Lennox got scared during and after the fight, Lennox hit Vitali with everything and the guy was still standing right there in front of him at the end of the night.
Ali gave Quarry a rematch because Quarry got cut....Lennox wasn't going to risk it.
I'm giving Lennox his due, he was a great champion, but that night he was getting beat and he knew he'd lose a rematch and that's why he retired.
Wlad could have retired instead of fighting Fury OR AJ he fought both and he was older than Lennox as well.
If that's how you feel then go with that. Everyone wanted a rematch, everyone at HBO wanted a rematch, Vitali wanted the rematch, the fans wanted the rematch, other boxers wanted to see the rematch.
No one is begrudging Lennox Lewis' greatness....but instead of finishing off a rivalry that started with their first fight he retired FACT.
You can stomp your foot all you want, Lennox saw the writing on the wall and he knew to hang up the gloves rather than attempt a rematch.
I'd go with Lennox. Other than his snoozefest with Tua, Lennox was also sooo much more entertaining as a heavyweight champion.
I have to go with Lewis.
They live, We sleep
Lewis legitimately beat Vitali. He was getting older and his passion wasn’t there. Sure, a rematch would have been great, but you can’t fault Lewis for retiring. I highly doubt it was fear. It was just his time and much credit to him for not staying in boxing for too long. He’s one of the few who left at the right time.
Fury could never have outboxed Vitali in the same way as Wlad.
Wlad was a great champion but missed the spite..that missing spite would have continued the attack on AJ after the knockdown.
Lews beats all types of Wlad and stopped the best Vitali in his last fight..it’s that simple.
Well if you've gassed out trying to KO a couple guys before then you're more apt to play cautious and that's the 1 time it hurt him.
I don't think Wlad was in the fighting mindset vs Fury at all, his focus was elsewhere...that said the dude kept his focus and beat any and all comers OVERWHELMINGLY for about a decade so he's certainly not this paper tiger that people like to make him out to be.
For the Lennox vs Vitali fight a lot of folks want to bring up that Lennox was prepared to fight Kirk Johnson and they act like Vitali was 110% prepared to face Lennox. #1 Vitali was always in tremendous shape for fights regardless of who he was fighting #2 BOTH fighters took the fight on short notice which to me adds more relevance to the calls for a rematch...what if they had both been prepared to fight each other...Vitali was to fight I think it was Cedric Boswell or some shit a fighter Lennox Lewis was head and shoulders better than even on his worst nights #3 I don't begrudge Lennox for retiring but let's not pretend we all don't know why he retired rather than take the rematch...he got out as champion that's why there was no rematch....the money was more than right, the fans wanted it, boxing pundits wanted it, it's THE missed fight of the 2000's.....would the result have been different? WE WILL NEVER KNOW and that's just how it is, Lewis supporters will say "Hey he already beat him".....meh it was 4-2 on all judges' scorecards and had Vitali not been cut (which was partially his own fault for leaning away from Lewis' punches rather than blocking them. Lewis' thumb caught Vitali's eyelid which is a freak injury that I haven't seen happen before or since).
A lot of folks like to act like Wlad was champion during this hundred year drought of heavyweight talent and it's simply not the case. He was a great champion.
Lennox for me, he beat better opposition and reversed any losses.
For the record Lewis knew Vitali wasn't going away and only getting stronger in that fight while Lennox was fading, few more rounds and Vitali would have knocked him out, just look at their body language when the fight was stopped, one was bouncing up and down wanting to carry on while the other one didn't wanna know anymore.
Shame we never got to see that rematch but i firmly believe Lennox simply didn't want it.
Lewis and Wladimir were both absolutely elite fighters. Olympic gold medallists, undisputed professional world champions with multiple defences and superb career records.
This is a good talking point question, much like debating who was better between Marciano and Dempsey or whoever.
For my money, the Vitali fight isn't relevant as a Wlad v Lennox fight would have been completely different.
Vitali was as hard as nails, and bigger than Wlad, but he could be outboxed. As a matter of fact, I do believe that Lennox retired rather than fight him again .... but so what? Ali never gave Foreman a rematch, Marciano never faced Patterson etc etc and nobodyvreally thinks the worse of them.
As two boxer/puncher types, I think Lewis and Wladimir would have been in a very very cagey contest, feeling each other out and maybe even heartening back to their amateur days in looking to score points rather than risk a knockout. Both guys could hit, both were brave and fit usually.
Both were also accused of being great athletes rather than natural fighters, and both were somewhat transformed by Manny Stewart ..... whoever had him in their corner would probably win a tight, quite boring points decision.
If God wanted us to be vegetarians, why are animals made of meat ?
Your way to emotionally involved in Wlad..let it go.
Wlad could come back now at 40 plus and still throw a massive spanner m in the works for the top 3..but the fact remains he is still missing that spite that alot of the top heavyweights in the past had.
Wlad can compete in any era and deserves to be in the top 20 heavyweights of all time..but Wlad and his brother will always be behind Lewis..everyone knows that.
Lewis happily ducked the rematch but look what happened in the first fight..he won..and the corner had to stop Vitali as he was so badly cut/injured..we can’t rewrite history.
Do you think Fury would have schooled the late version of Lennox Lewis?..no way.
The difference in competition is massive
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