Not talking about 100 HW's; ATG as in best 100 p4p. I don't keep a 100 list, but given the resume, I can't see him on it. Just too many skilled fighters that had a chance to prove it. I do rate him as a great HW, though. To me, H2H consideration counts here and he'd be a handful and did prove that given his chance. If he's concerned at all about legacy over earnings, he should make a Tua fight happen after another good Tua win and quit fighting these greenhorns that clearly aren't ready yet.
I doubt Lewis was out of shape. Who comes to fight out of shape? Look at VK now, he's old and still winning fights.
I think these last three victories coming off that four year layoff and his KO to wins percentage just got him thru the ATG door :good
No way in hell does Vitali make any top 100 p4p all time. When I did a list not even Mike Tyson made mine (though he was just outside). Impossible. I don't rank him in the top 20 at HW either. Not an ATG.
I've said this plenty of times before and no doubt i'll say it plenty more times in the future; Lennox was saying: 'I'm like a fine wine. I get better with age'. As soon as he struggles against Vitali, suddenly he's old and out of shape and 'didn't train'. If you're the heavyweight champion of the world, I guarantee you you will train for a fight.
It's no secret that Lewis was sometimes lax in his training, and he didn't know he was fighting Vitali - very dangerous - until later in his preperation. I believe he trained less well for Vitali than he might have. Beat him anyway.
Yeah, and still the Klit LOST. The only two live bodies on the Klit's resume have an "L" right next to them. When will the Klit nut gulpers come to terms with reality? The Klitenstein brothers have NOT beat a noteworthy HW outside of Chris Byrd.
That doesn't mean it's true. I don't think there are many people who think Lewis's prime was when he fought Tyson. He was 38 years old when he fought Vitali. No matter what anyone says, that's old for a fighter. He was the heaviest weight of his career in that fight and... He still won.
Yep. What's he gonna say "I'm feeling pretty old these days. My knees are ****ed, I can't really be arsed training unless it's a big fight, and I'm only fighting because it's easy money" Tyson also said he was going to eat Lennox's children too. Guess that must have been true as well eh, cos fighters never talk ****. Lewis didn't look great against Tyson IMO. He just had a lot more left in the tank than Tyson at that point of their careers, that's all. Lewis was top dog, and Tyson was probably lower top 10. And that fight was what, a year before the Vitaly fight?
Silly fool. Vitali lost to Byrd on a TKO due to injury, a torn rotator cuff which required surgery to repair. The only thing that was injured when Sam Peter refused to come out of his corner was his pride & ego.