@THE PHILOSOPHER - You're leaving out some key points of this story. Vitali had a huge advantage in that fight. This is why...

Lewis was already considering retirement, he hadn't fought in a year, and the original bill was a Tyson/Lewis doubleheader to set up a possible rematch. Tyson pulled out so Vitali was put on the bill against Cedric Boswell. The bill went from HBO PPV to regular TV. Then Johnson pulled out which meant Lewis would have lost a shit load of money for a bill he wasn't just headlining but part promoting. So Lewis offered Vitali the chance to save the bill. Vitali's reputation was poor in the States because of his "quit" against Byrd.

Vitali had NOTHING to lose!!!

He got a chance to redeem himself and become THE man. Lewis had ZERO to gain.

In the end - Lewis won fair and square and Vitali's reputation was restored/boosted. And that's all she wrote.