I respect Wlad big time and I know with boxings current heavyweight predicament Wlad and Vitali are trying to turn chicken **** into chicken soup.
Wah wah wah! Exactly. Vitalis face was so badly damaged by Lewis' punches the referee/doctor had to step in to save him. Whether Lewis was a point or two behind halfway through the fight doesn't even matter. Had the fight continued, Lewis could have ended up winning by a round or two. Hell, he could of knocked Vitali out in the next round. He could of even pulled VK's shorts down round his ankles and pushed him over. It doesn't matter. You're basing Vitali's performance on what he might have done. But, of course, we all know he might not have! Bottom line is... Lewis TKO6 Vitali (whos face was dripping in blood)
Again tho , if hes one of the greatest HW power punchers of all time , why does every KO ( or TKO more likely ) have to come after ten rounds of Jabs ? :huh Wlad is up there with Liston , Foreman , and Tyson when it comes to punching but they generally speaking didnt wait until there opponent was ready to fall over before they tried to knock them out. Which is ( like or not ) why Wlad isnt as popular as he should be , its why HBO aren't interested. Its why David Haye gets away with calling himself champ because most people outside of germany ( and hardcore boxing fans ) dont know who he is. He sould be the biggest name in HW boxing since Tyson , Hes a ridiculous specimen , he is erudite , educated , massively dominant ( and lets be honest ) white. America should be eating him up, Russian (sic) or not. The fact is people want to see Heavies knock each other out and not after ten slow paced rounds.
I give him minus marks for not avenging 2 of his losses and letting his brother do his work. Apart from that he's putting together a very nice resume and a great heavyweight boxer.
If he ever fights anyone who is respected looking at his amateur career, people like Povetkin, Solis maybe Adamek he'll get more credit for them now.
Point of reference, here's a list of poeple George Foreman was the first to knock out. There's two pretty good fighters there (understatement, I know)... and the rest are? Sylvester Dullaire (6-1-0) Gary Hobo Wiler (4-3-0) Charlie Boston (3-0-0) Joe Frazier John Dino Denis (28-0-1) Jimmy Ellis (16-0-1) Michael Moorer
The ghost of Lewis did fight a prime Vitali and shredded his face. Rematch or not he still has the w. Holyfield was still very dangerous too.