you realize that Vitali has 1. The best KO % in boxing history 2. Has never lost more than 3 rounds in a match 3. Has never been knocked down 4. Has never truly lost And somehow he doesn't have a "legacy". Your a ****ing idiot.
maybe he thought vitali looked really ugly with his face falling off his skull ; so he did not want see that again. they say that killing a man will haunt you all your life. i have to imagine maming a mans face is a similiar nightmare.
Here come the inevitable "face falling off" drama queens. The superficial cuts did not bother Vitaly, so why do they bother you? OH YEAH; Damage control!
Vitali will have his legacy after he's bored beating down every fighter who steps into the ring with him Lewis retired because he achieved everything, in my opinion the only thing you could have against him is that he never gave Vitali the rematch, which doesn't question that he's one of the best HW's of all-time
Lewis did not refuse initially. He backpedaled when Vitali was cleared to fight by the doctor. Then Lewis watched Vitali destroy Johnson and wanted no part of it.
He was past his best and was no longer as motivated having secured his legacy. He had not fought in a year going into the Vitali fight, his longest period of inactivity and was no longer looking for what he regarded as competitive match ups. Hence why he was looking to rematch Tyson and get in an easy defence against Johnson. Why would Lewis be too scared to rematch an opponent who almost beat him, when he rematched McCall and Rahman, 2 fighters who did what Vitali could not and actually legitimately KO and beat Lewis. Age and lack of motivation were the biggest deciding factors. Had he simply wanted to avoid Vitali he would have done a Bowe and dumped the WBC belt and gone for Byrd's IBF title or Ruiz's WBA title.
Lewis did not have any desire to train. That's why he showed up at 256 pounds. The heaviest weight of his career proves this. Lewis was gassed in 2-3 rounds. Steward said that he could hardly get Lewis to run for his fights with Holyfield. Lewis had no up side. He did not want to train, Vitali is a tough fight for any heavy in history, and he already tko'd him. Other than money he had no motivation. Since Lewis was already super rich, why take the fight?
he retired because he was old and unmotivated. 36 is too old to be up with the best combat athletes in the world. It can kill you. Death is not an option in life. Why risk ending up like Ali and others? The Klit boys should tae a leaf from Lennox's wisdom and retire now too IMHO, they will be turning into similar ***ends in a few months.
Because his best years were behind him and he decided to retire with lots of money and good health. Lets hope that when Vitalis skills have badly eroded with age he can still find a way to win against a very dangerous opponent and also know when to retire at the right time and not hang around like Holyfields ghost...