Like Cedric Boswell is anything alike Lewis ...... People trying to excuse Lewis, as he wasn't prepare, but then forget that Vitali wasn't prepping for Lewis either.
Didn't this have a master thread? In the rematch, perhaps Vitali as it was clear that Lewis wasn't the same fighter anymore, he'd noticeably slowed in the Rahman and Tyson fights it just so happens that Tyson was shot and Rahman wasn't close to his skill level. That's not to say that Lewis didn't have a decent shot, he was turning the tide and landing big shots but logic suggests he'd have come up short in the rematch in a close decision loss.
Based on what? As I've already stated a couple of times if for some reason he had the rematch he would have done what he did every time before and gone in for the kill. The only times he lost was because he was not paying attention against fighters he was supposed to walk through. Every time it was a perceived threat and seen as a 50/50 fight he went in and battered them. examples including Ruddock. Golota Briggs Grant etc. Vitali's best and only opportunity to win was that first fight and he simply wasn't goood enough to finish Lewis before he was stopped. It really is as simple as that.
Who said he was supposed to walk through? I don't recall anyone saying that around the time. Still, Lewis would have been 38 nearly 39 in the rematch, you say he would have "gone in for the kill" but he already did that and couldn't drop Vitali, so obviously a straight knockout wasn't on the cards, in fact Vitali would not be dropped for the remainder of his career. Vitali's workrate and youth win him the rematch in a good close fight.
He’s not but the point that Vitali got off his bed is false. Both were scheduled on the card vs different opponents as a build up for a december match ip between them. When Johnson pulled out they signed it.
Yes. Where IS it? I went and searched and couldn't find it! Could somebody with better search-fu than me pls link it in here or bump it or something? I have a post in there I was gonna' link to this or copy/paste in here.
Regardless of who would have won Lewis should have made the rematch as promised and ordered instead of playing around for a year and then quitting day before stripping. It's clear the risk vs reward ($50m) was too high for Lewis at the time. I very much doubt the second fight would have ended the same with a cuts stoppage. All conjecture but we were denied what would have been the biggest hw fight of the 00's without doubt.
MMmm. Lewis was 37 so even 6 months later he's 38. I'm not saying he would KO Vitali he would however be far better prepared. The reality is Vitali didn't do it first time round. Maybe if they fought another couple of times Vitali might have beaten him but that never happened. So we are left with what actually happened which was Lewis being 1 up. Deal with it and move on.
We'll never know what would have happened in a rematch. IMO, in the (never happened) rematch, Vitali beats Lewis. Reasonably sure that this is the outcome, and having dodged a bullet, Lennox retires. And why not ? He doesn't need money and his health is intact. He had just scored a legitimate stoppage of the second best head to head heavyweight in the game. He goes out as the undisputed champion, having beaten every man he has ever faced. I rank Lewis at number 3 all-time in the division. I rank Vitali at 19 or 20. The fact that the rematch never happened adds a little mystique to the whole thing, allowing for all the what if's we've seen and heard since. And for me it, the win catapults Lennox over Holmes, Marciano and Foreman from sixth spot to number three, behind only Louis and Ali. We'll never know what would have happened in a rematch. But we do know what DID happen. TKO6 in favour of the Pugilist Specialist !
I mean, the title of the thread is "what would have happened in a rematch" so dealing with it and moving on isn't really a relevant thing to say is it? It's literally the topic of discussion.
I appreciate that but there's a lot of butt hurt in this thread as there always has been. I'll say it again for clarity. Vitali's best chance was the first one and he failed. Yes lewis would be 38 but considering Vlad was still competitive into his 40's then I don's see it being a stretch. it's not like Lewis was a pressure fighter with high mileage and been in a load of wars he started years later than people like Tyson. The issue for Lewis would be motivation at that point. but I'm sure if he was commited he would beat Vitali again.
Wlad took to the hills after witnessing Lennox give Vitali a facelift. He didn't want any part of Lennox whereas Vitali would have immediately challenged Lennox had it been vice versa