Why is Vitali a favorite over his more accomplished brother Wladimir h2h

Big brother energy, like that other commenter said being the big brother their whole loves gives Vitali the mental edge.

What will have engrained deep in his brain and soul that Vitali is stronger than him.

 

I have a few times.

 

which also mean nothing

 

Vitali is a favourite due to his higher durability both mentally and physically. He had more of a mean streak in him and was the more natural fighter as echoed by their long term trainer.

Vitali was beating lewis who I believe to be the greatest HW of all time H2H alongside Usyk.

 

Vitali was a more natural fighter and clearly liked to fight. I think Wlad looked at it more as a sport. Vitali was more aggressive in ring, had the better Chin, more awkward style and better stamina. I don't see any scenario barring cuts or injury where Wlad would beat him H2H. Vitali could be a sadistic ******* in the ring at times and we never really saw that from Wlad.

 

Yeah, but Lennox was 38 and out of shape. And "beating him" means nothing in the close fight which was 4-2 or 3-3. He lost by stoppage.

 

Vitali was torturing his lower level opponents cause he didn't have power to knock them out. Wlad didn't need to do that. Plus Wlad was a killer in the gym, while Vitali was more of a cool dude. Wlad had to knock at least 1 sparring partner out a week, while Vitali just played around. And what can bring the killer out of you if not sibling rivarly.

 

The amount of mileage Vitali gets out of a losing performance after 6 completed rounds vs an old Lewis who was at the heaviest weight of his career has always been baffling to me.

Mercer was ahead vs Lewis after 6 rounds.

Bruno was ahead vs Lewis after 6 rounds.

Holyfield was ahead vs Lewis after 7 rounds in their 2nd fight.

What happened to those fighters ? They all lost. Fighters have had success vs Lewis in the early going before even Briggs did but Lewis always found a way to win. And Lewis was starting to turn the fight around vs Vitali after that tremendous uppercut he landed in the 6th round.

 

Then the same can be said about Mike Tyson who Lennox beat the year before by KO. The fight was competitive, Lennox was down on all the official cards, and the fight was lost due to a cut, which is hardly a stoppage victory anymore than it is unfortunate. Power is the last thing to go, and Vitali ate all of Lennox best shots who we all know is a tried and tested power puncher.

Wlad would have lost against Lennox imo.

 

Or, in other words, Vitali had a lot of the attributes fans love in a fighter... And confirmation bias explains the rest.

 

Not really.

Lewis dominated an old past it Tyson.

Vitali lost to an older out of shape Lewis.

Not really seeing the logic here.

 

Unfortunate? Lewis cut Vitali with the punch and then worked on it to make it worse. That's what you should do in the boxing fight - inflict damage on the opponent. Lewis did it and made Vitali unable to continue.

Nobody questions Vitali's chin.

Maybe. Or maybe Lennox would fold if he got caught with the same right hands he got caught against Vitali, sicen Wlad was a way harder puncher.

 

He has less bad in his career as Wlad has been knocked out a few times


its not great logic but thats what it is

Somehow Vitali has become a head-to-head monster

 

I just see that as an exagerration, and lewis has argued that he (and other boxers) peak at different stages. Lewis says he peaked late (late bloomer) and that tyson is an example of someone who peaks early (early bloomer) thats Lewis' words not mine.

So i feel you and others exaggerate just how "out of shape" and "past it" lewis actually was just to diminish a fantastic performance by Vitali who was only 6 years youngwr (both in their 30s)... when Vitali was up on all cards and on his merry way to a victory until an unfortunate cut.

I also dont believe boxers intentionally go out there to create a cut. If you ever been in a boxing bout, or fought at that level... you have enough things going on then to concern yourself with hitting someone at the right angle to inflict a cut....

A cut happens or doesnt happen... you dont go in there with a seasoned heavyweight trying to cause a cut lmao no logic there.

 

Lewis was 256 pounds vs Vitali which is the highest record weight of his career and considerably heavier than any of his prime performances where he on average weighed 240s pounds that's not an exaggeration that's a fact.

You also don't think early 30s is considerably different to late 30s ? Considering Lewis fought much tougher opposition than Vitali and had been in like 16 world title fights by this point ?

A fantastic performance by Vitali ? It was a sloppy fight from both men and the fight only lasted 6 rounds. The amount of mileage Vitali gets out of this fight is actually baffling when fighters like Mercer, Bruno, did better after 6 rounds than Vitali did against a younger/fresher Lewis.

And how do you know Vitali was on his way to victory ? Lewis was coming off his best round of the fight prior to the stoppage.

I never said Lewis was intentionally trying to cut Vitali ? But he was obviously trying to damage Vitali and a cut happened from a legitimate punch. It wasn't like it was from a headbutt or an elbow it was a legal punch so there's no luck involved with a legitimate punch.