Whose retirement "timing" is better; Lennox Lewis or Rocky Marciano?

He only outlanded him by 8 punches I know what you're saying but Byrd would be far and away Vitali's best win on his resume it's not a slam dunk that Vitali necessarily wins.

For example what I noticed is that Vitali's jab was nowhere near as potent as Wladimir's so Byrd was able to parry his jab all night plus Vitali doesn't have single punch power like his brother.

They both have strengths and weaknesses I think Wladimir's better technical skills and power are better at dealing with a smaller slickster Heavyweight like Byrd. Whilst Vitali has the durability to deal with dangerous aggressive punchers like Sanders.

 

That's a fair analysis, can't argue with that too much.

 

Marciano left no doubt, Lewis did. In fact, Lewis retired at the moment of the greatest sporting challenge of his career. He's never had a better fight or more money for a fight.
Both are terribly overrated, but they left at the right time, cementing their legends

 

You misunderstood my point.

 

I think it's only fair to factor in Lewis's charitable nature when he decided to retire and spare Vitali yet another bout-ending injury.

Let's face it, Vitali's form against top opposition is not all that encouraging, is it? He's essentially 0-2-0 - Injured beyond being able to continue in both of his top challenges.

Lewis's decision cleared the path, enabling Vitali to win a major strap and look good against competition that was more on his level - Johnson, Sanders, and Williams.

And, it wasn't that long before Vitali himself retired - The reason? You guessed it... ...injuries!!

Lewis gave Vitali the opportunity to be 'the man' for a while, and retire at the top. I think this is an underestimated facet of Lewis's retirement and adds a good deal more grace to his exit.

 

You agree that McVey can't give Lewis a putative victory in a rematch no matter how much he may want to.

 

No, Lewis didn't leave a doubt. Vitali was definitely well-beaten and it was definitely Lewis who beat him.

It is only hankering Vitali fans that convince themselves of anything other than those truths.

If by "the greatest sporting challenge" you mean Lewis's battle to get motivated and train, having been considering retirement for over a year by the time he'd beaten Vitali, then that could indeed be viewed as a significant challenge.

If, however, you mean Vitali as an opponent, then all I can say is: TKO 6.

Like a lot of the mythology surrounding Vitali, the belief that there was more money to be made in the Lewis/Vitali rematch than Lewis had made against Tyson, is wishful thinking in the extreme.

 

I never tried to!.
You are the won implying Vitali beating Byrd in a rematch would have been just a formality!

Q. What do the following have in common?
Tyson
Holyfield
Tua
Ibeabuchi
Grant
Maskaev
Jefferson
Chagaec
Ibragimov
Valuev
Golota
Rahman
Brewster
Povetkin
Dimitrenko
Boytsov
Ruiz
McCline
????
A.They were all ranked when Vitali was,and for some reason,he never got to fight any of them.

 

LMAO!!



I don’t know which is more pathetic… using “My mom told me not to” as a copout or actually phoning up The Sniper before his title shot against young Wladimir, and basically urging him to go on a Kamikaze mission and Praying for Corrie’s fire power to save the day. Which it did!

“Pfft! I’ll have one Klitschko brother for breakfast Mon. And the other for Lunch! Bumbaclot!! No guy test!”



Behind closed doors… “Hello… Corrie?? Yes this is Lennox. Ohh I got your number from your manager Mon! Don’t tell anyone! Hey.. this Wladimir guy… my coach Manny Steward seems to think you have a 50/50 shot at clipping him if you just attack! Go on the attack! Blitz him! He’s most likely underestimating you my coach thinks. You have freakish hand speed and chances are you can get through with something! Thanks buddy! Counting on ya”

“The Lion” Lewis

Why not get an easy 30 million and try doing what you urged Sanders to do yourself Lennox?! He make you that uncomfy big guy?!!

 

1. I think you can find an interview on the Internet with Lewis and Manny where before the fight with Kirk Johnson they talk about 3 next fights - Apart from Johnson, it is Vitali, a rematch with Tyson and a unification with Roy Jones. There was no question of retirement.
2. After the fight with Vitali, the rematch was the most anticipated fight in boxing. Nobody wanted Lewis - Tyson 2, they wanted Vitali - Lewis 2. Check the press coverage
3. There are still disputes about this fight. Vitali was faster, more decisive, more aggressive, in the first two rounds Lewis did not exist. He managed to cut down Klitschko, but would it be like this every time? Lennox himself probably didn't believe it, his mother didn't believe it either, apparently even his girlfriend didn't believe it, but Lewis' fans do

 

They probably believe it because Lewis’ proved himself vastly better looking at both his & Klitschko’s careers. Because he was vastly better. On a bad night, he got rid of Klitschko in half the allotted time.

 

on paper it looks like this, in the photo of Vitali's face it looks like this, but in the ring Vitali had to be held down by several guys, he was so beaten and the WBC federation ordered a rematch with the beaten guy and the one who beat him preferred to retire rather than take the risk again. It's not very effective if you want to get rid of a guy so much that you prefer to give up boxing rather than get rid of him again, even though they give you a lot of money just to try

 

I’ll certainly agree it looks bad, & may well be as bad as Lewis’ detractors (of which I usually am one) are saying. The facts stand though that Lewis beat him & was a better fighter, & had a better career. That’s a lot more in his favour than Klitschko has going for him.

 

why so much more? I watched all the fights and apart from the fact that Lewis looked nicer and nicer to the eye, I didn't see any greater effectiveness. In which fights did Lennox look much better than Vitali against Larry Donald, Hid, Arreola, Gomez, Purrity, Adamek, Bean, Sanders, Johnson, Williams? In which fights did Vitali look worse than Lewis with McCall, Mercer, Rahman?

 

Dead right,mate. Both men displayed excellent judgement getting out when they did.