lets face it Lewis was training for Vitali all along.

He didnt "put on mass"

Why would a guy who is 6'5 and weighs about 240-245 when in shape,and with ATG skills,have to "put on mass" to fight Vitali?

Give me a break.

 

/oldest,heaviest,least active Lewis to ever step in the ring.

 

TKO6: A victory in boxing, with immediate termination of the match, awarded by the referee when one fighter is getting his ass kicked for the first six rounds.

 

Why don't you look on youtube? There are plenty of vids of him and compared to his earlier fights.

Don't understand what you point is. Let's face it, he was not in the best shape of his life and Vitali lost to an out of shape Lewis.

+1

 

Lewis was the best heavyweight since Holmes and one of only two heavyweights of the 90s that fought all comers and Lewis is the one of the two that beat all comers. He is an ATG.

Vitali is a great fighter who dominates in a weaker era of heavyweights. Vitali haters always point to the Lewis fight to criticize him yet he continued to fight despite the fact he looked as if he had taken a shotgun blast to his face. It was the doctor/ref who stopped the fight. Not Vitali. In my mind, he made up for the loss to Byrd.

There is no way to accurately judge how Vitali would performed in the Lewis/Tyson/Holyfield era when the heavyweight division was so deep.

Why the **** do we feel the need to continually harp on this fight?

 

I swear about 1/2 the Klitschko fans on this forum must have been about 8 years old when the fight took place. Most of the time, they don't have the foggest idea of what they're talking about.

 

As I recall, Lewis was promoting the fight (Lion Productions) and so when Johnson pulled out, he had about 10M reasons to fight Vitali then instead of their scheduled bout in November.

 

Read this then crawl back into your hole troll.

Question: Emanuel and Lennox, can you give us some opening comments?

Steward: There is a lot of credit due to Lennox Lewis, because it is very difficult to change up an opponent at the last moment. In this case, changing up means fighting a guy three inches taller as opposed to three inches shorter. If Lewis was fighting a normal guy, this would be a difficult change, but fighting Klitschko is a major change. We have to adjust to punching up, instead of punching down. It is very difficult to get him to adjust and difficult to get proper sparring partners, but Lewis’ natural talent and experience will take him through. This is the biggest fight in the heavyweight division. To me as a trainer, I am more excited about this fight than the Kirk Johnson fight.

Lewis: I am excited as well. The fact that Klitschko and I were training for different opponents, and changed to fight each other just two weeks before the fight is incredible. It was unfortunate that Johnson could not fight, but Klitschko and I said why not now, rather than waiting until November. It is a good opportunity to show the world how great I am, and how well I can adjust. It is just a size difference. I am a person that can adjust very easily. This is my chance to show the world that I can do that.

Question: Lennox, how determined were you to make the fight happen?

Lewis: I thought this was a good opportunity to make the fight happen due to the fact that not a lot of people knew Johnson as know Klitschko. This fight was supposed to be coming in November, and it was a situation where the June 21 card would have seen both of us showcase our talent as a run up to fight in November. Now, there is no run up. We are just going to give Los Angeles what they wanted, a great fight and a great card. I am just happy to be a part of it.

Question: Are you much more motivated for this fight than you were for Kirk Johnson?

Lewis: I am much more motivated for this fight against Klitschko. I am more motivated because of his size and because he has been trying to take me to into court to take my title. I am motivated due to the fact that his promoter likes to see his name in the paper. At one time, we tried to make this fight and his promoter was lying to the Klitschko brothers and overpriced himself trying to get extra money. I feel good and confident about the fight and I am ready to go.

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/boxing-news/Lennox-Lewis-Interview.php

 

He wasn't training for VK. That is utterly ridiculous. P

 

what this guy said:good:good:good
THUMBS UP:good:good:good

 

:good

Lewis didn't give up 30 million cause he was to rich for his own good...

 

this:good

 

A whole 7 pounds heavier than he was against Tyson who at that point was seen as a credible threat to Lewis.

Lighter than he was against Tua which many consider one of Lewis' best performances.