T.K.O. in 6

Vitlai has excellent stamina. We saw how much he had left once he learned the fight was being stopped. Lewis was spent.

Even Max Kellerman, a Klitschko antagonist at the time said he never saw Lewis as tired when he crashed down hard on his stool.

 

This must rank as the most bickered about subject in the history of ESB.

The main point I always make is that, regardless of the scorecards or how tired either man was, Vitali would have had to continue with those cuts.

To do so was to risk blindness.

 

Or get stopped a few rounds later.

 

Mike Weaver never got a rematch either. And his efforts came against a "prime" champion and was far more deserving.

 

Sweet Jeebus Crust, are we back on this again?

 

Weaver was much less deserving than Vitali and his loss to Holmes more conclusive.

 

Lewis won. He had a habit of being declared the winner after his fights ended.

 

Regardless. He was nearly 38 years of age.. Hadn't fought in 12 months and had no more of an advantage than Klitschko in taking that fight on short notice. Funny how some don't seem to think that this works both ways. He still found a way to win even it wasn't ideal.. This fight shouldn't be a knock on Lewis in anyway.

 

If anything I think Lewis can been criminally short changed about going out on a fight like this. Not may boxers face that type of opposition as their swan song.

 

Agreed.. I think most aging champions would rather go to the proctologist than to face a man like Klitschko in their last bout ( or any bout for that matter. ) It was one of the best last hurrah's in heavyweight history if truth be told. I can understand certain arguments which harbor that Lewis "should" have given Vitali a rematch.. But it shouldn't be used to lower the value of his legacy.. It wasn't like the two of them met in 1995, Lewis won controversially, then proceeded to rule the division for the next 8 years while carefully side stepping him.. This was nothing like that at all.. Biggest mistake Lewis made was "toying" with the notion of a rematch in the first place.. It gave Klitscko fans and Lewis critics a false sense of entitlement and is also the primary basis for most of their gripes today.. He should have just retired that evening and been done with it...

 

TO ALL:

Can you name a fight in the past 20 years that deserved a re-match more than this one?

We had an action fight, with one guy being up on points ( 4-2 on all cards ) and the other losing on a cut.

Such an outcome in boxing is ultra rare and this was not ordinary fight, the lineal title was at stake.

 

Whitaker vs Delahoya - I thought Whitaker won.

Delahoya vs Trinidad - I ( and many others ) felt Oscar won.

Wlad vs Sanders - Wlad needed to patch that one up.

Martinez vs Cintron - Sergio was robbed

Amir Kahn - take your pic among several names of guys he either barely beat or lost to.

Lewis vs Mercer - Lewis won narrowly but a draw might have been fair.

There were plenty of rematches that should have taken place over the last 20 years which eclipse this one..

 

four rounds to two is hardly a domination.. It wasn't like John Tate dominating Mike weaver over the course of fifteen rounds then losing in the last 10 seconds of the fight and then not getting a rematch... Or Meldrick Taylor leading Chavez until the closing seconds of round 12 and having the fight waved off when he nodded his head to continue.. Then not fighting chavez again for some five years. four rounds to two, then suffering a gash that is now one of the most commonly viewed images on google doesn't warrant this much controversy at all.. Not even close.

 

None of those fights were on the heavyweight championship level, as exciting, or had a technical type of ending when neither man was floored, and the winner was behind on points.

The confluence of events in Vitali vs Lewis point to a re-match being very important

7-5 types of fights that were boring to me do not demand re-matches.

Early KO fights do not demand re-matches.

It would have been nice to see Mercer get a rematch, but Lewis, as I noted, did not give any rematches to guys that gave a tough fight when he won it. Examples: Klitschko, Mercer, and Bruno

 

I don't know what your true criteria for people's answer should be or if maybe you're just retracing your steps because I was able to provide several "valid" examples... But this was your question:

My examples were fine..

Why? or more specifically, why more so than other fights?

Some of those fights were hardly boring, unless you never saw them.. And weather they were exciting or not is irrelevant.. So in your mind a fight that goes the distance resulting in a close and controversial ending is LESS deserving of a rematch than a bout that ends before the halfway mark on a bad cut?? Interesting...

It does in Wlad's case where he was being marketed as the best heavy weight in the world, then resumed that status not long after.. One would think that he needed to patch up that defeat..

Well he did manage to rematch two men whom he got KTFO by and beat them both.. How many rematches has Vitali given in his life?