What if Wlad fought Lewis instead of Vitali the night of 2002

That's fair enough. However, it should probably be remembered that the pace the Lewis/Vit-K fight went at is something I doubt Wlad would handle well. He could certainly part-unravel under fire.

Whilst I can agree that Wlad has a very solid and dangerous right hand, as well as anything being possible, the pressure he would have been under might well have made it difficult for him to get his best shots off. Moreover, mightn't he just suddenly gas and stop doing anything at all after four or five rounds?

 

I like Klitschko, I would have to go with the popular pick and probably the sane pick and go ahead and say Lewis by stoppage and probably inside of 6

I will say one thing, prior to Sanders blitzing him which I believe Lewis asked him to do, most likely to gain intelligence, Wlad was the top contender to Lewis and running through pretty much everyone he faced and some good fighters at that

I doubt, unless he rocked Wlad, that Lewis would come out aggressive early and would probably show Wlad respect since he hadn't had the 2 set back losses yet. This might allow Wlad to get a jab going or even land a solid right hand of his own.

This would be a past 35 year old Lewis who was heavy and Lewis would not have seen Wlad get exposed vs Sanders so its unlikely he would come out guns blazing.

Food for thought, Lewis probably wins in the first half of the fight, could be a decent fight

 

Lewis would TKO5 him and Kit****s would still be butt hurt about it now.

 

His left hook was pretty well on display vs Mercer

 

Quite possible. I won't go so far as to call him a frontrunner, but there were still pacing and patience issues for him to sort out- he'd only been 10 rounds or longer 3 times (going 2-1) around that era, and only 12 rounds once. One of the double-edged swords of a great offense and aggressive mindset.

Compare that with Lennox, who had Manny in his corner and, suffice to say, much more championship experience in the later rounds. That's also why I think Lennox tries to take this into deeper waters.

While it's always entertaining to think the early blitzing scenario favors Lewis, the smarter bet for him is to try and outlast that version of Wlad. Lewis could get him out of there in a fire fight, but man, Wlad letting his hands go early on would've been a hell of a threat to him. I don't think that's a gamble Steward would've coached him to make.

I think the gameplan is to try and stretch things out, then start working the inside game as Wlad tires. His inside uppercut is the critical punch.

 

Wlad knocks him out in second round. Far better puncher than his brother with superior hand speed. Lewis was constantly in range that night not used to fight quality guys his own size. Vitali was an overrated puncher which helped Lewis survive against Wlad it would of been over quickly.

 

What you all seem to forget is Wlad had the chance to challenge Lennox after Lennox TKO 6 Vitali. Lennox would have accepted. After all Vitali challenged Sanders after he demolished his brother to get revenge
Sadly WLad had gone into hiding he didn't want the beating Vitali took He knew Lennox right hand would end his career

 

What you all seem to forget? What an idiot you are, we didn't forget, because it never went down like that. Lennox went into hiding after Vitali, so how was Wlad going to challenge him when Lennox had unfinished business that he wanted no part of? "He would have accepted" :rofl He turned down huge money to face Vitali again.

Idiot trying to rewrite history

 

Lennox was right there in the ring after he'd TKO'd Vitali & nearly taken his face off . So was Wad . Vitali went right up to Corrie Sanders & Challenged him after he'd KO'd Wlad. But old Wlad was no where near Lennox he was hiding
Lennox kicked Vitali'a a$$ on a few days notice when nowhere near 100% ready imagine if he'd been 100% ?? Why did he need to do it again??
Give it up man the Klitschko's weren't in the same class as Lennox Lewis

 

By the same argument, Vitali wasn't 100% ready either. Both were set to face different opponents.

Why did he need to do it again? C'mon...people are still talking about "what if it had continued", 13 years no now. Obviously real boxing fans wanted to see a rematch.

 

Just like how you're bitter Lennox turned his back on England, and represented Canada in the Olympics. Brit****s are so desperate they still supported him though :rofl

 

A legitimate knock on Lennox is that he got the rematches he needed, but didn't give his tougher opponents the same opportunity. Mercer and Vitali were both rematch worthy fights.