Vitali-AT LEAST in the top 3 highest KO percentages in history for a heavyweight.

The stat only exists because most fighters would have fought better competition by that stage of their career.

Vitali is all hype, very little substance. He stepped up twice & lost twice. I'm not overly impressed with any of his KO wins.

 

Vitali WAS owning Lewis before the cut! The cut changed everything, but Vitali was still winning when the ref stopped the fight. And of course you blind chump, it was Vitali who made Lewis look old and decide to retire rather than than risk a lucrative rematch even though he was pressuring lil old mikey and fatty Jones Junior to the easy table at the same time. And, are you stating a belief that Byrd wins fair and square against Vit when the odds are something like even? But I guess your hatred of Vitali for making Lennox look like a chump to most even minded boxing fans can't find a paralell.

 

Is it me, or does it seem like Klitschko fans are coming onto this thread and calling "no excuses" on the Lewis fight when someone mentions Lewis being unprepared?

Isn't that the height of irony?

 

Vitali ko Lewis round 7!

 

The cut was opened in round 3.

So you are saying Vitali "owned" Lennox for 2 rounds?

And if you watch the fight again without Vitali's nuts obscuring your view, you'll see that the first round was fairly even.

So that's ONE good round against the oldest, fattest version of Lennox ever to set foot in a boxing ring. Followed by a few more rounds where he got his face mashed.

WOW! IMPRESSIVE!!





Also, Lennox swept the last round on all 3 cards, so he was in the ascendancy while Vitali was fading.

 

Why? Why is losing because the other man injured you any more or less legitimate than losing because he outboxed you or knocked you out?

 

Holmes was well past prime at 38. That KO of Mikes was pretty meaningless.

Lennox was at prime (1999-2003). He was a late bloomer.

Tyson was prime 20 -24.

Obviously Vitali didn't dominate Lennox, even in the first 6 before the stoppage. It was close but he had and edge.

Re Byrd: Vitali won 8 of 9 rounds and tore his shoulder. He made the wise choice. This only hurts his legacy in the eyes of those who undervalued him to begin with.

His only true defeat came at the hands of Lewis, an ATG who I rank 3 or 4 alltime.

Prime healthy Vitali, head to head was a difficult opponent.

 

Vitali was his prime at the time about Herbie Hide fight. His movement was great at that time and his right was good to (before surgery)..

 

Looking forward to seeing him KO McLine and then Peter or Maskaev. Just too big and strong for all these muppets.

 

:huh

And you think that the assertion that prime Lennox Lewis wouldn't have been able to KO Corrie Sanders is credible? It's really funny that a younger incarnation of the supposedly heavy handed, quick fisted Corrie Sanders couldn't even get the better of Hasim Rahman in a slugfest or survive a furious onslaught from Nate ****ing Tubbs, yet people want to claim Vitlay was the only guy who could knock him out at an advanced age? :-(

God, I hate idiots.

 

Vitali winning 8 rounds makes his decision to quit weak, not wise. He was in there against one of the lightest hitters in the division, who also had a huge size disasvantage making Vitali's "lean back" defence all the more effective.

All he had to do was not get KO'd and he'd walk away with the victory
without even having to move his injured shoulder.

That was a 100% legit defeat.

Yes, prime & healthy Vitali was a difficult opponent.... but so are 1000's of other HW's. Vitali is nothing special.

 

Nothing special......?????????

:blood

-Highest KO percentage in history; or at least, one of the top three highest in history

-Never been knocked down, even against heavy handed fighters like Lewis and Sanders

-Never been even BEHIND on the cards, even against supreme boxers like Byrd and Lewis



So yeah, his power, countering skill, overall handspeed, defense, and iron chin, aside, I guess you could say that this man is nothing special.

:blood

 

I think Drexl is nothing special as a poster here on ESB. But hey, that's just my opinion............:yep

 

:roll:

Those stats mean next to nothing when you consider the fact that his "marquee" career victories were over Kirk Johnson, Herbie Hide, Larry Donald and Corrie Sanders, and his one title defense in his manufactured status as the recognized HW champ came against Danny Williams.

The guy was a skilled fighter in his prime with excellent size, power, and an awkward style that could give a lot of people fits, but his competition was utterly subpar when compared to the top HWs in history. Sorry, but he was a good fighter who never lived up to his potential and will always be remembered for his losses more than his victories. Nothing special. End of story.


ETA Who the **** is rapidfyre and how did he edit this post last year?

 

:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl I was thinking the same thing.. why do people always point out that Hide was scoring on him for one round? Is that supposed to somehow take away from his ability? That he lost a round to a guy?



And as for the Sanders fight, the judges must've been blind if they actually had Sanders ahead on the scorecards.