I was watching all of Vitali's fights on youtube yesterday and something strange happened. Apparently the HBO guys LOVED him when he fought on the air on HBO. I heard nothing but praise from the ol grouchy Merchant. He actually praised Vitali for fighting a calculated intelligent fight while battering his opponents.

It was funny the one time Danny Williams hit Vitali to the body and almost in unison everyone agreed that Vitali doesn't like to be hit to the body. It of course begs the question of who likes to be hit to the body?

Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that I'm not quite sure why HBO got cold on him suddenly because all his fights there ended with a brutal battering followed up by a KO and I dare say for a heavyweight fight they were quite action packed. Oh well like many cerebral champs, they're only really appreciated after they retire.