Vitali Klitschko would've beaten Lewis

There are a million threads on this topic. I don't think anyone questions his legitimacy as champion he was a good champion. As for the fight with Lewis, Lewis himself was overweight and past his prime so it's not as though they should of been on equal footing. Had the cut not occurred the outcome may have well been different but Lewis gets credit for pulling one out of the fire. Vitali deserves credit too for the short notice and putting on a very good performance. The conclusion was unsatisfactory for many and a rematch would have been a huge fight but it was not to be. Lewis stepped away and retired. Vitali and Wlad came in as successors to the throne and have put forth an incredible reign of their own.

 

No he wouldn't have won because he didn't win in the first place
38 yr old lenox Lewis beat Vitali to the point where vitali was excessively clinching and staggering and was mercifully spared by the doctor.

Vitali should be thankful it was stopped due to a cut or he would've been destroyed worse

 

He would have apart from the fact that when they did fight Lewis stopped him in 6 rounds.

 

Yeah.. Lennox Lewis. Thirty Seven years old. Off for twelve Months. A career high weight of two hundred fifty six pounds. A recent loss to Hasim Rahman and also taking the fight on short notice himself, yet still managed to emerge victorious over the all might Doc Iron Fist. Five years earlier and Lewis would have made Klitschko look like Shannon Briggs, Michael Grant, Andrew Golata, etc..

 

Tko 6

 

I think Vitali emerged after the Lewis fight and he gained much confidence from that fight. I think the confident Vitali would have been a problem for any version of Lewis and visa versa. I dont think Lewis was burnt at 37 (not too many wars) but I also dont think he was prime but I also dont think the version of Vitali that fought Lewis was in his mental prime or experienced attitude or strategy wise. I would have placed a large bet on Vitali had a rematch happened but prime to prime a tough fight for both men depending on who caught who when

 

Can someone move this garbage out of the classic section?

TKO6. :deal

 

Vitali had three more fights after fighting Lewis before retiring for four years and coming back. So do you think he was prime from 2008 onwards?

 

We'll never know. Obviously nothing can be said without taking that facial damage into consideration.

But for argument's sake, even without those cuts, there was little to choose between them after six rounds. Vitali had done very well early on, but when Lewis started finally throwing those big uppercuts, he turned the tide I feel.

So do we go for the younger, better-conditioned fighter who would get his second wind as the fight progressed or the more experienced, heavier-handed Lewis? 50/50 in my book.

Moot point anyway, since Vitali's face was a mess from legitimate punches.

 

I loved him in the Kirk Johnson fight,Sanders and Danny Williams but when he came back against Peter,Gomez, Adamek and Areola he was past 38 so probably not peak physically his patience and ring generalship and maturity impressed me.

Foreman had 2 careers and I think Vitali falls into that scenario as well

 

the stoppage was needed but Lennox held and hit and this was overlooked because of the roughhouse battle but look close and you will see a few occasions of hold and hit but these tactics boil down to experience much like Dempsey vs Sharkey, etc.

 

If Vitali was allowed to continue, Lennox was going to get KO'd in the 7th. He completely lost his legs by the end of round 6. When a big heavy loses their legs it doesn't take much to put them down.

 

It doesn’t matter what he could or would have done.

The point is he didn’t.

 

A few points. Lewis' weighted in with a full set of clothes, and for all we know could have had a big meal. Fighters do funny things on the scales. I'm thinking his true weight was around 253, which is 3 pounds more from Lewis smashing performance over Rhaman in the re-match.

Lewis was training for a 12 round fight with Kirk Johnson. Vitali took the offer less than 2 weeks notice. Advantage Lewis.

Who would have won is debatable. Lewis was dead tired and crashed on his stool at the end of the 6th. Not know for finishing guys late, and down 4-2 on all three cards, Lewis would need to win at least 4 of the next six rounds on two cards to produce a draw.

Had the fight gone on I suspect Vitali wins wins late round TKO. It could have been an epic fight. The cut was under control in terms of blood, and the eyes were not badly swollen. In fact Lewis had the more swollen eye to factual, and was also cut, just not in a bad area. We all saw how much energy Vitali had left when he learned the fight was stopped on cuts.

But the rules for the fight said the doctor could stop it on cuts, and that is what happened.

A re-match was needed. After watching Vitali blow out Kirk Johnson, then defeat Corrie Sanders, Lewis who was trying to fight Kirk Johnson in Canada and also talking to Roy Jones a by the way received an ultimatum by the WBC.

Take the re-match or be stripped of your title!

Lewis said he would take a re-match it multiple times. 18 million was there for him. This to me suggests Lewis who had a big ego and expensive materialists tastes deep down knew he was not going to win the re-match.