see the guy isn't any good and I will fight Johnson now since he beat Vitali" Vitali wins and Lennox instead said "Yeah, forget this **** I am going to retire" :roflatsch
So you believe that Vitali trained for this fight for TWO years and paid Kirk to step aside 10 days before the fight? BTW Lennox won fair no complaints but to say things like this seems like he is loser. And yes I would have loved to see rematch.
I always thought Vitali was going to be stopped in that fight with the right hand. Lennox was starting to land it.
I think Lewis probably thought he had nothing to prove. He beat Vitali at age 37 going on 38 and he was in the worst shape of his career. And lets face it, he took a lot of punishment in the first part of the 6-rounds and he (IMO) thought it was not worth, beating the guy but taking as much punishment again. He already had a HOF career with or without Vitali. And risking his health again wouldn't make sense.
Vitali isn't the one who personally paid him off, but what Lennox is saying is true. It wasn't a smart move from Johnson's part at all. He wanted to fight Lewis after he saw he was vulnerable. In the end that didn't work out.