Did Lennox Lewis retire prematurely?

He should’ve fought Vitali again instead of making false promises and excuses for 9 months then abruptly retiring right when the WBC was about to strip him.

 

Holyfield was past it but not to the extent you make it out to be. He was most definitely less past it than Klitschko yet you ride Fury's nuts and call his resume comparable to Lewis's

Also what "great" run was Donaire on ? Did he beat any elite fighters running up to the Inoue fight ? Because Holyfield did, 3 times, before he fought Lewis. Plus Donaire is even older than Holyfield if you're referring to the Donaire/Inoue rematch

 

I never called Fury's resume comparable to Lennox's, Fury has a terrible resume.

Donaire KOd world champions before and after fighting Inoue. So yes, he did beat elite fighters in the run up and after. And of course I was the referring to the one in the first fight, since you said he was past it in reference to the first fight Donaire, before the second fight happened.

 

Okay.

All I'm saying is Holyfield was past it but still beat an ATG in Tyson twice AND avenged his loss to Moorer. He was still an elite fighter and looked good against Rahman although his head movement diminished a bit

 

He looked terrible against Vitali. I remember at the time being disappointed Lewis didn’t give him the rematch, but now I think it was probably the best decision he ever made.

 

Lewis looked so horrible he stopped Vitali in six rounds and Vitali needed 60 stitches in his face.

Faces aren't that big. That's a lot of stitches.

 

He looked so terrible, he needed six whole rounds to beat Vitali Klitschko.

How long would Vitali have lasted if Lennox looked GREAT?

Are we talking a Michael Grant length defense?

 

If I dirty boxed you via grazing while holding your head you'd be a mess too sonny.

 

No

I think that it’s possible if vitali somehow came out of the picture whether Kirk Johnson opened the cut in their flight or if all the injuries that caused Vitali to retire in the first place came up and canceled any possible Lewis rematch I think Lenox would’ve stuck around a little longer

The only counterpoint to this is that there really weren’t any big money fights left and I think that’s what Lenox would’ve been chasing there just wasn’t anyone left that was a compelling matchup it would take Wladimir two or three more years to really turn around his career

Premature may be in the sense that he still had something left but not premature in the sense of accomplishments

 

what impressed me most that night was Lennox managed not to get knocked out, he was getting hit with everything. It was a great fight to go out on, showed his toughness, bowed out.

 

RJJ was laid out unconscious due to the weight cut and muscle mass loss. He was never the same fighter after he moved back down to LHW from HW. If he stayed at HW and fought Lewis, he had a great chance to knock off an aging Lennox.

 

I did always think this that he did retire prematurely. But he achieved everything and also it's good to retire without getting lots of losses at the end of your career. It can damage your health too.

 

i think he retired a fight or two late

 

The cut changed the fight before that Vitali was clearly winning.

 

Um no.