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

[imp]

For crying out loud we all know there wasnt a ko you know what I mean.

Shall we bring up every single fight in history that was close and then stopped on cuts?

Google vitalis face and you bloody tell me who was taking the most punishment!!!

Lennox was never dropped and the rematch would have been worse for vitali.

Simple

[Max Power]

So Lennox would have to wait 6 months until Vialtali cut healed and then fight him? He had unified the division and fought Tyson. He had achieved everything he wanted. There was always going to be another young lion challenging. He retired at the right time.

The toughest fighter Lewis fought was probably Holyfield in their second fight.

Master I agree his retirement then should detract nothing from Lennox's achievements, he had nothing left to prove and you are quite right there will always be a young lion. He wisely retired with his faculties and did not retire a middle aged punch bag with slurred speech like so many other great champs sadly.

But I just watched Holfield/Lewis 1 and 2 last night again and although the 2nd meeting was a more competitive affair from Holyfield to say it was Lewis's toughest fight is outrageous. Lewis won convincingly and was doing it in his trademark lazy fashion, hands by his side with no respect for Holyfield's power to hurt him.

This same laziness led him to getting knocked out 2ce and led him to even deeper waters against Ray Mercer. In the Mercer fight he REALLY had to dig deep to swim ashore, that was a tougher fight than Holyfield.

Despite only going 6 rounds though, nobody has spanked Lennox so thoroughly and pushed him so hard as Vitali did. Anybody saying that wasn't his most dangerous opponent must be hateful towards the Ukranian giant!

[#1FightFan]

that was a great fight. i saw it live. lennox was coming on, and vitali was fading but u never know, vitali was still hanging in there despite that hideous cut. bottom line is vitali has waaaay more balls than pussy boy wladimir. no comparison.

my fave part was after the fight when merchant asked lewis if he still thought vitali was a bum?

[Max Power]

Haha that had to be Merchant's best interview!

The Wladimir of those times would have been eating canvas in round 2 against Lennox, maybe even round 1. Wladimir was still a force then but didn't have the chin or defence sussed out.

Although I tip Lennox over a future prime version of Wladimir I'm not so sure. It really is a 50/50 because Wladimir's defensive style is so solid now it's not inconceivable that Wlad could nullify Lennox's game. Wlad's own jab and right and left hook is atleast as sharp as Lewis's was.

Manny Steward did his job well. Probably a bit TOO well with Wlad.

[Master]

So Lennox would have to wait 6 months until Vialtali cut healed and then fight him? He had unified the division and fought Tyson. He had achieved everything he wanted. There was always going to be another young lion challenging. He retired at the right time.

The toughest fighter Lewis fought was probably Holyfield in their second fight.

Master I agree his retirement then should detract nothing from Lennox's achievements, he had nothing left to prove and you are quite right there will always be a young lion. He wisely retired with his faculties and did not retire a middle aged punch bag with slurred speech like so many other great champs sadly.

But I just watched Holfield/Lewis 1 and 2 last night again and although the 2nd meeting was a more competitive affair from Holyfield to say it was Lewis's toughest fight is outrageous. Lewis won convincingly and was doing it in his trademark lazy fashion, hands by his side with no respect for Holyfield's power to hurt him.

This same laziness led him to getting knocked out 2ce and led him to even deeper waters against Ray Mercer. In the Mercer fight he REALLY had to dig deep to swim ashore, that was a tougher fight than Holyfield.

Despite only going 6 rounds though, nobody has spanked Lennox so thoroughly and pushed him so hard as Vitali did. Anybody saying that wasn't his most dangerous opponent must be hateful towards the Ukranian giant!

I think there is a difference between the best fighter Lewis fought and the toughest fight he ever had in his career. I still think the Holyfield in the 2nd fight was probably the best fighter he fought and his toughest fight he had would probably against Mercer.

[Max Power]

Well I'm only spitting hairs to argue with that because both those viewpoints are very valid. Mercer was a 12 round struggle for Lennox and Holyfield has a case for being the best fighter. I personally think both belong to Vitali but your view is also reasonable.

[Master]

Well I'm only spitting hairs to argue with that because both those viewpoints are very valid. Mercer was a 12 round struggle for Lennox and Holyfield has a case for being the best fighter. I personally think both belong to Vitali but your view is also reasonable.

Maybe you are right. If you asked Lewis he probably would say Vitali was the fight where he had to dig the deepest to get the win but he would know that was more because he had underestimated Vitlai than because the Klit brother was better than Holyfield or Mercer that he fought.

[brocktonblockbust]

uhhhh-erm....Prime Vitali went toe-to-toe with OLD FAT Lennox and let's face it, he couldnt drop or stop Lewis and Lewis tore up his face and won TKO.

[Max Power]

Come off the grass blockbuster! Lennox was like 5 or 6 lbs over his usual fight weight, had more amassed experience than at any other point in his career and was only 37 years old, the same as Mayweather and younger than present day Wladimir and Vitali! That's virtually prime for a modern HW. He had a year off fine but he was still training to fight another top contender (Johnson) when he switched to Vitali who ALSO had only 2 weeks to prepare! So don't give me that "Vitali failed to defeat a shot Lennox BS!".

Seriously your Klitschko bashing is beyond a joke! Watch the fight, everybody in attendance, most of the whole crowd and the entire commentary and analytical crew agree Vitali was kicking ass. Lennox himself knew it too.

A few months later, Lennox witnessed Vitali's 2 round annihilation of top contender and highly skilled Kirk Johnson, an opponent who would also have been a tough fight for Lennox. No way did Lennox want any more of that. There was no chance of Lennox looking good or boxing well against Vitali like he did his previous opponents. Vitali retired Lewis!

Reality check blockbuster!

[p4pking]

Reality checks brockton, not the other way around.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Lewis got out of dodge in this fight, the cut saved his ass. He retired knowing full well that a return bout could be ugly...for him. He got lucky twice late in his career, the 2nd Holyfield fight was just as big an injustice against Holyfield as the draw was against Lewis. IMO Vitali stops him in a rematch. He was wise to retire.

[imp]

uhhhh-erm....Prime Vitali went toe-to-toe with OLD FAT Lennox and let's face it, he couldnt drop or stop Lewis and Lewis tore up his face and won TKO.

Brock is right.

Everyone keeps going on about IF this and IF that!

Lewis punches opened up vitalis face that is the whole point!

Reverse the situation and imagine lewis face looking like that!

[ninjaspy3]

uhhhh-erm....Prime Vitali went toe-to-toe with OLD FAT Lennox and let's face it, he couldnt drop or stop Lewis and Lewis tore up his face and won TKO.

Brock is right.

Everyone keeps going on about IF this and IF that!

Lewis punches opened up vitalis face that is the whole point!

Reverse the situation and imagine lewis face looking like that!

I agree too. I think it's bad to try to discredit Lewis' win and attribute it to luck, and also act like Lewis actually lost the fight or that he owed a rematch. Just because something doesn't turn out the way you'd prefer doesn't mean it's open season for revisionist history.

[imp]

Lewis left boxing a very rich man and beating a man no one has ever done that too.

Vitali and his fans can only keep bringing up the fact that his loss was the best fight he ever had.

Name a heavyweight in recent years or since in a fight where you see a fighter with a face like vitali afterward.

Please can someone post that pic of his post lennox face.

[imp]

Take a long hard look.

The last great heavy destroyed the current best heavyof this era.

Vitali is a warrior with amazing punch resistance...but he lost the fight and lewis would have been even better for the rematch but whats the point?!

His eye is cut in three places!!

His nose looks broken!

Cheekbones bruised and smashed.!

Lips are a mess!

Shall i go on..