Why didn't Lennox Lewis carry his power to the late rounds?

Not so. Lewis said multiple times he would re-match. Lewis tried to make a fight with Kirk Johnson in Canada. Then Vitali beat Johnson and Sanders. 18 million was there for Lewis. The WBC ordered the re-match and told Lewis to take it or be stripped. It was only then several months after the fight with Vitali that he retired.

 

LOL, there are lies, damn lies and statistics: Over eight rounds Lennox was 'and 0'; neither brother was...

 

That's the thing, he chose to retire rather than face Vitali again.

 

True, but he had already beaten him, had no obligation to fight him again, and had family members telling him it was time to go. Add this to what appeared to be a lackluster training camp and lack of motivation that was the right decision for him to make.

If Lewis had fought other fighters besides Vitali, you'd have a valid point but since he retired it was Vitali's job was to go and create his own legacy.

 

There were question marks over his lucky victory over Vitali. His family members saw the ass whooping he was getting and was going to get against some future prime opponents like Vitali, hence he retired rather than risk damaging his legacy. The guy is a coward and very disrespectful of other fighters

 

Lennox to his credit knew when it was time to pack it in. Vitali could not defeat a 38 year old Lennox. I doubt he would do better against a prime version.

 

I think to call Lewis a coward is harsh and sour g****s. He did have some of that Sugar ray Leonard smugness in him, like I know I got lucky so I won't give a rematch and just burn the other guy. It was a good move. Before the cut in the clinch he was struggling mightily and more than anything with the Klitschko's their performance comes down to confidence. They are so physically gifted that once they believed in themselves belonging with the best they were going to be near impossible to defeat, Lewis knew this and knew to exit. Stewart was no fool either I am sure he had Lewis ear and best interests at heart.
It was a fight that deserved a rematch. However Lewis had the least to gain from it and chose to walk away.

 

Bottomline Lewis ran away from a justified rematch. He was more gassed out than Vitali at the end of round six and this is something all the commentators acknowledged and his body language showed.

If Lewis demanded rahman to give him a rematch then he should have in fairness done the same for Vitali. The fact he didn't shows his hypocricy not to mention his post fight interview where he was utterly disrespectful to his opponent.

 

I'm not denying your points of contention. Lewis was disrespectful. He also did renege on his word. He may have been exhausted but Vitali had a horrendous cut caused by Lewis's fist. You can't just ignore that. Lewis doesn't get judged more harshly because he was 38 and his time was ending. Obviously his legacy would be firmly criticized if these events played out exactly the same way had he been a younger man.
If anything it stirs great debate by supporters of both fighters.
Lewis fans can say he was the champ and he won end if story.
Vitali fans can say it was an unsatisfactory victory and he ran from a deserved rematch.
There is truth in both statements.

 

Lewis fighting style allowed for a longer career. Larry Holmes who inspite of having his money intact still fought in his 40's. I believe Lewis could have fought for 2 more years. He was aggressively trying to drag the shot version of Tyson via lawsuits for a rematch but ran away from Vitali when every commentator knew he would present the champion with the most serious challenge compared to the bums and shot fighters he was used to.
History is keeping note of these facts.

 

If he didn't put you away early, it's because he expected to box you over the distance.

 

Who gives a fvck what the Lewis haters think? He opened a cut up on Klitchko's face that resembled a cows kunt, with his fists. TKO 6 is all that matters.

 

Maybe just maybe because the guys that survived to the end had good chins and would have been knocked out early by Lennox if they were glass jawed...

 

:good

He was nearly at his peak at the time, in fact the performance in the klitschko fight was good to very good even, all of this imo, considering the task at hand, but he chose to retire, despite having another few good years in him. The Clays, Foremans Holmses, Holyfields, tysons etc all fought on until they became shells to an extent, trying to make as much money as possible, yet he retired when he was still very near his prime. Cos Vitali retired him. He was helping Sanders prepare for the Vitali fight and i believe it was cos he hoped sanders would beat vitali. In that case he d have come out of retirement. He actually didnt want to retire, but faced with the situation he'd have to fight Vitali again he retired. With that sort of outcome - injury stoppage and the man leading on the cards was taken out by the doc - this was screaming "rematch" all over the place.

 

Those are simply filing in the details of what I posted, but at the end of the day you arrive at the same place. I don't think he said he would rematch him "multiple times" I know he said right after the match, but nobody in their right minds would consider that a binding contract until all the details have been finalized and the document signed by both parties. This is contract law 101 gentlemen.