Do you view a Lewis vs Klitschko rematch was really necessary?

Why did they wait till the 6th round to stop the fight?
did it have anything to do with, ho, I don't know:think, maybe if it was stopped before six it would go to the cards?

 

Lewis should of been disqualified in that fight.I think as well as others that it was a foul that caused the main cut.Lewis cheated,he was a fraud and still is since he still can't admit that as well as the fact that Vitali retired him.No way would the inferior Lewis won a fair fight in the rematch.

 

:good Agreed,100%

 

Indeed.

I know the obvious is that Vitali was ahead on the cards, and, yeah, it was a close fight and Vitali did well but towards the end of the fight, you could see the true difference in quality. Vitali landed everything he had on Lewis but he went nowhere. Instead of folding, he came back strong and started to boss the fight, landing punishing punches on Vitali. Had the fight gone on any further, I don't think it would have been any different. Lewis, even then, was the much better technician and it showed.

The point about a rematch being necessary is that Vitali was ahead but, had there been a rematch, the gulf in quality between the two would have been more apparent. Lewis started slow and, yeah, he was punished but Lewis was always a slow starter, as evident against guys like Bruno, and, against Vitali, being close to shot only made matters worse. Vitali had the perfect gameplan, which was to turn it into a war early and finish Lewis off but it just didn't work. There was a good point about Lewis in another thread, where the poster said that Lewis was a boxer but he had another game, where he was a rough fighter. Maybe that's what made him such a great fighter, I don't know, but what was intriguing about the Vitali fight, is that instead of Lewis boxing first and going to war as a last resort, this was the other way around. Vitali made the fight rough, so Lewis responded because he started slow and was vulnerable. Once he found his form, he started outboxing Vitali.

The key for me is Lewis' footwork. I'm not sure if Lewis was out of shape like people always say, though he wasn't in prime condition, but you can clearly tell that in the Vitali fight, his legs weren't there. For a big guy, Lewis had great movement but against Vitali, he looked really poor. A fighters legs going is the sign of a near shot fighter and that's what I think Lewis was. Luckily for him, after a few rounds, he started to find his feet a bit more and his footwork improved which is when he took over the fight.

The only thing which would make a rematch truly interesting, is if in the period between the first fight and the rematch, Lewis lost his legs completely, ie became shot. If that is the case, we'd have another war but Vitali wouldn't get much credit for that, even if he won. If Lewis could manage one more fight and he was in good physical shape, not looking shot at all, he'd soundly outbox Vitali and probably stop him late.

I think Lewis made the right decision though. Anyone who is subjective knows how close Lewis was to being considered a shot fighter and, ultimately, it wasn't worth the risk. What was the point? He beat Vitali soundly enough and I don't think all the discussion about who was winning, what would have happened after, who would win a rematch etc., is really necessary. Lewis beat Vitali up so badly, his career was in jeopardy. The referee had no choice.

A more interesting fight for Lewis would have been Wlad, I think. As his legs had started to go and he didn't have much time left, Wlad staying on the outside, firing off 30 jabs a round and boxing Lewis could have worked. Prime for prime, I think Lewis knocks out Wlad inside 7, but Lewis at the end of his career against that Wlad? Interesting fight and I'd possibly go with Wlad, especially if it was a boxing match rather than a brawl.

Like I've said though, there was a conclusive winner. We only saw a very poor Lewis and, pretty much, the best of Vitali. In a rematch, if Lewis improved, he'd win easily. If he became any worse, he would have been a shot fighter and in that case, Vitali beating him wouldn't be significant.

 

Lennox? is that you?

 

Massive cut across his nose?

 

Lewis was ready to be knocked out in the very next round, but he was saved. A rematch was wanted by all, including HBO, huge money, but Lewis remembered all the blood he swallowed from his badly broken nose, and how he was staggered, more than once. Haters dream about somebody beating Vitali, anyone, so they go back in time and dream. Lewis was ready to be knocked out, he was out of gas, done for, even Max said it. Angelo Dundee said that Vitali was cheated out of the WBC title that night. Lewis was saved by his promoter, doctor and ref. Vitali was not even warned. Lewis was holding on for dear life and he knows it. Notice that a picture of Lewis being staggered was not shown, or Lewis holding on to keep from going down. Lewis was hurt more than once.

 

Solid Post.

 

This content is protected

 

We obviously have different perspective, what is considered massive cut.

What would you call Vitalis cut?

 

Absolutely. The level of excuses about the first fight that persist to this day out of fans on both sides of things tells me that it wasn't settled properly the way a rematch (with both guys getting full camps to focus on each other) would've done it.

 

If Lennox would give the rematch we wouldn't have this discussion now ... right?

... wondering what would happen in the rematch is just like not giving the win the full credibility.

 

Intead we would have 13 page discussions, where Klitchko fans accuse Lewis being a coward, because he retired before facing Wlad and other threads where Farmboxer tells exactly why, Vitali should have won both of the matches


[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

 

The good news is the first match was a hell of an appetizer.

The bad news is the restaurant closed before we got a taste of the main course.