Prime Vitali went toe-to-toe with OLD Lennox and got his a@$# kicked

[El Kabong]

That was a helluva good fight, you can pile If's and maybes on anything but those two let it hang out in a way at THE top level we have grown to miss greatly.

Yeah, people just aren't content to appreciate a great scrap I guess. It's a shame. GREAT fight, gutsy performance on both parts.

[fairyrak]

I think that age has to do a huge invisible part, do you think that more than 5% of the baseball players hit 50 homeruns at age 38 years old and bat 324? no!, they probably avg 252 and hit like 15 if they are extremely good (and they don't even get punched in the face for decades)

in the current age of advanced nutrition and training that has produced so many old good boxers, but anyways, not everybody possess all the longevity that others do

now for practically all but not all boxers, it affects a lot more that what people see, in not
just 1 aspect like timing but a lot more ones, as many boxers are similar to many others in level, the difference is so little that if there is a little bad training or slipup or whatever and you lose the match

And about the match between lewis and klitschko, it was very even but I think that Klitschko would have won, although maybe not in their primes, both are very good boxers for my tastes of not being addicted to 50 raw hard punches with no defence per round with shoes cemented to the floor

[Freedom]

Old?

Lennox Lewis was age 37 when he fought Vitali. That the same age Wladimir Klitschko is now.

[imp]

That was a helluva good fight, you can pile If's and maybes on anything but those two let it hang out in a way at THE top level we have grown to miss greatly.

Yeah, people just aren't content to appreciate a great scrap I guess. It's a shame. GREAT fight, gutsy performance on both parts.

It was possibly the last of the great heavyweight fights and the passing of the crown.

Any fighter could have won further along in the fight but the fight had to be stopped because lennox fists were causing too much damage to vitali face.

Lennox should have retired after that and he did.

The brothers are great champions but will never ever be ahead of lewis in any way shape or form.

[imp]

What happened was an out of prime lewis beat a prime vitali and stopped him.

That is what the history books will say and to this day that is still the best fight that vitali had and he lost it.

Just shows how good lennox was and vitali still is.

[El Kabong]

What happened was an out of prime lewis beat a prime vitali and stopped him.

That is what the history books will say and to this day that is still the best fight that vitali had and he lost it.

Just shows how good lennox was and vitali still is.

The history books will say if not for a cut the fans would have seen who was best

TKO DOCTOR STOPS FIGHT DUE TO CUT

It doesn't say "Lennox Lewis owned Vitali" because THAT my friend is PURE fantasy

[imp]

What happened was an out of prime lewis beat a prime vitali and stopped him.

That is what the history books will say and to this day that is still the best fight that vitali had and he lost it.

Just shows how good lennox was and vitali still is.

The history books will say if not for a cut the fans would have seen who was best

TKO DOCTOR STOPS FIGHT DUE TO CUT

It doesn't say "Lennox Lewis owned Vitali" because THAT my friend is PURE fantasy

Im not going to go back and forth with you as you will always see it your way.

At least i can call mayweather a hypocrite for the catchweight issue and not be completely one sided.

Lets say this. How did the cut happen? Did a spectator throw a bottle in the ring and it caught vitali in various places.? (Look at the pic of his eye, cheekbone and lips!!! No one has done that to vitali before or since!!)

Vitalis greatest and best fight was against lennox. He lost because his punch resistance wasnt as strong as lewis thats why his face was opened up.

You cant change history and you cant change the fact that lewis power punchers were more devasting to vitalis face!

Hey, lewis looked tired. He looked in trouble at some stages. But so did vitali.

You mentioned in a previous post that it was a great fight and i agree but one fighter hit alot harder than the other even though he had grey hairs in his cornrolls!

Lewis stopped vitali and retired.
There are no ifs or buts.

[oakleyno1]

What happened was an out of prime lewis beat a prime vitali and stopped him.

That is what the history books will say and to this day that is still the best fight that vitali had and he lost it.

Just shows how good lennox was and vitali still is.

The history books will say if not for a cut the fans would have seen who was best

TKO DOCTOR STOPS FIGHT DUE TO CUT

It doesn't say "Lennox Lewis owned Vitali" because THAT my friend is PURE fantasy

Im not going to go back and forth with you as you will always see it your way.

At least i can call mayweather a hypocrite for the catchweight issue and not be completely one sided.

Lets say this. How did the cut happen? Did a spectator throw a bottle in the ring and it caught vitali in various places.? (Look at the pic of his eye, cheekbone and lips!!! No one has done that to vitali before or since!!)

Vitalis greatest and best fight was against lennox. He lost because his punch resistance wasnt as strong as lewis thats why his face was opened up.

You cant change history and you cant change the fact that lewis power punchers were more devasting to vitalis face!

Hey, lewis looked tired. He looked in trouble at some stages. But so did vitali.

You mentioned in a previous post that it was a great fight and i agree but one fighter hit alot harder than the other even though he had grey hairs in his cornrolls!

Lewis stopped vitali and retired.
There are no ifs or buts.

Just two nasty cuts!

The truth is Vitali was in his physical but not experience prime and lewis was in his experience but not physical prime - very close fight and could of gone either way - I would have thought vitali may of taken it if I had to pick - big 1sr 2nd & 5th rounds for him and 6th about even

[IamInuit]

Sorry I cant buy the Lennox was not in his prime. I used to argue that also but it is simply not the case. I'm a fan of Lennox and I've noticed that other fans seem to pick and choose which fights signify his prime. Almost seems to rest on whether he struggled or not. The fight was on short notice but that was still a pretty close to prime Lewis. Just because he was a little lazy and was thinking about retirement does not mean he was not still in his prime. I just don't see "prime" as being that finite with respect to this fight. Was he the best he has ever been? Was Vitali? His issues were always based on motivation. He probably picked up that trait in Canada, the procrastination capital of the planet. Personally, I don't have the time to procrastinate.

[imp]

Sorry I cant buy the Lennox was not in his prime. I used to argue that also but it is simply not the case. I'm a fan of Lennox and I've noticed that other fans seem to pick and choose which fights signify his prime. Almost seems to rest on whether he struggled or not. The fight was on short notice but that was still a pretty close to prime Lewis. Just because he was a little lazy and was thinking about retirement does not mean he was not still in his prime. I just don't see "prime" as being that finite with respect to this fight. Was he the best he has ever been? Was Vitali? His issues were always based on motivation. He probably picked up that trait in Canada, the procrastination capital of the planet. Personally, I don't have the time to procrastinate.

Im not looking to clash with you but surely you would agree lewis at this stage of the vitali fight was not the same stage as vitali in his career.

That was lewis last fight and no one knows when a fighters pure prime is but im sure it he was a better fighter 4-5 years ago.

[IamInuit]

Sorry I cant buy the Lennox was not in his prime. I used to argue that also but it is simply not the case. I'm a fan of Lennox and I've noticed that other fans seem to pick and choose which fights signify his prime. Almost seems to rest on whether he struggled or not. The fight was on short notice but that was still a pretty close to prime Lewis. Just because he was a little lazy and was thinking about retirement does not mean he was not still in his prime. I just don't see "prime" as being that finite with respect to this fight. Was he the best he has ever been? Was Vitali? His issues were always based on motivation. He probably picked up that trait in Canada, the procrastination capital of the planet. Personally, I don't have the time to procrastinate.

Im not looking to clash with you but surely you would agree lewis at this stage of the vitali fight was not the same stage as vitali in his career.

That was lewis last fight and no one knows when a fighters pure prime is but im sure it he was a better fighter 4-5 years ago.

No reason to clash.

Well I suppose that could be true physically and I know you mean 5 years prior to 2003 but the 2003 Lewis that fought Vitali does not get knocked out like the 2001 Lewis did against Rahman. Its a fine line this prime and less then. Purely physically speaking I would have to say his prime was between 96 and 99 but that does not necessarily mean prime as a fighter. That would discount all that he had learned in his trials and errors. Just look at Hopkins. He probably reached his physical prime by the time he was finished at middleweight. His prime as a fighter seemed to follow that today notwithstanding.

I get what you are saying and part of me agrees but prime is a tricky word in this sport. Some show an obvious decline like Martinez imo and others not so much. I mean look at Floyd. His legs are not quite what they used to be but I think he's a better fighter now then he has ever been.

Vitali was no spring chicken either. He turned pro as a kick boxer and had about 35 pro bouts before turning to boxing. I'm guessing there was probably some wear and tear present for most of his boxing career.

I just think that aspect of the fight is overplayed.