Some have certainly rated Vitali very high. Who? Lennox Lewis's mama. she told Lewis ...(paraphrasing) "that boy whipped you." Lewis never went for the rematch that he agreed to give Vitali. Nah....Vital was and is great. Just read Lewis's mama's quotes.
Vitali was a tough and talented big man. He always came to fight and fight he did. He was a great HW who is not overrated unless you are trying to squeeze him into a top 5 ATG HW. Unfortunately, his injuries cost him some good fights, although it was a shame Lewis refused to give him a rematch in the HW fight everyone wanted to see. Lewis knew he could not rely on cuts getting him a victory again, and after hitting Vitali with his best shots and Vitali still fighting on was just not confident he would win again. So instead of giving the fans the biggest HW fight at the time he chose to ***** out and retire. No honor there. No, make no mistake Vitali would be a tough fight for anyone in any era.