If Lennox's last defense were against Wladimir?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIRShCBKwng[/ame]

 

Wlad gets KO'd.

 

Sure. Its certainly possible and youre right Wlad can bang and Lewis can be knocked out, but Id still pick Lewis everytime.

 

If Lewis met Wlad instead of Vitali...I'm not sure. I see two scenarios:

-A disinterested Lewis gets blasted out very early by an aggressive Wlad. Unlike Vitali, Wlad has the power to finish Lennox with one punch.

-A disinterested Lewis gets hurt early, spoils his way out of trouble, suckers Wlad into a trap or stops him when he's gassed.

I don't see it as easy a Lennox win, because when he gave these types of disinterested performances he didn't jump on his opponents like he would have to against Wlad. It wasn't until Vitali hurt him that Lennox woke up and went to war. It wasn't until Rahman knocked him out that Lennox did what he had to do in the rematch and pour the offense on. Regardless of Wlad's short comings at this time, Rahman was pretty vulnerable too..but both these guys can punch. Lewis may not get a chance to adapt and make a fight out of it.

:huh

I would favor Lewis, but I think its a riskier fight than Vitali, who just had no chance of making Lewis pay for his lapses with those stinging but not devestating punches.

 

Any version of Wlad isn't going to go out there and demolish any version of Lewis. That's never been Wlad's game against big/powerful opponents.

Today's Wlad would outbox a 2003 Lewis with his jab.

Wlad in 2003 would look interesting in the first 0:30-2:00, then get caught. Wlad had very few survival skills back then, so even the fat old Lewis who beat Wlad would be able to finish him off, albeit sloppily. The early Wlad never beat a boxer with anything like the combination of power, size, strength and skill that Lewis had in 2003. Even Vitali only did so well because Vitali has the tools to really punish all but the best-prepared boxers.

 

Do you think Lewis was disinterested when he faced Vitali? I didnt. I thought he was just fighting one of those Grant Golota Briggs type pressure fights and its Vitali's ability that held him up a little better. Lewis was not a good pressure brawler, ever really, but it was the kind of fight that Lewis had to fight to beat Vitali. Vitali could have jabbed and probably outboxed Lewis if he laid back and tried to win that way, so Lewis fought the right fight, its just Vitali was able to make Lewis look bad for a few rounds as he broke him down but Lewis really started to come on strong in the end, but it was a physical fast paced fight, and Lewis probably wasnt in peak physical condition but I thought he fought with a lot of heart and balls.

 

Disintersted is probably a strong word...maybe some of these guys are rubbing off on me. More like Lewis on cruise control; lots of clinching and pawing range finding, just looking to control the fight. I don't think it was until Vitali rocked him in the second that Lewis and Steward adapted the pressure at all cost approach for the rest of the fight.

I think Vitali's lack of early KO power was a major drawback for hm in this fight. His inability to finish Lewis gave him and Steward time to figure him out, try out different things, and scrape by. If Rahman only rocked Lewis with that big right in their first fight, I think there's a good chance Lennox would have regrouped with Steward and got past him somehow.

 

The big difference between the two brothers is that Viali can handle the type of pressure Lewis brings far better than Wlad could. Rather than Wlad being aggressive and trying to get Lenny out of there, he'd be trying to back up and trying to avoid the onslaught, which would only make a KO inevitable. Wlad just doesn't like getting hit or isn't prepared to go to war with someone, it's probably his only weakness but it's a big one in this situation.

 

Lewis wasn't bringing any pressure until Vitali knocked him around the ring for 2 rounds. If Wlad was knocking Lewis around the ring like that and hitting him with that many clean right hands..I doubt him and Steward would have a chance to adapt.

 

No Lewis was pressuring from the opening bell. Thats part of the reason he was getting knocked around a bit. Not his best fighting style.

 

I disagree. Lewis was trying to bring pressure right from the begining, it's just that Lewis' timing was off for the first couple of rounds, and he would either miss or Vitali would raise his arms and partially block his punches, and of course punch back. It's been awhile since I seen this fight, but I do believe the game plan was consistant throughout the fight, it just become more effective as the fight wore on.

 

I'll concede on that, yeah, looking to do lots of grabbing and hitting from the start but initially getting overpowered. In the third round he really went for broke and let his hands go though, Vitali got caught napping at the start of the round.

"Keep pushing him.."-Steward after Round2.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDot0rbYSfo[/ame]

 

It wasn't Lewis best kind of fight but a very necessary fight to beat vitali. Personally I, like I'm sure both Lewis and Steward, thought that Vitali would fold a lot sooner.
Noone since has realized it's the only way to beat him. Even if these opponents aren't comfortable fighting a physical pressure fight they should be taking their best shot at it.

 

Arreola and Sanders pressured Vitali..but it wasn't physical. Both guys were lost once they got held inside, while Lewis endlessly wrestled and snuck some damaging punches in after clinching. Neither fighter had that long lead right cross either that did so much damage at the start of round 3, even if it wasn't landing all that clean. Vitali started smothering it after the fact but the troubling cuts to his lead eye had already been inflicted.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9OkXneaGkM&feature=related[/ame]

 

Because Vitali's chin is a hundred times better than his brothers ,and he does not mess his shorts when attacked?