T.K.O. in 6

At 1:40 Lewis: I will fight Vitali when his eye heals up!
Eye is good to go...Lewis retires

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0qFFpziupA

 

Lewis still claims today that he could have one Klitschko for breakfast and the other for lunch well then why did he retire?

Vitali was the first good fighter he'd faced since Holyfield, Botha, Tyson and Grant where fights that made him look good without actually posing a threat to him. He struggled with Vitali and retired.

He's jealous of what both Wlad and Vitali have or are achieving and whilst I can't for the life of me see why since he's an ATG in his own right it's plain to see as he always pops up just after a Klitschko fight to make one of his claims and the fanboys lap it up.

 

Should i post the article a week before Johnson pulls outa nd Lewis says he wants one more superfight against Vits or Jones before retiring? He got that fight, he won and he did what hes aid hew wanted to do. Detractors and nuthuggers just need to come to terms. Lewis h eat vits. Scorecards are meaningless, the bettter man won. vittles was a great fighter, he deservers respect. Bottom line is he got stopped by the better fighter

 

But it wasn't a clear victory, hence people clamour for a rematch. One fighter wanted it the other didn't.

 

Everyone talks about 1 more fight vs Vitali. And what if Lennox fought till 48 like Holy? He would've suffered few defeats from Klitschkos and later from lesser fighters. His record would be like 47-8-1 (36 KO), and his legacy would've suffered (like Holyfields).

Lewis was smart enough to retire at the age when he still was good and not that old. His career lasted only 14 years compared to 29 years for Holmes or 27 years for Holyfield, or even 20 years for Tyson. And I can't blame Lennox for that. Right move at the right time.

 

that upperut was the only thing Lennox did the whole round. The other guy was outlanding him 2-1. And we cannot forget---vitali took the uppercut. How often do we see heavies land their big shot and when they don't get the ko like usual, they are the guy whose parachute opens.

Lennox had zero legs. After that big uppercut, Vitali walked him from one side of the ring to the other. When did anyone ever outdo Lennox in the strength department? He had no legs to pivot and prevent Vitali from pushing him to the ropes. Stilts for legs, no knees.

When he sat down that hard on that stool at the end of the round, I thought there's no way he's winning. Heavies that lose their legs don't win fights. Anything by the opponent knocks them off balance and it takes forever for them to re-set. And Lennox sat down on that stool as hard as anyone I've ever seen.

Those legs were not coming back in that fight. And all the other guy does is throw combos. He needed a 1 and done type opponent for those legs to maybe have a chance at going another 5 rounds.

Lets not forget, this was Vitali's strategy for the fight. Take the guy to the late rounds and go for the ko in the 10th or 11th round. And he's the rarest of breeds in the division that can actually fight that way and get late ko's. It's Lennox that doesn't get late ko's.

I agree with you---Lennox was going to get knocked down in the next round. Just zero foundation at his disposal. And he was falling in after punching anyway. If he gets up, he would have had legs like a newborn giraffe. Maybe he makes it another round, probably not. His gastank was on the empty line and old heavies don't get second winds in the 8th round anyway.

Most people seem to be under the assumption that a guy has to get a Rahman type shot to win this late for Vitali. That's not how it would've ended. It would have been a tko with ref stopping things. Combo shots, not a homerun shot.

I thought as a minimum, the ref should've said this is the last round with that cut. This is why it is so tough to beat the house fighter.

 

Yeah.. he was fat old and not interested... he'd just been in a tough fight with a guy he would have annihilated in his prime.

 

Try watching without sound the last round and report back to me what you see... with YOUR OWN eyes.:good

And both Byrd's and Lewis' were completely legitimate. Byrd walked down Vitali made him miss and made him quit.

You'll notice that Dr Vitali also says NOTHING while his corner applies butterfly stitches.. ending the fight.

 

And Johnson is not Vitali. Training for Vitali and Johnson are completely different. Fact of the matter is Vitali trained for an easy opponent who was not challenge for him as so did Lewis. Both men took the fight on short notice because Johnson pulled out. Vitali does not get excused his loss on these grounds..

 

Lewis knew that this was the best time to retire and also knew he didn't have the desire to go on nor did he need to. I was one of many that was beyond pissed back then that he didn't rematch Vitali, which would have been a great fight, but Lewis clearly knew that he didn't have it in him anymore.

 

As much as I agreed with this back in the day, I just can't agree with it anymore. It was a clear victory despite the difficulties Lewis went through. Those cuts came from well timed punches landed immediately after Steward(Rest in Peace) told Lewis to be more aggressive.

 

:think

I still dont understand this line of argument from Vitali's supporters.

"Lewis got knocked out by loony crackhead McCall and mediocre Rahman therefore Vitali is better than him"

I feel the need to remind you that Vitali failed to knock Lewis out, not only did he fail to do that but he had his face half-torn off and was ruled unable to continue after only 6 rounds.

Citing, therefore, Lewis's losses to McCall and Rahman as if they're deeply embarrassing losses to near-worthless opponents doesn't make Vitali look good...

 

I think he retired at a perfect time.

I'm not going to mention the K bros, but having the "W" against Vitali will help his ranking.

I have Lennox @ #4 for my HW ATG list.

I think a good range for him is anywhere from #3-6 on any ATG list.

 

Fact: Vitali couldn't take out the worst version of Lewis there was.

Fact: Rahman beat a better version of Lewis.

Fact: Vitali pulled out not once, not twice, not three times but FOUR TIMES of fights with Rahman.

 

Wlad took care of Rahman.