MHUAHAHAH! chins weaker the younger you are.... but gets tougher as you get older!! is this the old Russian reversal logic - "in Russia, you don't abort baby...baby aborts you!" keyboard kliturd strikes again.
I definitely don't think so. People exaggerate Vitali's performance in the fight. Lewis was always a slow and sloppy starter who came back storming in the mid and late rounds, giving away early rounds is nothing new to him. ****ing Mavrovic won the first 3 rounds IIRC. Vitali gave Lewis no more trouble than Frank Bruno. The fight was shaping up to become a blow-out in the next few rounds or a relatively sizeable UD victory. Lewis was coming back stronger while Vitali was holding on for dear life in the sixth. A younger Lewis handles him even quicker. Also I would like to point out that I, and plenty of other people actually had it as 3-3 going into the 7th.
So....the cuts appeared after Lennox clocked Vitali, but only after the cuts appeared was Lennox able to cut Vitali, which happened before Lennox was able to hit Vitali and thus causing the cuts?
Rubbish! Lewis didn't pull any 2 weeks notice trick.Vitali was in training to fight Cedric Boswell on the undercard and as a matter of fact he started training before Lewis. Kirk Johnson ,Lewis's original opponent pulled out with a chest injury and Vitali who was to have been the next challenger stepped in. Vitali had gone 10 rounds just 7 months before beating Larry Donald .Lewis, at a career high weight and 37 years old had not fought in a year. Just stop with the bullsh*t.
OP is speculating what if. The same as we speculate what if Marciano fought Dempsey. We try and suspend belief and imagine we have a time machine.
For some of his fights Lewis could be sloppy and less prepared,and it showed in some of his performances. But when Lewis was well prepared and in the zone, he was formidable,and there's no version of Vitali who could beat that Lewis.
Lewis at his best was very good indeed, I agree. I rate Vitali similarly highly; Vitali just looks like Frankenstein's monster lurching around the ring, which is probably why most people downplay him. But if you actually look at his style, it was unorthodox but highly effective. Most HW's had problems landing cleanly on him because of the way he controlled distance using body sway and movement alone. Honestly, even if Lewis had been prepared that night I think he would have had a tough time ... despite what he said about being "like fine wine" I think that he was starting to show his age in the ring, whereas Vitali was probably peak or not far off it. Actual peaks, I dunno who takes it, and I am being honest. I'd like to think Vitali's unorthodoxy, accuracy and toughness win it for him, but would not be surprised at a Lewis win.
I don't really see any of those guys taking care of Vitali. Prime, smoking from the nostrils Tyson, might have a go ... but Lewis never beat that version. So bringing that up is kind of pointless.
It wasn't Lewis's fault when he faced them ,nor that he didn't get the opportunity to fight Bowe. I mention them because in comparison Vitali has a lot of dross on his record imo.