Wlad Klitchko is a bad man

Wlad while a top contender at the time wasn't deemed ready to face Lewis at the time. Lewis may not have wanted the fight but not because he feared Wlad but because Wlad wasn't really on his radar.

Also he wouldn't have been Lewis Mandatory in 2001 or 2002 as Wlad held the WBO belt which would have automatically removed him from the other sanctioning bodies rankings at the time.

In early 2001 Wlad had only just beaten Byrd to win the WBO belt and was making his first defence of the WBO belt against Jefferson so can't have been mandatory.

Lewis at this time fought and lost to Rahman who's run to a title shot was no worse than Wlad opposition at the time and even included a win over Sanders who would go on to beat Wlad. What was Lewis supposed to do in 2001, fight some paper champion in Wlad who many deemed was not ready as they didn't want a repeat of the Grant fight who was the last fighter before Wlad who had been groomed by HBO as a future champion, or rematch Rahman for the real title?

In early 2002 once again Wlad was just another contender and not even an undefeated one, Vitali was actually Lewis mandatory at the time not Wlad. He had defended against Jefferson and Shuford and just beaten Botha in 8 who Lewis had crushed in 3 a couple of years before. Nobody at the time wanted Lewis/Wlad everyone wanted Lewis/Tyson, this was the fight people had been talking about for years and even though Tyson was shot or close to it was the fight that the networks wanted.

Even before the loss to Rahman, HBO and Showtime had already set up everything for a Lewis/Tyson fight, that fight would have happened in 2002 had Lewis not lost to Rahman.

Then in 2003 in was Vitali who was to fight on the Lewis undercard, it was Vitali who was signed to fight Lewis later that year after Johnson, not Wlad. Vitali was Lewis mandatory, Vitali was seen as the bigger threat. Wlad then of course was KO'ed by Sanders proving that everyone's assessment at the time was correct, Vitali was Lewis true top contender not Wlad.

So you can twist things to suit your opinion but the facts at the time do not support your opinion.

 

don't be nasty to wlad.

 

there careers did actually cross, but wlad never proved he had the ability to contend with lewis - rmemeber he is lower than sanders, who never got to contend for lewis title..... and that's the old shot sandrs. prime wald barely makes top ten in lewis era if hes below shot2shyte sanders.

 

You cut out the part if my quote where I mentioned the Sanders fight. Due to varying circumstances the fight never lined up, it wasn't either fighter avoiding the other that seems pretty obvious.