Would Vitali have beaten Lewis if he was not stopped?

No IMHO, he'd had his moment but the fight was swinging back Lewis' way at the time of stoppage.

 

Totally agree.

Lewis seemed to be getting on top at the time of the stoppage.

 

No.

He had his chance in the second round but wasn't good enough to get the job done.

The fight was turning in Lewis's favour and would have resulted in a stoppage in round 8 or 9.

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Being stopped in the manor he was, was probably the best thing ever to happen to Vitali Klitschko, because he's been able to live off that fight ever since.

The ''moral victory'' (whatever the **** that means) of being ahead on the cards at the time of the stoppage and Lewis retiring afterwards is his entire legacy.

I'd love to ask Mendozy (a regular on the classic) if Tommy Hearns beat Sugar Ray Leonard, or Herol Graham beat Julian Jackson just because they were ahead at the time of the stoppage.

 

:good

 

The difference in that argument is that a cut ended Lewis-Vit rather than the losing fighter KOing the other guy.

 

:deal

 

I don't think you can say for certain that either was fading or would've properly taken over. It was a close, brilliant and brutal fight for the 6 rounds that we had. It's a shame we couldn't have seen it go on longer because it was a terrific contest. Both took the fight at short notice and weren't prepared for each other.

 

no difference. both are legitimate ways to win a fight.

does this mean that Ali's win over Cooper are tainted?

 

well, vitali's cut wasn't going to get any better, so he would have had to take lewis out in the next round or so.

unless you are suggesting the fight shouldn't have been stopped no matter how bad the cut got in which case lewis would have stopped vitali in the next 3 rounds, mainly due to vitali not being able to see out of one eye.

 

Of course there's a difference. Technically Lennox won the fight because he caused the cuts damage from punches. That's a perfectly good way to win a fight sure, but it's completely different to an actual knock out. It's pretty easy to see that it can also be a controversial way to win a fight. I don't really know why anyone would think differently :huh

 

I believe so. But would have, could have, should have. Fact is Vitali allowed Lewis to mess up his face and lost fair and square. Klit nuthuggers can't seem to accept it.

It's like saying Hasegawa would have beaten Montiel if he wasn't KTFO! It's stupid.

 

I'm just pointing out the argument (thats why I used that word) that would be coming back when those 3 fights are compared.

 

I can see what you mean, but it's a legitimate way to win a fight. I refrenced Ali (Clay) v Cooper, where Ali just stepped it up and opened up cuts on 'Enry to get the win. That was the game plan.

How then can people not accept that Lewis stopped Vitali fairly?

 

I think he is pointing out what Klit fans always look at. It was the cut that stopped Vitali and not Lewis repeatedly punching him in the face. :roll:



Lewis was a round or two away from finishing him imo, vitali was doing his best to survive but he wasn't landing anything meaningful. I've never seen Vitali back away from a fighter like he did against Lewis. In rounds 5 and 6 he was just hanging in there being competitive but I couldn't see him finding the punch or the energy to make another surge or change the fight.