Just wondering what you would make of this fight. Vitali [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqK3VwQ_rYc[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chm8L-ms6Qk[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIjelBWsEhY[/ame] Lewis [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0em16mPPvR0[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZZTa2XUtVE[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i9yiUBVpOI[/ame] In my opinion Vitali is still fantastic but he has lost both punching power and reaction time imo, a bit like Lewis who had lost speed and was also a little rusty but still a fantastic fighter. I feel that Lewis enjoyed his prime from 1997-2000 and I think Vitali had his from 2001-2004. While I do appriciate Vitali as a top 25 ATG I'm just wondering how you would see this fight going if the circumstances of their original fight were reversed? I'm as interested to know how you think the fight would go as much as who you think would win.
This Vitali would still be dangerous in this fight that's for sure. I do think though that he's looked a lot easier to tag recently. I just think Lewis would be getting off too much on him under these circumstances and could most likely avoid/take Vitali's punches enough well enough not to get badly hurt.
I hope people actually think properly and fairly about this before voting. I should have thought about that though.
In all fairness this was a big fight for Vitali at the time, especially if you consider the exposure he was getting.
Regardless of how controversial the result was, Vitali couldn't seal a win against Lennox even in 2003, when he was on the ass end of his career. Therefore, I don't see things going well for him, asside from perhaps a puncher's chance against a prime Lewis. Six years of youth combined with a more active schedule would have made a collossal difference, and Lewis was cutting through big men like melted butter. I know Vitali hasn't lost many rounds in his career, and is a very difficult fighter to stop, but there are about 10 leagues between a prime Lewis and anyone Vitali has ever beaten..
Not saying Vitali will win, but Mavorovic was sort of like a second rate Vitali and Lewis struggled with him around that time. It would be a tough fight for both.