http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=1853&cat=boxer Just for anyone that wants to claim otherwise.
Noone can dispute who rightfully won. But the ongoing hullaballoo is due to the fact that the fight's ending due to cuts was not decisive enough to deem that Lewis was clearly the *better man*. While Lewis did indeed win, the fact that Vitali won more of the siz rounds, had Lewis hurt, and Vitali was still very much in the fight when it was stopped all pointed to the fact that the ending was not desicive enough for lewis to retire on. He could have rematched Klitschko, and had he beaten him decisively the second time, THAT would have been a great note and another mega payday with which to retire on. But to many fans Lewis looked like he retired when he did, with unfinished business, as an avoidance of the mega rematch EVERYone wanted to see. I think he wasn't confident in his chances to win a rematch, and that's why he retired when he did, instead of making a mega payday, and going out on a clear win over Vitali in a rematch and leaving NO doubt that he was the better man than EVERYone he faced................But he didn't leave on that note. Many think he and VItali didn't clearly show who was the better man..............Lewis retiring with such a big fight looming speaks volumes as to his confidence in his ablity to *eat Vitali for lunch* in a rematch............
I am not baised enough to deny the fact that Lewis was coming on pretty good in the sixth, but not strong enough to omit the need for a rematch. Vitali took the best uppercut, flush, Lewis had, and didn't even begin to show knees buckling. A rematch would have put Lewis's career in a MUCH more clear light, had he took the rematch and won. The way it is, people question if lewis was really able to decisively beat Vitali, much less *eat him for lunch*, as he said he would post fight interview.... Then why didn't he DO it, instead of retiring with such a high demand rematch looming............??? Was Lewis too old at a mere 37? Maybe so, but I don't think age was much of a factor. Lewis knew Vitali was a handful for him at any age.
You can have a 1,000 pages even more, and it's not going to change the outcome of the fight. Lewis won by TKO and no matter how many times you rehash this fight, the end result isn't going to change.