Facts about Vitali

- Made his pro debut at 25, having had 210 amateur boxing bouts and been a world kickboxing champion prior to that

- Lost to 6’, 211 lbs (made his pro debut at 22 weighing 169 lbs), underpowered, slick southpaw Byrd, in Germany, made no attempt to rematch Byrd and avenge the RTD loss

- Taken 12 rounds for the first time by his tallest opponent: 6’7, 253 lbs, Sprott-victim Hoffmann, in Germany, the best super-heavyweight that Vitali ever beat

- Lost to 6’5, 257 lbs champion Lewis, in America, a rare instance where Vitali was the B-side and underdog

- Taken 12 rounds by 243 lbs spoiler Kevin Johnson (109-59 punches landed according to heavyweightpunchcounts), in Switzerland and by 262 lbs Briggs, in Germany

- Taken 12 rounds in his hardest and most competitive win (211-163 punches landed according to Compubox) against a determined 241 lbs Chisora, in Germany

- 0 KD’s across 6 fights and 63 rounds against Byrd, Hoffmann, Lewis, Kevin, Briggs and Chisora, 15 of Vitali’s 19 wins post-Mahone/age 28-41 went to the 8th round or beyond

- Game domestic level fighters 270 lbs Danny Williams and 225 lbs Sosnowski were able to take Vitali’s power and volume until the 8th and 10th rounds respectively

- Marquee victory was 6’4, 235 lbs Sanders in Germany, who Vitali didn’t knock down over 8 rounds and who’d never had a semi-notable KO win after the first 7.5 minutes in 41 fights

- Only active for 1657 days (39%) of the 4235 days that constituted the Klitschko era

- Wanted a shot at Lewis ahead of Wlad, advised Wlad to retire prior to Peter 1, prevented Wlad from becoming undisputed heavyweight champion by holding the WBC belt hostage from October 2008 to May 2014 (when Stiverne and Arreola fought for Vitali’s vacated WBC title), claimed he told Wlad not to go for the KO against Joshua after Wlad dropped him in the 6th and said that Wlad had “nothing more to prove” in the context of a potential Joshua rematch

 

More facts about Vitali

- 6’7, 250 lbs

- Never officially knocked down (with only two debatable cases)

- High punch output

- Only officially lost 10 rounds out of 235 contested (never more than 2 in a fight, never behind on the scorecards after 2 rounds)

- 3rd highest KO/TKO ratio among heavyweight titlists

- Historically long-reigning heavyweight titlist

- 2nd oldest heavyweight titlist

- Ring champion (2004)

- P4P ranked (2011-2012)

- Started the Klitschko era by beating Sanders, “avenging” Wlad’s loss for him

- Retired Lewis

 

Prior to the Vitali fight, Lewis was considering at least three more fights (Vitali, Tyson 2, Wlad), perhaps more after that (Wlad 2 or Jones). If Lewis had won easily and there had been no controversy (hence massive demand for a rematch) then there would have been no retirement for 2-3 fights.

 

Vitali only stopped face-first plodding brawlers (late).

Vitali ducked 61% of the Klitschko era and quit against a 6', 211 lbs slickster who laughed off his punches.

Vitali's "resume" is on a par with Wilder's, except Wilder has a better top opponent beaten and would be far more likely to go through Vitali's record unbeaten than Vitali would be to go through Wilder's.

 

"It may not have had anything to do with Vitali at all."

Sure it didn't. Complete coincidence:

“Lennox Lewis will fight on 8 March against Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas – the first of three fights next year (2003) that will end with him back in Las Vegas fighting Vitali's brother, Wladimir, in November.” - “Lewis prepares for Tyson rematch”, 2002

“Question: What is your opinion of the heavyweight division right now?

Lewis: I could be around for a long time if I choose.” - L. Lewis, June 12th 2003

"Some people said I should have fought (Vitali) Klitschko again, but what for? I beat him and there will always be somebody out there, someone else to fight, but I've created a legacy, so why put it all at risk?" - L. Lewis, 2008

 

You can always choose to go on provided you haven't been physically disabled. Three or four more fights pre-fight became his last fight post-fight. Lewis's career was curtailed because he had a controversial win and didn't want to rematch, hence Vitali retired him.

I don't blame Lewis for that, he left at the right time unlike so many others.