What is Vitlai Klitschko’s most impressive boxing stastics?

I was joking by the way.

 

Who cares? This doesn't change the fact that Lewis was still nearly 6 years older than Klitschko. Do you know how many all time great champions were washed up or long retired by that age?

Well, if he wasn't ready by the time he was 31 years old and having 33 pro fights, plus after holding the WBO and Euro title, then I doubt he was ever going to be ready. Perhaps after spending 3.5 years sitting on his ass, he has acquired enough seasoning to meet your standards.

You make concessions for him taking a fight on short notice but don't make the same concession for Lennox Lewis who was just as surprised as Vitali. Not to mention, Lewis had only fought once in a near two year period, and against a very washed up Mike Tyson. Klitschko had fought about 3 times within the same duration and against live contenders. As for him being preped for only a 10 round fight as opposed to a 12 rounder, it didn't really matter as it never went beyond 6.

Contenders with far less experience than Vitali have gone into the ring with champions who were actually closer to their primes than Lewis was and faired pretty well. Lennox was 37 years old, had only fought once in some 18 or 19 months, and was in the last fight of his career. Klitschko was 31 years old and had 33 fights behind him along with several wins over competant fighters. Again, if he wasn't ready for Lewis in 2003, he was never going to be.

Really? Was there already a pre-existing cut over his eye that hadn't healed over the past 9 years?

Yet Vitali didn't.

:huh

And Lewis despite being on the ass end of his career, and taking a beating, still found a way to gut it out and win the fight, but you're only giving Vitali credit for his early efforts in the bout.

A bit of selection bias at work here I fear.

Lot's of fighters oppose stoppages, especially when a legacy fight is on the line. It doesn't mean that he should have been allowed to continue with his eye hanging by a thread.

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With all respect to fans of him but those things don't mean sh*t to me.
When I see him fight I see such a lack of talent. It's ugly, it's slow.

 

Edwin Valero has a better KO ratio than Vitali

 

bravo sir. genius post.

 

While I agree that the man certainly had impressive statistics, I think that they are more of a reflection of his opposition rather than his actual abilities as a fighter. The best two fighters he ever faced were an aging Lennox Lewis and Chris Byrd who was decent at best. He managed to lose to both of them. The rest of his opponents were either has beens or never were's. Hell, Corrie Sanders may very well be the best fighter he's ever beaten.

 

What does it matter what age other fighters are washed up at? Lennox Lewis had already proven that he wasn't washed up at his advanced age. So much so.... that everyone expected him to kill Vitali when they fought. Only after Vitali made him look so bad, did people start acting as if he was washed up. That is nothing more than an excuse for the way that Vitali made him look.

How about being ready after a proper training camp, preparing for a 12 round World Title fight... rather than a 10 round undercard? I never said he wasn't "ready" as in the manner you are speaking of anyways. I was simply explaining that Lewis' experience far exceeded any problems with the age gap.

Once again.... Lewis was already training for a 12 round Main Event against a Top ten opponent. When Lennox appeared in an interview on HBO directly after Johnson pulled out, they were all commenting on what great shape Lewis was in, and how they would hate to let such a perfect training camp go to waste if they don't find an opponent. Also, once again... Lewis was much more experienced than Vitali. His experience in these big fights should have made adapting much easier for him. There is a much bigger difference between Vitali going from a 10 round undercard against a walk over, to suddenly fighting against the Undisputed Champion of the World for the title... Than there is with Lennox switching from fighting one top 10 opponent to another. As a matter of fact, Lewis had said in the days leading up to the fight that having that short period of time to prepare was his advantage not Vitali's, because he was a true champ and had the ability to adapt.

I am not saying that poor old Vitali was caught off guard and Lewis took advantage of him. I am saying that for every lame excuse for Lewis being unprepared, ect... it can be countered with Vitali being just as unprepared going in.

Lewis had fought Tyson 12 months ago. Not 18 or 19 months. He fought Rahman 18 or 19 months prior. So, it was actually his 3rd fight in 18 or 19 months. Vitali hadn't fought for 7 months himself. Big deal.

It wasn't supposed to be the last fight of Lewis' career. The beating that Vitali gave him, coupled with the fact that the WBC ordered Lennox to fight Vitali again after he sat on the title for 8 months after the fight pushed Lewis to retire. Arguing otherwise is ignorant. You think that Lewis would have retired if that rematch wasn't on the table and Mike Tyson agreed to fight him in the rematch? Hell, he was suing Mike Tyson for not holding up his end of the contract for a rematch. Lewis had Vitali jump through every hoop out there, promising him a rematch, and then vacated his title. He even went as far as to have Vitali visit a doctor of Lewis' choosing, and said that if Lewis' doctor cleared Vitali to fight, than he would give him the rematch. Vitali went to Lennox's doctor, was cleared... and then Lewis refused to hold up his agreement. He said that 4 months wouldn't be enough time for him to train for a December fight. Which is a crock of ****. So then he said that if Vitali beat Johnson, he would fight Vitali. Vitali beat Johnson... and Lewis didn't speak on the issue again.

What does his cut eye have to do with what I said? What I said was that Lennox's body at 37 was in healthier condition than Vitali's at 31. Vitali had severe back and leg problems. If you noticed by the time that he fought Williams, he could hardly move properly. Which is why he has had several surgeries and problems since then as well. Age isn't always the prevailing factor in wear and tear on a fighter.

Due to the doctor stopping the fight. That is my point. Vitali was cut in the 3rd round, and the doctor stopped it after the 6th. Vitali was still winning when the doctor stopped the fight. Just because the doctor decided to stop it in this case, doesn't mean that Vitali was worse off in the fight, and that Lennox becomes better. It means that the doctor decided to stop the fight, based on a cut. Had the fight gone on, Vitali would have still had his chance to win the fight, with the cut like so many other fighters have done. Not saying it wasn't a nasty cut, because it was. However, what's the point in stopping it 3 rounds later, when the cut was horrible from the begining? He was fighting fine.

Was it hard to understand, or are you just being difficult? I was illustrating the difference between a cut, and being knocked out. As some peopel on here act like it is the same thing. Fighter can get cut, and still win the fight. Fighters can't get knocked out and still win. Cuts happen from all sorts of different reasons, and just because someone gets cut, it doesn't make them worse. Especially since it was a grazing punch. So, had Lewis landed the punch flush, and it not sliced past his eye, and Vitali not received that cut... it makes Lewis' worse? Get the point? It isn't as if Lewis planned on just grazing Klitschko's eye as Vitali dodged the punch and opening up a freak cut that happened to be the end of the match 3 rounds later. Had Lewis landed that punch and knocked him out, then we wouldn't be having this discussion almost 5 years later.

Yes, Lewis did gut it out, and ended up winning the fight. I wouldn't say that he "found" a way to win... because that would be pretending like he purposely grazed his punch off the mark. He did however find little crafty veteran ways of making the cut bleed more and more throughout the fight though. Raking, rubbing his hair in it, ect... Good for him, and he got the win. That still doesn't make him a the better boxer. The fight being stopped on that cut doesn't erase what actually happened in the ring. The doctor was in control of the stoppage. The fighters were in control of the fight. During the fight, Vitali was winning 4-2 even with the cut.

Eye hanging by a thread? A bit of an exaggeration. His eye wasn't hanging out of his head. He had a nasty cut above the eye. Once again... I don't think that I need to repeat the same thing that I have already said over and over again. For comments on the cut, just scroll back up and read.

 

Vitali`s most unique aspect is the way he quit like no other ever seen in a ring before.

Vitali quit with a supposed shoulder injury, he is moved his arms and didnt wince with pain at all afterwards.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4rLdggqtaWw

Larry Merchant, "He doesnt have the mentality of a champion. I can hardly believe what I just saw, you have a bad hand, so what! All he had to do is fight defence for a couple of rounds."

................................... Compare that to.............

Danny Williams who carried on with a dislocated shoulder and won by knockout while fighting with one arm! He then collapsed on the floor in agony, was strapped up and taken to hospital.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QY1jzjTjIhY

Sky Sports Commentater,"Unbelievable, that is astonishing, Danny Williams fighting on instinct and bravery with one arm"

 

:yep Nice elaboration.
:good

 

Don't worry Mendoza, most posters here get your point they just won't admit it. :yep

They'll def. feel stupid when Vitali returns & KO's that lazy slob Peter. :deal

 

A recent KO loss to Hasim Rahman ( avenged of course ) a flat boring performance against an out of shape David Tua, and a knockout win against a shot Tyson, who staggered the **** out of him in the first round. These were the only fights he had within 3 years prior to facing Vitali. What had Lewis done recently to convince you that he was in his prime at age 37?

Lewis's experience didn't seem to be a factor when Vitali was outboxing him. I think the age factor had a greater bearing than anything, and as for him being better prepared, Vitali's greater volume of activity leading up to the Lewis fight should have "exceeded" the fact that he wasn't trained for a 12 rounder, which didn't even go 10 anyway.

There may be some validity in your points about Klitschko having a change in plans at the last minute, but only being prepped for a 10 rounder as opposed to 12 only becomes a problem in the late rounds of a grueling contest. The fight didn't go beyond 6, and it was a match in which Vitali was winning anyway, so I still don't see the full relovance.

I don't doubt that Vitali was at a disadvantage to some degree, but being the younger of the two by 6 years, plus having more recent outings as of late, should have helped him to get over it. Its not like the guy was dragged out of a two year leave of abscence on two weeks notice and thrown in there with a destroyer in the peak of prime. As mentioned before, Lewis didn't know he was fighting Vitali either, and to go from expecting to fight one contender, then switching to one who was likely even better is no major soft touch either.

He fought Rahman in April of 2001. He faced Vitali in June of 2003. That's 26 months ( over two years ). In the interim, he faced two men, which included the Rahman rematch, and Mike Tyson. So to some it up, his last fight was against Tyson 12 months earlier, and overall, only two fights in over two years. That's not a lot of activity. Vitali had fought Donald, Bean and Purity all between december of 2001 and June of 2003. 3 fights in 18 months is a lot more active than 2 fights in 26, especially when the other guy's last fight was a full year earlier.

Tyson or no Tyson. Vitali beating Johnoson or not. Lewis was nearing the end of his career regardless of weather he may have taken a few more fights, despite Vitali. Christ the guy was nearly 38 years old and had a 14 year career behind him, plus had begun facing ranked opponents early with fewer than 15 fights under his belt. why did Vitali stop fighting at age 32? Oh, I forgot. He was injured, which is a perfectly valid reason, but old age is just a mere excuse.

I think I'll leave the next few paragraphs of your response alone, as I don't have time to respond to all of it right now. The only thing I will comment on is yes, I was exagerating on the cut below.

 

Vitali fought trash in those first 27 fights. He stepped up to Byrd in fight #28 and lost.

Valero won't keep it up if he steps up his quality of opposition, but neither did Vitali. If Valero keeps fighting trash he'll keep KOing them.

 

Thread closed.

 

Oh common,

Levi Billups, Dicky Ryan, Obed Sullivan, Ismael Youla, and Francesco Spinelli were awsome opponents.

I mean really Drexl, why should Klitschko have to beat up bums like Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, George Chuvalo, or Michael Moorer in order to be rated on par with George Foreman?