Lewis reason for not giving vitali a rematch.

Lewis knew there would be a decent chance that Vitaly would knock him out in a rematch, that is why he retired.

I remember being quite surprised he even took the first match as i thought that Vitaly represented the biggest threat to his reign at that time, Vitaly was in his prime while Lewis was significantly fading and it was not like that fight would add anything to Lewis resume, Vitaly was seriously underrated and seen as a quitter with no heart and guts at that time bc of his loss vs Byrd.

Anyway, i think people tend to be a little unrealistic about the possible outcome had the fight not been stopped. Vitaly was hurt badly and the momentum had clearly switched in favour of Lewis at the time of the stoppage, the most likely outcome would have been a knockout-victory for Lewis one or two rounds later.

But it was a close fight, much closer than Lewis had expected and he wouldnt risk his legacy in a rematch knowing that his chances wont improve over time, the risk-reward ratio wasnt worth it, so he retired.

 

Vitali beats Lewis 9/10. Lewis -- any version of Lewis -- won the fight the only way he could have won the fight: An injury to Vitali (and in this case, vs the Byrd fight, a legitimate [caused by a punch] one).

Vitali is all wrong for Lewis: Too big, too durable, too hard a puncher, too mean, too high a workrate and too determined. Vitali was obsessed with Lewis, by all accounts. He knew how to fight him and would have stopped at nothing to beat him. That's why he went berserk when the ref/doctor stopped the bout.

It's not an accident that Vitali has never been behind on the scorecards in any of his fights.

Lewis beat many foes because of his superior size and strength. He didn't have that over Vitali, though his reach was 4" longer. But he couldn't "bully" Vitali as he did to, say, Michael Grant or Ruddock. He couldn't "punk" Vitali, whose chin and will were too strong for that tactic, and that means that any fight between the two men almost certainly ends in either a Vitali points win (far too high a workrate for Lennox to keep up) or a later Vitali stoppage victory (Vitali's chin >>> Lennox's chin).

Before Vitali took the time off for the surgeries, many feel, his power was even greater than it is now. We all remember the bombs he hit Lennox with in the fight.

I would not favor a prime Lewis over today's version of Vitali. This is the exact wrong match-up for Lennox, and he and Vitali knew it, and that's why Lennox quit the game a few fights before he wanted to. He basically did a Mayweather Retirement when it looked like Floyd would have to fight Margarito or Williams.

 

While I am a big fan of Vitali, I can't agree with this point.

Are you really saying that present Vitali would be favoured over Prime Lewis ?

Current Vitali would give prime Lewis a decent fight, but he would, IMO, lose 9 times out of 10.

Prime for prime, both men fully prepared for each other, this is a good match-up, with Lewis having the edge and winning 6 or 7 times out of 10.

But the present version of Vitali no longer has what it takes to deal with one of the greatest heavyweights of alltime.

 

Yes. What I meant there was that, from Lewis' point of view, it was the correct decision.

And no reasonable person would seriously believe his reasons for refusing the rematch. I don't think I need to explain again why not.

But after taking a looo.....oong time to mull it over, the risks very much outweighed the rewards.

He had a lot of money and so didn't need the huge payday. He had beaten every man he ever faced. His two careless losses were decisively avenged and he was in a position to retire as champion. He had a victory over the younger Vitali, and had nothing much left to prove.

His legacy was important to him, and so he retired an ATG.


And stayed retired.

Right decision.

 

Seems like a lot of people claim Lewis would whup Vitali in a rematch because he didn't go into their fight in the best of shape, but I think this is a shitty excuse. A great champion should go into every fight in tip top condition. Lewis was an ATG champion, but this is undoubtedly one of his weaknesses

 

:good

That's why its hard to pick Lewis 10 time out of 10 against any other great heavyweight with enough agression. I still think LL is the best heavyweight boxer ever, but if only he trained like Mayweather for every fight he could have retired unbeaten :verysad

 

Not only is it a shitty excuse, but it is also, for the most part, false.

 

Well it's funny how Lewis didn't give much credit to Rahman or McCall. Crazy how people bring up that Lewis didn't prepare much for the Vitali fight when they fail to remember that Vitali took the fight on a two-weeks notice as well. I definitely think Lewis is an ATG but we'll never know who would win prime vs. prime. I do believe that Vitali would've won that fight if it wasn't for the cut b/c the cut changed the momentum and Vitali couldn't see nearly as well out of that eye. Vitali was CLEARLY winning the fight no problem until he got cut and Lewis knows that.

 

Some points I've picked up through time.

1 - It was documented pre Vitali that Lewis was only interested in a fight against RJJ or Tyson before calling it a day.
2 - He wasn't fully motivated for Johnson, only when the Vitali match happened he motivated himself (his and Stewards words).
3 - Why should he fight Vitali again? How many times in history does a man beat a voluntary challenger only to see him become a mandatory AFTER BEATING HIM!!
4 - Lewis had been talking about retirement since 2000-01, he only really wanted Tyson.
5 - Lewis could have dumped the belt, said **** you to Vitali and chose another path to earn easier $$. THIS would have proved he was ducking Vitali, he didn't, he retired.
6 - The 12 months deciding if he should carry on or call it a day must have been hell. Look at the list of guys who couldn't/can't call it a day and went on for too long Ali, RJJ, Holyfield, Hearns etc

Here's a scenario for you Klitschko fans, imagine this:

Vitali has been talking about retirement for a while now. He fights Haye and for 6 rounds Haye brings it, but in the process Vitali busts Haye up. Round 6 ends and the ref stops the fight when both men are tired. Vitali adreniline fulled promises a rematch in the post fight interview. Time passes and he realises he just doesn't have the motivation for another tough fight and retires with Haye bitching constantly.
Now, even as a Lewis fan I'd identify with the fact that Vitali has nothing left to prove, he beat Haye regardless, tough **** Haye had his shot. But you know what makes me sick? The fact the same Klitschko fans that are here giving Lewis **** would be defending Vitali on the above scenario, ironic and pathetic isn't it?

 

You make a fair point, but I can't see the above happening in a million years. I'm not trying to say anything about Lewis here, but I think Vitali would take that rematch immediately. Too much bad blood between Haye and the Klitschkos

 

Just being picky here but lewis-rahman 1 was on bbc :good