Vitali was getting clubbed in the 6th round and was holding on for dear life, ******s listen to Lampley calling the fight totally wrong as per usual, claiming it was Lewis holding on when anyone could see it was Lewis who had just rocked Vitali and all that Vitali could do is cling on. So looking at the 5th and 6th round it was Lewis finding the bigger shots, it was Vitali getting rocked and anymore of those big uppercuts to Vitali's head and his face probably would have imploded. Lewis all day long.
Vitali was up 4-2 on all cards. This means Lennox needs to win FOUR of the next six round to produce a draw. Unlikely as he was tired.
I personally think Vitali would have gone on to win, he was ahead and IMO the better conditioned athlete on the night. It would have been no walkover for Lewis even if they did have a rematch, him choosing to retire instead says it all.
Who knows? Lewis was very tired and Vitali wasn't exactly a ball of energy himself. Either he was hurt by the short right late in the 6th round or exhausted himself as he was falling onto Lennox. It was an unsatisfactory ending to the fight as we like more conclusive endings, we like pure 10 count KOs, or a guy completely defenseless and the ref stops it, instead of a fight being stopped on cuts, but it is what it is. Lewis won fairly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCaohPudiu4
hard to say because in that fight Vitali gained his confidence and showed his heart after the negative Byrd injury. I think Vitali has shown late power and the better stamina so the longer the fight goes IMO it favors Vitali, Lennox never stopped a man after the 8th I would have bet big money on Vitali for the rematch I think even Lennox DOUBTED HE COULD BEAT VITALI IN A REMATCH or he would not have turned down the biggest payday of his life.
there were talks of $30mm + after Vitali KO'd Kirk Johnson but im not sure of where that number would have been. The fact that Vitali was eastern European, white and fresh with confidence over the Johnson KO and ahead of Lennox at the end of the 1st fight would have made it a big pay per view fight. I would have paid to see it.
Thanks for posting those highlights - just shows what a good HW contest can be like. Difficult to call. If I had to put money on an outcome without the cut, I'd probably go for a Vitali win on points, just... I think they were both too tired to knock each other out at that point and had already taken each others best by then. Either way, tough, tough guys! But boy was Lewis out of shape!
Clear no! Vitali had his moments in the early rounds (Lenox often had trouble early on), but these were over. Had the fight cntinued, it would have been a clear TKO for Lewis. With the real danger of crippling Vitali for life.
Lewis had nailed Klitshcko with some monster uppercuts in the 6th round and he was definitely in the ascendancy. I remember thinking at the time that Klitshcko was there for the taking and that Lewis only needed to nail him like he did at the end of the round to force the stoppage. To be fair to Lewis it was fights like these that placed him in the pantheon of the ATG fighters after all he took on a young and dangerous fighter and gutted it out. He deserves a great deal of respect from every boxing fan by not short changing them and looking for the most difficult challenges out there.
Lewis was hitting Vitali with good shots in the 6th. BUT by the end of that round Lewis had spent himself I believe. If the 7th round started, Lewis wouldn't have had much left and Vitali WOULD have eventually got through with another big right hand. The world wanted the rematch. Even Steward didn't really feel satisfied with that 'win'. Manny even wanted the rematch and God knows Vitali did! But Lewis.. Not so much. There is a reason for that. And it's not just because him 'mum' told him to. :hey
I happen to like Vitali but let's face it, a young Vitali was losing steam against an old Lewis. After the third round Lennox was landing the better shots. Yes the cut was nasty but Vitali looked gassed. He also could not seem to serious hurt Lewis at all. There is no way he wins that fight w that cut. Prime for prime Lennox Beas him solidly. Lewis is the all time best super heavyweight in my book.