I think that Vitali was definately looking the stronger of the two when it was stopped but I think Lennox would have caught up with him eventually.
Such a sick provincial attitude! Lewis was ready to go, Vitali was just getting warmed up to knock Lewis out cold in the 7th round, even Max Kellerman, a known Klitschko hater said that Lewis was done for, he was sitting right behind Lewis' corner. Lewis refused to fight a rematch, and for good reason.
Missed out the most important option 'Out of prime Lewis tore prime Klitchko's face apart and got a tko. End of pointless debate.'
Lewis is still running from Vitali. Vitali is still trying to get him into the ring. Vitali does not run out of gas, but Lewis did and has before. Lewis was done for, but can't make sense against provincial attitutes.
As a Vitali fan, I have to be embarrassed by some of the more deluded posts on this thread.. IMO, very hypothetically, if the cut could have been cleaned up with star trek technology to the point that it was not a factor, Vitali would have had a better chance of winning the fight than Lennox. Both men were very tired but Lennox was more tired. That said, the cut was there. It was caused by a punch. Cuts are a part of boxing. Lennox stopped Vitali in the sixth. The stoppage was good. Vitali was in his prime. Lennox had begun his slide. A prime Lennox v prime Vitali results in a Lennox win 8 times out of 10. Lennox was a top 5 alltime great heavywt. Vitali wasn't quite top 10.
Abso-****ing-lutely. Does anyone actually believe Klitschko would have half as much success against a primed, fully focused Lennox Lewis. Lewis was supposed to be fighting Kirk Johnson that night if I recall. At that stage in his career he wasn't the athlete he used to be. I like Vitali but some of the trash he and his supporters talk about Lewis is disrespectful and frankly ludicrous. Big upright robotic guys like Klitschko didn't fair too well against Lewis in the past.
I don't remember the doctor throwing any punches. :huh By your logic, no fighter has ever stopped another fighter in the history of the sport - either the referee or the doctor stopped it. :roll:
I remember dragging my more expert boxing roomate to the fight. I told him this would be a good fight. He told me it wasn't. Boy was he wrong. I must admit, I have wondered the same question as the OP over the years. Quite frankly, I couldn't say, its so up in the air...both were pretty much gassed. It was probably the best heavyweight fight on this decade.
With that cut? maybe! Or Vit may have flattened him. No way does Lennox make top ten in history, 11 - 12 maybe!
So did Vitali loose to an ATG fighter or just to an over the hill fighter who was at best 11-12th? How bad was Vitali? Obviously the better Lewis was as a fighter, the more impressive Vit's near win was.