Why didn't Lennox Lewis carry his power to the late rounds?

Really? Its apparently not that easy. LL winning due to a lucky incident (the cut) and therafter ducking Vitali for a potential rematch cos he knew he'd not beat him without the injury, that is reality for others. See? "Facts" or what people perceive as such, that might be a little more subjective than you think.

Generally speaking, not valueing the opinion of other's might not be a superb attitude to have, especially on a message board, which is a place meant for people to exchange different opinions. But to be honest, I have to agree with you, you re right with your last sentence, from my standpoint that is, as your opinion means nothing to me.

 

Stop wasting everybodys time and answer the question already: was there ever anything more than just lemonade in your lemonade?

 

Lewis was not fat compared to a Tim Witherspoon but he was at his all time highest v.s. Vitali .. he was also bloated for Rachman 1 .. the scales are the scales ..

 

He was nowhere near his peak, he was nearly 38 at his career highest weight, looking out of shape and clearly breathing hard early showing his lack of stamina. His timing and speed was clearly off. He had also talked about retiring over the past couple of years prior to the fight. He was mainly sticking around for the big money Tyson rematch that wasn't forthcoming.

You're Eastern Euro bias shows no bounds.

 

He got 2 or 3 more rounds after the cut and was told as much that he'd receive that many rounds and if it got worse he'd be pulled out.

I wanted the rematch at the time but Lennox at 38 was fully entitled to retire after a long career of beating all comers.

 

can be argued he might have been slightly - but imo not much - past his prime physically, but not mentally and experience wise, in that department he was at his peak imo, same as Wlad klitschko is slightly beyond his physical prime right now probably, but in the strongest position whats concerned with ring strategy/generalship/experience / mentally in his career. all of this imo.


Stamina:
Different to all opponents in between the Klitschko and the holyfield fights, who were all pushovers, Klitschko really posed a challenge to LL, he made him work hard in every round. The fight proved to me on one hand that he was fit and in shape, but on the other hand the high pace took its toll and made him breath hard and appear wasted by the end of the 6th.

 

It appeared to me that after klitschko's cut had opened and deepened LL went for broke in the 5th and 6th, trying to finish him off - which didn't quite work out the way he had planned - but contributed to LL looking spent at the end of the 6th.

Against other opponents before he had either finished these off early or he had paced himself better cos he d not have been in the need to go for broke. Usually LL dominated all the opponents after Holyfield and hardly ever lost a round en route.

 

Look, Lewis - Klitschko really could have gone either way .. Vitali may have been a bit fresher but Lennox was still very game, live , had been in far bigger ways, was the much harder puncher and was nailing Vitali hard .. that cut was terrible and even Vitali could not take too many of those shots blind ..

 

He was way past his physical prime at nearly 38. All boxers are still strong mentally and experience when they're past it, that's a given. It's their speed, stamina and sharpness that they lose. Lennox lost all 3 by the time he faced Vitali, he'd declined before the Holyfield fights too but more so by Rahman and again more by Vitali.

Wlad works harder on his stamina and prep than Lennox did so it's a bit different and he isn't fighting any elite opposition either.

Vitali is a top level boxer and would be a stylistic challenge to any version of Lennox make no mistake about it.

 

Good balanced assessment

 

Good post,
though I do not agree entirely. But we ll just have to agree to disagree on the "how much past his prime" point. I would concede he wasn't prime, but maintain he was very far from being shot. I found him to be ambitious, hungry and sharp in the Vitali match.

IMo Lewis fans sometimes are looking for a reason (or maybe excuse) why LL struggled with Vitali and come up with the "he was so many years past it" argument. They point to the fact that he was losing rounds which had barely happened after Holyfield, that he got hit too often, and that he looked tired by the end of the 6th (= the "he lacked stamina cos he was heavier" argument), all of this was in stark contrast to the fights he d fought before Vitali. So was this all due to him sliding or was it because Klitschko was so much better than those opponents LL had disposed of earlier? Remember, you re only as good as your opponent allows you to be.

I tried to argue the main reason the Vitali fight was so much closer was because Vitali was a life opponent that for his assets alone was on par with LL (which you sort of agreed with above, well in a way) and additionally that the pace of the fight was so high and the bout was so intense (a brilliant match btw even though my fighter lost) and this all made LL look spent at the time the bout was stopped.

LL was a great fighter btw.

 

The enlarged part simply proves the validity of your opinions.

There is nothing LUCKY about continually punching someone and opening cuts above, and below the eye, and inside the mouth requiring dozens of stitches.

Believe it or not, Lewis intended to do it, which is why he kept punching the injured areas.

Anyway, just for your benefit TKO 6.

 

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vitali never was cut prone, not before that fight and not after. LL simply got lucky with hitting the right spot. He also never won another fight on a cuts injury either, to my knowledge, so that cant ever have been his strategy. Without the cut = no win. Then he refused a rematch, leaves a bad taste. Vitali was leading on the cards.

 

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