Perfect timing for the Lion at the looks of it. Did he have it in him to still beat some of the top guys doyou think? Obviously there's the case of v Klitschko but could he have hung on a while longer?
Perfect timing. Excellent moment to quit, stopping arguably the best heavyweight in the world other than him and the next Ring champion. When he went to court to get a rematch with Hasim Rahman, Lewis and Steward said Lennox only had two or three fights left in him. Turns out, they were right. He had three. (Rahman 2, Tyson and Vitali)
You think he could stay champ till then? I'm not sure, I think he was winding down and got out just at the right time.
Tbh its not about him its about his opponents. Lennox was winding down but the division was going through a transitory period he'd been able to keep ruling. Look at the champions from those years and who were they were facing and I just don't see a reason to pick against him until 2007. Maybe 2006 depending on the matchups? Point is I don't think he was going to lose right away. If he was going to lose to Vitali right away Vitali was going to retire and Lennox would have been able to become 4x champ.
I wish more fighters were like Lewis I see him recently sitting next to Holyfield and the difference between them was alarming. Lewis looked healthy/happy and was still coherent with all his marbles and his legacy intact. Holyfield looked punch drunk and he has done some considerable damage to his legacy with over 10 losses when he should've really retired after the 2nd loss to Lewis. If I was a boxer fighting now I'd look to replicate Lewis make my money achieve what I want to achieve and then get out of the game at a reasonable age before I do long term damage to my health.
Would like to think he'd be winning still if he carried on. First of he'd have to rematch the Klitschko. Then if successful it's guys like Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, Toney. Wlad could probably catch him at the tail end and get the win.
I really fear for Holyfield. He's in the same boat for me as Ali. Hanging around way too long and taking some horrendous shots.
Yeah these are the sort of guys I don't see beating old Lennox. Holyfield is 4 years older and inches shorter than Lennox and he almost beat Valuev. Given that I see things going fairly well for Lennox. I know some people rate Byrd way higher and actually hold Lennox not fighting Byrd against him but I'm not one of those people. Wlad would beat Lennox but I don't see that match happening until late 2006 or 2007 and even then Lennox would still have the option to fight others instead.
Sad but True. Lennox is very coherent still, while Holyfield seems to lose his train of thought frequently in interviews. His VLADTV interview was hard to watch.
I think if he stayed in shape he could have had a couple more years left but sometimes it's just good to quit while you are ahead this is a dangerous sport.
The timing was probably right for Lennox's legacy. He just came off a brutal fight with Vitali that he had to really dig deep to win. The only other new opponent Lennox could have fought and beat which might have helped his legacy further was Wlad but Wlad had just lost and his stock was very low.
I also think that Lennox retired at the best time, after a victory that elevated his legacy even more. Lewis had already agreed with Vitali for the rematch and so if he had not retired he would have fought the Ukrainian again. In my opinion Vitali would have won the rematch, but clearly we will never know what would have happened, Lennox did well not to let us know in my opinion.
Good time to go. I'd much rather see a fighter retire two fights too early than one fight too late. Lewis had achieved everything he set out to do. No point carrying on. Some people will criticise him for not giving Vitali the rematch. But I always applauded him for recognising he was slipping - and not coming back. I wish more boxers were the same.