Lewis vs. Klitschko

it was a great fight with winning lewis faire and square. but imagine a rematch, where both would have a proper 6 weeks training camp. that would have been a classic.
and i would have no idea who would have won

 

i do lewis

 

to be honest, i'm a big klitschko fan, but i'm very sure, that lewis would have won every fight against vitali on cuts, cause vitali and vlad get very easily cut. and lewis would have knocked out vlad.
lewis is the best fighter ever, not the greatest, but the best, thats a big difference. and i think followed by vitali and vlad, cause of the circumstances, that all 3 are bigger then 6.5, about 245 pounds, great athletes, and have all crazy ass punching power and the most important thing, they are very smart and great tacticians

 

best excuse i "stray dread"

 

Talk of Vitali being less than 100% for Lewis is crap,he came in at 248lbs and weighed 250lbs 6 months later for his WBO title eliminator against Kirk Johnson.
Lewis in contrast was his heaviest ever at 2561/2lbs,and he was 3 months short of 38 years old.Vitali's fan boys make some **** up. :-(

 

Its just more proof of the state of the division. Lewis proved what needed to be done to beat Vitali. Hes the only one that had the skills to do it, and he wasnt at his best.
Arreola had the right game plan but he didnt have the skills to do it. The problem is most (with an exception of a few), have the exact style of Vitali. They box from the outside. Lewis being the complete fighter he was, had the ability to not only use an effective jab, but get close by throwing power shots and applying a lot of pressure. He didnt show the best defense either, but he was smart enough to realize he needed a little more behind his jab, something Arreola never figured out. A hard power shot behind his jab would have been a lot more effective than double jabbing and then getting pelted by Vitali.

 

I can't see any rational argument which harbors Vitali Klitschko being unprepared for the Lewis bout. He was fighting at basically his best weight and knew damn well that he was in the biggest match of his career. Lewis was the one who was off for a year, 37 years old, and fighting at a caeer high weight.... Sure Vitali took the bout with only a few weeks notice, but doesn't the same thing apply to Lewis?

 

Just a point to ponder...imagine if the situation had been reversed. Imagine the Klitschko that fought Arreola (Vitali is 38 now) against a 32 year old Lewis, but a reasonably untested Lewis, at least at the top level.

Interesting scenario, I think.

 

I think a 32 year old Lewis vs A 38 year old Vitali would be a mismatch frankly. We'd probably be looking at Lewis vs Golata all over again...

 

Last weekend, Vitali showed top form and didn't seem to have gone back that much since the Lewis fight..... However, i thought he looked to have deteriorated against Gomez, so it's a bit of an unknown. But with his iron chin, heavy hands and still present stamina (80 punches a round), he would give Lewis a lot more fight than Golota did.



As for him not being prepared for Lewis.... that goes both ways. Physically, he was 100%. The Klitschko's are ALWAYS in top shape, whether they're fighting Mickey Mouse or Lennox Lewis.

 

Okay, I suppose claiming that Lewis would dispatch Vitali in one round is a bit of a stretch. I do however feel that Lewis from 1996-1999 was a hell of a lot better looking in the ring than he was from about 2001 onward... Its not unreasonable to think that he might have beaten Vitali faster and more impressively than he actually did in 2003.

 

I think a 32 year old Lewis stops a 38 yearold Vitali around the 7th rd.

 

I suspect not only had Vitali been preparing a plan for Lewis but had numerous chances to put it in to practice against baby brother in the numerous rounds they sparred. Both brothers were being lined up for shots at Lewis before Sanders derailed Wlad and pushed Vitali to the front of the queue. Its ludicrous to suggest Vitali was unprepared

 

Lewis threw more power punches back in 92. I dont think Vitali punches hard enough or would be savvy enough to do what Mcall did. Remember Emanuel Steward had the limited Mcall focusing on only one punch to time Lewis coming in, the counter righthand. Lewis would have put similar pressure on Vitali and really the jab and distance which Lewis later perfected would be less of a factor just as it was in their fight in 2003.

 

Vitali/Lewis answered as many questions at it left hanging in the air. Despite neither fighter being their sharpest, I think its probably top performances from both men that showed a great deal about their character. Lewis was clearly not a china chin softie that couldn't get physical and Vitali was obviously not a no hope quiter. Regardless of weight issues and training, both men showed up for a fight and did not disappoint. Still, unlike most in this particular thread I find the fight to be terribly inconclusive. The fact is that Lewis was down on the cards and awarded the fight based off a glancing punch in the 3rd round(I think) that Vitali pulled from at an awkward angle. Yeah, Vitali had other superficial injuries to his face but so did Lewis; the gash over the eye was the determining factor in the stoppage. Fights have continued with worse cuts and been stopped with lesser ones, it was the doctors decision at the time and his alone. Vitali's eye was holding up the previous rounds but anything could happen had the fight continued. Lewis struggles seemed to stem moreso from Vitali's odd timed short arm counter punching moreso than careless conditioning on his part, could he adjust better had they met again? Could Vitali avoid another eye injury? A rematch would have been very interesting.