Should Lennox Lewis have given Vitali Klitschko a re-match?

I have no problem with him retiring instead of taking the rematch if that is what he wished to do.

 

If Lewis had rematched Vitali at that time he would have gotten his ass beaten. That's what this comes down to.

Actually it comes down to more than that.

It's about Lewis knowing that he would get thumped in a rematch, retiring to avoid the rematch, and then everybody pretending that, yeah, Lewis would have beaten Vitali again. When it's pretty damn obvious that that horrific cut is a one in ten thousand occurrence and very likely the fight would have gone the entire way as it did before the cut: with Lewis getting beaten like a drum.

Lewis was not at his best but he still had enough in the tank to pull off a win against a H2H monster. Kudos to him.

It's how he acted after that helped tarnish his name.

What he should have said was "I've realised that I'm too old for this ****, I realise that I owe Klitschko a rematch but I'm out of my prime and not up to it. As a point of honour I will rather retire than continue fighting without rematching. Good luck."

He'd be looked upon much better methinks.

 

Vitali fought well but this was an old, unmotivated version of Lewis. He had achieved everything he wanted to and there was no real reason to go on in the sport. In a rematch Lewis would have been even older, likely would have lost. Might as well get yourself out of boxing whilst your health is intact and before you lose to someone you would have beaten at your best. Lewis got out at the right time, imo.

 

he didnt fight anyone after, no matter what phone calls were made to boost his retirement.

dont do the white man black man thing again please.

 

^this, idk why this is still a discussion 10 years later. The fact Lennox was nearly 40, out of shape, and had a mediocre chin yet he had no trouble going to war and brawling with a big, strong, young heavyweight says a lot. It would be like if an out of shape Roy Jones stood right in front of Sergei Kovalev and traded punches with him thej stopped him, very uncharacteristic and not what youd expect.

Lennox didnt owe anyone anything, but he probably regrets getting fired up and declaring a rematch in the heat of the moment. He was probably annoyed with people not acknowledging the damage he did and only giving Vitali credit "look at the state of his face".