Lennox Lewis v. Vitali Klitschko - does anyone think this was a good fight ?

Merchant really went after Lewis in the post-fight interview. To be honest, I thought Merchant came across as a bit of an arsehole, not for the first time either.

 

The both were arses. Lewis was in denial. Although he had technical won the fight on cuts, Vitlai won the crowd, and was up 4-2 on all score cards. Lewis also sported a cut and swollen eyes, which is something he was not used to on interviews. During the interview, Lewis actually grabbed the microphone that Merchant was holding to take control of the conversation! In the end, the interview was memorable. Merchant did his job when finally got Lennox to say he would give a re-match to a crowd pleasing fight.

 

The thing I remember most about the post-fight proceedings is Vitali coming up to Lewis and saying :"Rematch! Rematch!"
Lewis sort of looks at him, keeps quiet, and then buggers off.

 

maybe the best postfight interview of all-time as McGrain can attest to

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And there you have it. Not exactly Lewis' best form either. No wonder he thought it was time.

 

I enjoyed the fight. Certainly it was sloppy and ugly in places, far from the most high-quality boxing the division has seen, but it was dramatic and entertaining. It had twists and turns, ebb and flow, considerable suspence, and was one of the rare instances that two truly elite-level "super" heavyweights have fought each other for the linear world title- in fact, it may have been the only such instance- giving it substantial historical significance. I'm not trembling with excitement at the idea, but if Lewis made a serious comeback, eg. trained hard, fought at a reasonable weight, and took a warm-up fight or two first, then I would be interested in a rematch.

 

I'm actually glad the Lewis-Kirk Johnson fight didn't happen...no offense to Johnson fans, but I really was quite unhappy it was going to happen. I was kinda neutral on Johnson, then he had that absolute abortion of a performance against Ruiz in mid 2002 and I soured on him. I thought the whole thing was going to be a big waste of time.

We got Lewis-Vitali instead. Which was not a good performance, but was a good win and gets better with every victory Vitali clocks up...

 

It was an enjoyable and event packed fight with Vitali's awkwardness and Lewis's lack of timing contributing to the frequent clinching and holding. I think the OP is reading a little too much into any perceived nuances or subtleties because there were non - it was just two big guys going at each other. Enjoy it for what it was.

 

The rumour was the Vitali's people paid Kirk Johnson step aside money

 

Bruno was up on the scorecards too against Lewis and was also the fans favourate. The US crowds always disliked Lewis for beating on Americans and lets be honest most the people who show up to fights no little about boxing. Sadly Lewis is 1 of the less popular great fighters, hes even been boo'ed in England.

This fight could easily be scored 3-3 ofcourse, Old Lennox ripped Vitali's face to shreds and landed the bigger shots that had Vitali hanging on. The controversy is well over played.

 

I think a lot of people are interested in seeing the continuation of the linear heavyweight championship decided in the ring. I want to see a Vitali/ Lewis rematch. I think it will be short and sweet with a quick KO win for Vitali.

 

I think the average boxing fan cares **** all about the "linear" champion, especially when Wlad is the most proven fighter out there.

But based on the fact that their last fight was spectacular and that Lewis still is a big name, it would be a huge fight yes.