2003 Lennox Lewis vs 2017 Anthony Joshua

Aesthetically it was horrible. But it was also effective and ultimately that's all that mattered.

I don't think Vitaly's resume aligns with his talent and honestly at the time he was Champion the other Champions were defending against similar if not better competition than he was defending against. To say that AJ at this juncture is more accomplished isn't really fair either. Vitaly has more depth on his resume, even if the names in his win column don't inspire.

AJ can surpass Vitali if he beats Fury and becomes undisputed. Then beats Wilder and Usyk he would have effectively cleaned out the division.

 

His style wasn't effective against the the two best guys he fought. . Its ok to say his unorthodox style was effective if it was proven against elite levellers but it wasn't.

AJ has already surpassed Vitali. He is a two time unified world champion with 9 defenses. He is only one of 4 in history to win back his belts in an immediate rematch.

Technically Vitali was not better than some of the guys Joshua beat like Povetkin.

 

He didn't duck anyone though ... You can only fight who is available ....

I always find this ironic because it was Lewis who ducked Vitali into retirement

 

There wasn't anybody to duck during that era.

But he did withdraw from a fight with McCline. Low ball Valuev. Retire rather than face Rahman. And blatantly avoided rematching Chris Byrd.

Yes , Lewis chose to retire rather than take the rematch. Kinda like how Vitali chose to retire rather than defend his belt against Stiverne

 

I remember the Vitaly vs Rahman situation. Cancelled fight after fight after fight. It was frustrating to all involved. That was a blatant duck.

But I still maintain that his style was effective, even if it weren't crowd pleasing or aesthetic. Just because he lost it doesn't mean he wasn't effective, fighters will LOSE at some point in their careers.

 

Lewis said he would give Vitali a rematch.

Did Vitali say he would rematch Byrd?

Lewis never fought McCall for the third time ... Their second fight should have been a NC ... McCall was not fit to box.

Lewis also never fought Mercer again and many had Mercer edging out Lewis ... I personally thought Mercer got the better of Lewis in their fight and should have at least gotten a draw.

I'm not saying that Vitali is better than Lewis, but I don't think AJ is as good as Vitali ... But that can all change if he beats Fury

Lol actually he did duck Rahman ... Canceled fighting him 4 times .... Lol

 

No , he flat out ducked it.. When a fight ends that way there has to be a rematch. . Vitali walking away proved Byrds win was no fluke , but you could see that after a few rounds.. Vitali's style did not mesh with Byrds slickness

 

Been a long time since I've seen that fight ... But I believe it ... A shoulder injury against a slick fighter is likely due to the opponent more so than a freak injury ... Especially if he has no prior history of shoulder injury

 

Lewis actually turned down a $20 million offer to face Mercer in the rematch. Manny Stewart didn't want to risk him and preferred the winner of the Holyfield vs Moorer rematch.

 

This is the most disingenuous post ever.... Vitali was OLD and on the comeback trail when he fought Johnson who was PRIME... Joshua was PRIME when he fought Johnson who was OLD...

If this is the best you can do then I’m pretty satisfied I won the argument..

by the way Joshua DID fight someone who was similar to one of Vitali’s opponents and got KTFO. His name was Kirk Johnson.

 

Honestly I thought highly of Joshua in his first dozen or so fights. But he struggled mightily against a very diminished Klitschko who was 40 years old, off for something like 15 months and lost his last bout. He looked underwhelming against Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker... and then there was the Ruiz loss. This is a guy who was supposed to be at his pinnacle for all these fights.

 

And the flip side of that is Joshua’s chin isn’t as good as Vitali’s. Some of those huge upper cuts Lewis was landing on Klit might have floored Joshua

 

This is a good point

Those were monster shots ... But Lewis didn't have the greatest chin himself ... Had it been AJ banging away at Lewis' skull at will instead of Vitali it could have put Lewis away ....

AJ is better inside than Vitali ... He would likely beat old slow clinching Lewis to the punch ... That's where Lewis was landing those uppercuts

 

I suppose

 

If a 28 year old AJ with the power of youth on his side can't beat an old, fat, out of shape, slow, clumsy 38 year old Lewis then that's a shame