Vitali Klitschko's power.

Wlad has actually claimed 6'6 and 6'5 depending on the time of the day morning to evening.

He does seem like a rare boxer who may underestimate he looks roughly the same as AJ in height when they fought it was hard to see much a difference.

 

Thank you, and I was wrong about Sanders not being ring rated before Wlad.

I found it, but it was very difficult to navigate.

 

It's worth noting that the ratings in the Sep '94 issue are for the period ending May 12 of that year, which would explain why the Nate Tubbs blow out is not a factor at this point, and why he dropped back out of the ratings by the following month.

 

So he got ranked by beating Mike Williams. Did you see the names Williams was fighting and their records? Only in boxing. Just goes back to what I've always said, that as talented as Sanders was he just didn't have the mental fortitude of an elite level boxer. He caught lightning in a bottle against Wlad, and just as quickly disappeared again.

 

Agreed. Sanders had the potential but his heart wasn't in it. He just showed up and did what he did - and there was a certain appeal in that almost nonchalant approach he took, relying on just raw ability – at least, at first.

But things never picked up from there. He didn't seem to improve, so inevitably reached his ceiling some place below world level, in my opinion.

 

These were all the Ring rated HWs when Lennox was Ring rated that he didn't fight.

1) Buster Douglas
2) Carl Williams
3) George Foreman
4) Pierre Coetzer
5) Michael Moorer
6) Larry Holmes
7) Tim Witherspoon
8) Alex Stewart
9) Alex Garcia
10) Tony Tubbs
11) Mike Hunter
12) Michael Bentt
13) Herbie Hide
14) Larry Donald
15) Corrie Sanders
16) Jorge Luis Gonzalez
17) Alexander Zolkin
18) Bruce Seldon
19) James Thunder
20) Ike Ibeabuchi
21) David Izon
22) Chris Byrd
23) Kirk Johnson
24) Derrick Jefferson
25) Oleg Maskaev
26) Wladimir Klitschko
27) John Ruiz
28) Mount Whitaker
29) Jameel McCline
30) Fres Oquendo
31) Roy Jones
32) James Toney
33) Riddick Bowe*

 

Lennox 17-2-1 against ring top 10 ranked opponents 44 fights. Vits 6-2. In 47 fights. Now I may have missed a name or two for either fighter, but you should get the point.

 

Long time no talk Johnny boy. You seem to be embellishing a tad about tearing half of Kabayel's face off while making your Vitali point. It was a pretty bad cut, but, guess what? It's a cut. In Vitali's 47 fight history we've never talked about a cut impacting the outcome of the fight. So, yes, you're boy was extremely lucky that night. Let me also break it down mathematically for you. If they fought again there would be a ~2% chance of Vitali getting stopped by a cut. I don't like those odd's. How about you?

I just listed all of the Ring ranked fighters that Lennox never fought while he was Ring ranked. There were plenty of them. I honestly don't understand why I had to look them all up, but to prove to McVey that Lewis didn't fight a bunch of contenders, too. Some how you Lewis fans have this perceived notion that Vitali just fought second tier fighters. Vitali never ducked anyone. And I'm pretty sure he would have been the betting favorite over anyone else in boxing at the time (except maybe Lewis if they were to fight again or Wlad).

So if Vitali didn't have Lewis almost knocked out what would you call it? The height thing lol. Like I said, there are boxing publications that list him at 6'8. Look at the Lewis fight. Do you think Lewis only looks 2 inches shorter? Vitali vs. Timo Hoffmann they look the same size (and Hoffmann is 6'8). Let's look at common opponents with McCall & Rahman. McCall went the distance with Orlin Norris. Vitali knocked him out in the 1st round. Rahman went the distance with Obed Sullivan and Ross Puritty. Vitali knocked them out in the 9th and 11th. I mean this is silly thinking Rahman or McCall hit harder than Vitali. Their KO% tells the story. Rahman can't even KO the glass-jawed Maskaev in 2 fights, but hits harder than Vitali, okay buddy.

I've already cited the source about the extra weight for Lewis: Emmanuel Steward. He mentions it in between rounds of the fight. The extra weight was needed against Vitali. I mean it doesn't get more clear than that.

Styles make fights. As you know, Chris Byrd was a former middleweight, he is very elusive at 6'1. Byrd was quicker than Vitali and could evade the big shots. That's all I'm saying.

I probably crossed the line about Lewis' wife. She's not ugly.

I've refuted a lot of your points here. Again, none of what I said is "ludicrous". They are just these little things called "facts" and educated guesses.

 

Klitschko and Norris, each fighting at his heaviest weight to date, appeared to be feeling each other out when Norris went down from a jab 38 seconds into the first round. The crowd booed and a disgusted Klitschko waved for Norris to get up. He was up at the count of four and did not seem to be hurt. Klitschko came forward and threw a left hook that missed, followed by a right cross that glanced off Norris's shoulder and clipped the back of his head. As Norris was going down, Klitschko threw another right that missed. Once again, the crowd booed and Klitschko motioned for Norris to get up. Norris slowly got to one knee by the count of nine. After the referee reached ten and waved off the fight, Norris, appearing cleared eyed, stood up and walked to his corner. Norris threw a total of four punches and landed none.

Quotes

• "In my mind, he got hit hard and decided it was going to hurt." - Vitali Klitschko
• "Nothing was wrong. The first knockdown he hit me good, but the second one he just hit me on the neck, didn't really hit me cleanly. The referee didn't want me to continue." - Orlin Norris (In the video, there is no indication the referee did anything other than count to ten when Norris went down for the second time.)
• 
  
• 
  
• Your argument about comparing results and equating them with power is a silly one.

Bert Whitehurst went the distance twice with Liston.

He went the distance and beat Satterfield. Two huge punchers.
He was also stopped by
Machen
Amonti
Willie James
Joe Rowan 179lbs
And twice by Archie Moore
So according to your logic ,they all hit harder than Liston and Satterfield!
Ezzard Charles said the hardest puncher he fought was Lloyd Marshall.
Joe Louis said it was Al Delaney.
Moore at various times said it was Durelle and Satterfield.Do you think Marshall hit harder than Marciano?

Archie Moore was kod in1 round by12-2-1 Leonard Morrow yet Moore twice went the distance and beat Curtess Sheppard a murderous puncher.
Do you think Delaney hit harder than Marciano and Max Baer?
162lbs Randy Turpin floored Don 3 times and stopped him .

Jimmy Slade knocked Cockell down 5 times and stopped him in 4rds Marciano needed 9 rds to halt Cockell ,and Cockell was on his feet when the fight was stopped.
Did middleweight Turpin and light heavy Slade hit harder than Marciano?

 

Douglas was retired before Lewis became Ring ranked.
Williams and Coetzer weren't Ring ranked when Lewis was.
Zolkin
Witherspoon
Seldon
Jefferson
Sanders
Where only fleetingly ranked and Lewis fought men ranked above them.
Bowe wanted nothing to do with Lewis.
Neither did Foreman.

Lewis fought the following men who were Ring ranked when he was.

Tua
Vitali
Mercer
Butler
Jackson
Ruddock
Tyson
Holyfield x2
Bruno
Grant
Morrison
Ackinwande
Tucker
Golota
McCall x2
Rahman x2
Briggs
Morrison
Nobody is going to tell me Vitali's resume gets anywhere near that!
Nobody is going to tell me Lewis did not "fight a bunch of contenders!"

What are Vitali's 3 best wins?

Name them and compare them to Lewis' ones!

 

I respect you, McVey, but maybe I'll take a different side. I always do this when Lewis gets adulation he doesn't deserve. Don't get me wrong—he does, but not that much.

Nothing... I always ask for a list of Lewis's greatest victories. Something that would show that—this guy is easily a top-three heavyweight ever (some say No. 1, but that's more on Facebook). It's better than what Foreman did to Frazier, better than FOTC, better than Spinks's outclassing, better than Bowe-Holy 1. What happened to McCall and Rahman was a complete fluke, and Mercer was a terrible day. I always struggle with this, always. At that point—you can bet—someone says something like, "You hate him."

And I'm just asking.

What are Lewis's three greatest fights/victories for you? Something beyond Vit's reach. In which fight did Lewis demonstrate such athleticism that Vit can only rub his eyes in amazement and say, "Damn, this guy is in a different league." People regularly rank him in the top 3, top 5, top 1 on Facebook, and on top of that, they think he's still underrated. And I don't even make the top 15.

 

To clarify, Lewis isn't "my boy" ,he isn't even one of my favourites
Which heavyweights do you pick to beat Lewis?

Lewis' best wins.
Holyfield
Ruddock
Tucker
Vitali

Name a comparable win on Vitali's resume?
Lewis should be in anyone's top ten imo,head to head there are very, very few men who would be favourite to beat him.
Ali
Louis
Holmes
LIston
Foreman

Would probably be the names mentioned.imo.

 

I don’t think he had explosive power in single shots that other had, such as his brother’s right hand (Wlad’s left hook was nice too).

He had naturally heavy hands though, and a good workrate. So he could throw a lot of arm punches and the damage would accumulate.

 

Lewis punches were intended to do damage and did. That's not luck. And if Vits were never cut in any other fights its because he never fought anyone like zlewis who could give as good as he got. And where in the world did you come up with a 2% chance he'd get cut again. Sounds like you made that up.

Lewis fought nearly 3x as many top ten rated opponents as Vits and did it in less fights against better competition.

Its arguable if Rahman and McCall hit harder than Vits. But the fact is the were both able to ko Lewis who fought a lot of big punchers. If Vits had him out on his feet as you erroneously claimed than why couldn't he do the same?

Just because Steward told Lennox to lean on him doesnt make it there strategy to come in at a career high in weight. Its called making adjustments. Now if you could provide a source with Steward saying either before or after the fight that there plan was to come in heavy to wear Vits down id agree with you. As it stands you're wrong....again. Not one thing youve posted is a fact nor educated.

Here is a fact. Vits only fought two mandatory challengers in all his time as a titlist. Rahman was one of those mandatories and Vits postponed it four times. When Rahman finally signed to fight someone else zlewis tried to make a fight with Maskaev but HBO kicked it to the curb. Then when the WBC was going to strip him he retired instead of fighting Hasim. Maybe he was worried about Rahmans power. Who knows?

 

I have watched the Lewis/Vitali fight quite a few times – and fairly recently, too.

It is staggering just how bad Lewis looked in there at various points, and yet, he still turned the tables on Vitali.

This comes back to the question of Vitali Klitschko's power. That Lewis was able to keep coming at Vitali and apply pressure was crucial in his regaining the upper hand. Vitali simply lacked the offensive deterrent to put a significant enough pause on Lewis's offense. At the same time, Vitali was defensively lax and unable to minimize Lewis's aggression.

Moreover, by round 6, the effectiveness of Vitali's punches had fallen through the floor, reduced to a mildly disrupting influence on Lewis's forward march.

Lewis was simply too much for Vitali and probably any heavyweight who came after him.