Was there anything all that controversial about Lewis Vs Vitali?

To those posters who said the fight should have continued Vitali's face was a crimson mask. It would have been professional malpractice to have let it continue.

 

Not even remotely.

A champion is under no obligation to defend their title, if they want to retire.

Frankly I was glad to see a champion get out of the game with their money and faculties intact for a change.

Lewis retiring should have made things easier for Vitally not harder.

 

It was a chump move.

 

A stoppage on cuts, is as absolute as any other.

Saying that somebody was only stopped on cuts, is a bit like saying that they were only stopped, because they wee knocked out cold for ten minutes.

 

I’m not saying it was directly Lewis’s fault nor am I pointing the finger at anyone but he did miss a few guys when it mattered perhaps he longed to fight the best and fought all the guys he could but he did not actually fight the best. Just my 2cents

 

True, other than how that ignores that one guy could keep fighting and possibly win while the other needs to wake up.

 

This is not a blood sport.

We stop the fight, when we need to stop the fight.

 

Legit stoppage, that cut was bad enough to call the fight.

Lennox was going to target that cut. The cut itself was also affecting VK with his vision and as a distraction.

That said it was pure luck for Lennox as he was being beaten. Had the cut not have happened Vitali would have won the match going away

Lennox refusing to rematch, and then retiring despite saying earlier he was not, shows just how sure he was of losing

He retired as a *****. It will always reflect on his legacy. Vitali promptly won the title soon after. But, the fact remains that he had already won the championship on that night, it just took awhile for it to become official in the books.

Vitali > Lennox.

 

I have never seen a fighter lose a career because of a cut on the brow. I have never seen a fighter lose an eye because of a cut on the brow. I have never seen a fighter end up comatose or worse because of a cut on brow.

I did watch Arturo Gatti win a fight against Joe Hutchinson with a cut like Vitali's. I am aware that Arthur Abraham won a fight with a severely broken jaw that was hanging open. Denis Lebedev was allowed to fight through a grotesquely swollen eye against Guillermo Jones. These instances all were politically motivated.

Vitali and Danny Williams were allowed to fight with severe shoulder injuries. The doctor gave them no mercy.

Other than New York, nobody bothers with in fight neurological exams. And New York's version isn't even good from what I can tell.

The penlight test is a joke. I've never seen a fight stopped due to a pupil defect. Automated pupillary testing is quick and relatively affordable, but no commission has every used one during a fight.

The bottom line is that doctor stoppages in boxing are still in the Stone Age, and stoppages on cuts are just something that's been grandfathered in with little standardized analysis or questioning. It's a joke imo compared to the things that are overlooked routinely by ringside doctors.