Could a fit and focused Lewis pull out 1 last big hurrah? You bet your bottom dollar hed be capable of it. Personally i think his timing was perfect and he got out at the right time. Not too many fighters in their very last fight and clearly starting to go downhill, coulda pulled off the win that lewis pulled off
Lewis gets a win, on points. Think he's got just enough to get one last win. Lennox Lewis is a legend!!!
Vitali defeats Lewis this time by late stoppage or points. The people backing Lewis to win this has more confidence in his abilities than he had himself.
Vitali, armed with this new information, would be the changer-upper stylistically. He'd close and bait, very long range, and very close range, try to use what he'd learned to control the Lewis sphere of influence, remove his jab, discomfort him. For the sake of transparency, Ii think that Lewis is more brilliant than Vitali, but Vitali, I think, has a clear strategic imperative that might place him in control: discomfort Lewis, take away his jab, fight him in very savage patches at his place of choosing. I think he has the patience, chin, and footwork to make this possible. That said, Lewis has his own weapons, including considerably heavier artillery. This shouldn't be underestimated. Vitali's approach here is to make this a fight, and fighting with a puncher is always risky. We all saw that punch in the first fight. There would be more punches like that. You can't knock Vitali out with one punch - but you can turn the tide, take rounds, make him go very long instead of very short. In summary: a draw.
The one thing you do not really take into account is that Lewis would be better prepared for the rematch. In the first fight, Lewis was overweight because he prepared for an easier opponent.
Lewis + Emanuel Steward already understood how Vitali fights. All that remains is for Lennox to keep his composure, and carry out his gameplan to the end. I think it would be an easier fight than the first for Lennox Lewis because he would be more prepared in every sense (physically and strategically/tactically). Lennox Lewis would win on points, as Vitali is still impossible to knock out, and would only increase his legendary status so much that the HW ATG list would have to be changed; more specifically Lewis would be #3.
I would have loved to have seen the rematch! Having said that, I would go with Lennox Lewis. Lets face it. He wasn't in the best of shape when he fought Vitali the first time and was tearing up his face. He also took some hard shots that he took fairly well considering he was not in the greatest of shape. A more focused LL could probably be more confident knowing that he took everything Vitali threw while not training properly and still came out on top. We have seen what a focused LL can do in rematches (i.e., Rahman II and McCall II). The only rematch he did not completely dominate was Holyfield II, but he still won. However, Vitali may have pushed him to the point where LL knew he did not want to go to hell and back and risk possible defeat to a younger challenger. That is why we may not have seen LL vs VK II.
Lewis by fairly comfortable UD. He really hadn't been in many wars & was pretty well preserved, I could see him getting in good shape and showing VK what it's like to be in there with an ATG. In the first fight Lennox did what the greats do, faced adversity, kept his cool, and got the W.
How long does it take for Vitali’s cuts going to heal? Lewis didn’t prepare for Rahman properly the first time and paid dearly. 3 fights later against Vitali, he did the same thing, as he was the heaviest he had ever been. Vitali said he could tell when fighting Lennox that he wasn’t in good shape. That seems to be a sign of lacking desire/discipline at an old age after a long, accomplished career. Maybe Lewis knew he had lost some of the edge, and wisely retired accordingly.
