This again! For people who say he was'nt shot (Klitschko fans), well your probably right. But three years past his best he most definatley was. So that probably equates to Lewis being about 75% the fighter he was when he fought Vitali. Which at the top level is a lot to be lacking. Lennox showed his metal and the champion he was in the early rounds, and then changed the course of the fight with his aggression. The fight getting stopped when it did benefited Vitali more than Lewis, because he left the ring with an enhanced reputation. Lewis owed Vitali nothing, he gave him his shot, Vitali performed well but it was'nt enough. Lewis was semi-retired already and got out at the right time. People find that hard to take, because were so used to seeing men retire from the sport with nothing left to give. Lewis was wise to this, he'd had a long and successful career and knew it was time to let the new breed come through. Fair play to him. I suppose you could say Lewis passed the torch on his own terms rather than having it taken from him. Something not many heavyweight champs can say, if any? Let's just see it has the classic fight it was between an ageing ATG and possibly a future ATG. It still is the last great heavyweight title fight, hopefully it is not the last.
I'd say his prime started in his middle-late 20's and lasted to middle 30's. You can't say that about Tyson, right? Them two being the same age, had they fought in 1988, I would be confident in Tyson KOing Lewis. Anything not understandable here?
Lewis would lose to both Klitschkos without bull**** ref stoppages from cuts, that's why there was no rematch and that's why he went into retirement like a coward.
George Foreman vs. Axel Schulz [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hbJsEhEzHQ&feature=related[/ame] Wladimir Klitschko vs Axel Schulz [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXGTygdrNHo[/ame]
I dont't think it gets mentioned too often by may take on this fight was that when they couldn't get Tyson to rematch and Kirk Johnson pulled out, the fight was potentially going to loss a lot of $$, and since Lewis was co-promoting the fight, it made sense for him to fight Klitschko, thereby saving the fight card. I think Lewis spend a fair amount of time outside of the ring, ensuring that all this came about, and although he may have trained will about a month before the fight, I think this issue took a lot of time away from him.
To bad Vitali couldnt beat him...Lets stick to reality instead of your make believe world...Actually Lennox Lewis TKO Vitali in 6 rounds!:rofl
Yeah. And Byrd TKO'd him in 9 rds. While they both were getting beat up until the injury. What's the significance of that?
Vitali may have been winning on the cards when the fight was stopped, but no way was he beating up Lewis. Apparently you never seen the pictures of what Vitali looked like after the fight. He was a horrible mess, if you get a moment take a look but be forewarned it's fairly graphic. In fact it may have brought several Klitschko fans to tears..to the point where many of them are still crying about it.
I have seen these pics. The bottom line is - cuts happen and they are not treated as totally legit way to determine which fighter is better. Besides at the time of stoppage, the word in the arena was that Lennox is gassed, almost ready to go. The word came out from his corner. I don't blame Lennox for retiring at the moment he did. Indeed he wasn't getting any better and was past his absolute best. Why should he risk getting beat up by fighters in their absolute primes and go down as inferior to them in books while peak v peak he wasn't? I blame him for PROMISING a rematch, breaking his word and claiming it had nothing to do with being afraid to lose this rematch. For claiming he would beat Klitschkos up anyday etc. That was BULL****.
atsch Byrd didnt have nearly the success Lewis was having while they were fighting Vitali...Lennox was starting to get to Vitali and had Vitali stunned in their fight were as Byrd didnt...I failing to understand you comparison.