Lewis vs. Klitschko

I agree. I personally think Lewis should receive far more props than he gets for winning this fight. Regardless of what you think of Vitali, he's no push over, and Lewis broke him down and beat him legitimately. Those who think Lewis won with one lucky punch must not have seen the fight, cause Vitali was cut up in several places and was starting to swallow a lot of blood, that had nothing to do with the cut above his eye.

 

And Lewis had a deep gash and a broken nose and looked like he has been attacked by a swarm of bees. That was a very lucky punch. It was a grazing right from the clinch while Lewis was holding Vitali's head.

 

I rate Lewis highly and the cut was one of the worst I have seen. I have seen fights stopped for smaller cuts. Still Vitali was a younger inexperienced fighter and Lewis was not prime but had the experience. Lewis won the fight, I would have loved to see a rematch because i think Vitali gained confidence in that fight and somehow I feel he would have been better in a rematch. Still I understand Lewis wanted to retire. He was not getting any younger. Out of all of this neither man was in peak form and both men have nothing to be embarrished of. I remember Salvatore Sanchez vs a young Azuma Nelson, it was a war but Sanchez KO'd Nelson in the end...Nelson lost but most felt he would be back and heard from again...if Sanchez did not die they could have fought again in a year and the results may have been different....a cut is an unfortunate way to lose but it still a legitimate loss

 

Not sure Lewis broke him down, being broke down is like Jack Johnson vs Jeff or th first Louis schemling fight.

 

I believe I had the fight scored 4-2 in Vitali's favor at the time of the stoppage. Klitschko's eye was a mess, and I had no problems with the stoppage. I thought it looked as though Lewis had figured out Vitali, and was coming on strong.

I still think the stoppage was ok. I still believe Lewis was coming on strong. What I now wonder is if Vitali was really being overtaken, or just taking a round off. Vitali looks like he is spent after a couple rounds, but continues to punch it out all fight long in every fight after his match with Lewis.

I now wonder if Lewis could have won without the cut.

 

it's too bad that vitali ran lewis out of boxing,

 

Vitali fought a out of shape past his peek Lennox Lewis and was stopped. That was Vitali's best fight to date and the bum still lost. A prime Lewis stops him in about 3 rounds.

 

It's not like it was just a little nick either, Vitali's face was cut to bits. There should be no controversy about it.

Vitali was training to fight Cedric Boswell on the undercard. He was in great shape and expected to fight Lewis in case both won against their opponents (Kirk Johnson for Lewis, Boswell for Vitali). When Kirk pulled out of the fight against Lewis, Vitali had no problems accepting a fight with Lewis, the fight he had been wanting for years.

 

Boswell was a nobody. Vitali match with him was only scheduled for 10 rounds. Had Vitali known it was Lewis all along, I think he trains harder and comes in with a game plan.

 

Lewis beat Klitschko fair and square. The cuts may have been somewhat lucky, but they were caused by punches so it's fair game.

By the way, this is shaping up to be Lennox' career best win.

 

Boswell's record stacks up favourably against Arreola's imo,it is .
31 wins, 1loss, a tko in 10rds to Jameel Mcline,who had gone 10rds to a tko loss to Wlad in his 2nd to previous fight.Boswell was conceding 41lbs to Mcline,in 2003.
Mcline was not the fat, retired fighter that Arreola beat.
Boswell has 24kos in his 31 wins of course they are journeyman ,but so are Arreola's victims.If Boswell is nobody so is Arreola ,despite where he is ranked.
I doubt Vitali was in anything other than top shape for his projected fight with Boswell.
The difference in the duration of the 2 fights was 2 rds ,ie 6 minutes of fighting,so it is definitely a non factor.

 

Excellent points. I'll add another - Lewis was past it and after this bout fully realised it. There was a reason he never fought again. Tho still good enough to turn back Vitali he now knew one of the young guns would take his mantle, sooner rather than later.

Great retirement.

 

The Vitali fight definitely made him realise that the time was ripe to quit. That's not to say he wasn't still the best in the world at the time, but as you say he probably thought that sooner or later a young lion would usurp his position.
Bowe fought a meaningless 8 rounder in Germany not long ago on the Klitschko v Rahman undercard, and Lewis made a point to watch him fight. Maybe it was a bit of camaraderie, but for me I think Lewis also wanted to see what a contemporary heavyweight from the same era looked like, making a comeback. Perhaps he needed to convince himself that what's over is over.
Bob Sheridan said Lewis had a sad look on his face as he was watching Bowe fight, which I find interesting.

 

Nice points. Tho still the best in the world lightning was set to strike at any time. I don't think he had it inside anymore, or maybe had just lost the edge. Regardless, it should have been this way, as he'd been around a long time and fought and beat the best for many years.

 

How much harder could he train? He came in at a solid 248 pounds, first expecting a showcase match-up against an undefeated prospect in order to create interest in a fight against Lewis and then getting an actual fight with Lewis when Kirk Johnson pulled out.

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Don't you think Vitali already had a gameplan ready for Lewis? It was a fight he wanted all along and surely a scenario he had gone over a hundred times. He certainly seemed ready.

You could also say the exact same things about Lewis who came in sloppy and overweight, expecting an easy fight against Kirk Johnson. He was at the end of his career while Vitali came in with something to prove, and he did prove what he was made of.