its pretty clear that vits was mentally scarred by getting beat by byrd, after it is one of the few times in HW history that a former MW beat a HW, let alone a superHW. I don't think a super has ever been beaten in history by a former MW - so VIts must have been horribly embarrassed at his skill level being exposed as being middling. he clearly needed his bro to help him against the former MW.
Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but Vitali (and Wlad) were managed by Universum until I believe around 2003/2004. They couldn't choose any opponents, Klaus-Peter Kohl chose them for the brothers. Just using common-sense here, Vitali was probably considered not fit for prime-time right out of surgery and they had him take a couple tune-ups before giving him tougher competition. Universum and Vitali were in a lengthy legal dispute from around 2003 on. Vitali tried to get out of the contract which he deemed to be a simple employment contract which he should be able to cancel at any time -- and not a long-term independent contractor's relationship like Universum claimed. One of the key legal aspects his counsel used in the trial was the fact that he couldn't pick his opponents, couldn't pick venues and couldn't select his own training/sparring and gym environment. As far as I remember Vitali won the court battle and started to be independent from Universum from around 2004 on. I think it's reasonable to criticize Vitali for his choice of opposition from that time on only.
shoulder injury my ass. he was gassed from missing all those punches and byrd was landing cleanly. vitaly quit to save himself the embarrassment of getting ko'd by the much smaller...softer punching chris byrd. rematch would have played out the same way. that's why he had baby bruh fight his battle.
I think he was already frustrated and tired before the injury. After it occurred I believe he thought he couldn't win so why go on. In all reality its anyone's guess. Some claim the injury was to serious, others that other fighters have fought on with worse. None of us REALLY know why he quit, only that he did. And since this thread was bumped as supposed proof of me hating white fighters I will say this.....I think he should have sought a rematch, at least made the appearance of it while both him and Byrd were highly ranked near one another the next several years. However I also believe, and have said so many times, that Vits would win a rematch in another ugly fight where he'd be made to look far from stellar.
Awful. This one could have worked it not for such crap delivery. You sound like a big nerd. Did my repeated schooling of you for weeks on end teach you anything? "Just like your mom!" would have more punch. Keep trying, you aren't quite there yet and you are running out of time. April is just around the corner, you may have lost too much ground to ever catch up with me.
vitali gave up millions per fight to put his life on the line in the streets of kiev. yet he was afraid of byrd? you are an idiot.
There are more reasons than being afraid to duck a rematch. Maybe he just didn't want to go through the same embarrassment of not being able to knock a fat super middleweight out?
I guess because he had his brother go in and beat him instead, and somehow that is the same right? Kind of like how Vitali had to beat all the guys that Wlad lost to for him.
Yeah you're right, I'm still responding to you. Unfortunately you can't debate me on any topic about boxing so I'm stuck amusing myself at your personal expense.