Your thoughts on Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko?

[DaxxKahn]

It was a fight that was memorible and neither man realized what it was going to entail going in.

Lennox came in out of shape a mistake he made with Rahman and McCall in their first bouts, He was starched both times you would think he learned his lesson but no! Though he was in better shape for Vitali then either of those two.

Vitali was known as the "Other" Klitschko nwho quit against a soft punching Byrd regardless of why fact is he quit and thats all Lennox camp and most of the HW division associated him with.

Vitali looked at Lennox as the champion who had been KO'd twice by lesser fighters and he should be able to put on the same performance.

Vitali taught Lennox early on he was not the "Other" Klitschko brother and took the early lead by being all over Lewis.

Lennox taught Vitali that even tired he was experienced and thi9s was just another day at the office and unless you KO him clean he was there for the duration, Lennox picked it up the last 2 rounds and took target practice at Vitali's cut.

Neither man was used to fighting another man of their size and skill level not too mention they did not fight at a big mans pace they fought a fight not a boxing match.

Both men learned valuable lessons.

Lewis that he no longer had the desire he once did and knowing that he also realized that the next half assed training camp may be his last as champion so why not retire on top and make way for the next generation and spare himslef from the ever ongoing trail of Former champions who do not know when to quit and end up shells of their former self.

Vitali learned humility (If you remember Vitali had a poor attitude before the Lewis fight about losing) Vitali also learned that you can not out muscle every opponent and you need to add some old fashioned boxing to make your night easier

Was a good fight for both men, Lewis retired an ATG with all his wits intact, a swimming pool of $1000 bills then some.

Vitali turned into the fighter we see today that if not for the Lewis fight I don't think he would have evolved into what he has.

It may not have been a pretty fight but not all fights have to be master pieces to be good fights.

[sumkalambay]

You have sumbukalambay name yet you avatar had McCallum who beat him why?

kalambay's one of my fav fighters to watch. real smooth operator.

but i admire mccallum more along with hopkins and barrera.

[Master]

You have sumbukalambay name yet you avatar had McCallum who beat him why?

kalambay's one of my fav fighters to watch. real smooth operator.

but i admire mccallum more along with hopkins and barrera.

Good fighter, both men beat my favourite Herol Graham.

[LBSCFC]

The Lewis fight made Klistchsko. Certainly the biggest fight Vitalis ever been in. Lewis was out of shape for this one and Vit was a late opponent. Great slugfest that ended with Lewis winning legitmately. it wasnt his head that made Klitschko look like something out of a horror film. Had the fight continued I think Lewis would have picked away at Vitali. The man was a great tactician as well as being a great fighter.

If Lewis was in shape Vitali probabaly would have just been another opponent and wouldnt have been the name he is now.

[El Kabong]

nah i enjoy wars like morales-barrera I, vazquez-marquez trilogy etc.

lewis-klitschko is just sloppy as hell.

So you just don't like the heavyweight division which was already known by everyone. Thanks for everything, your hatred of the heavyweights is soooo refreshing, please elaborate

[Chino]

It wasnt the same lewis that had beat tyson 6months before

...and it wasn't the same Tyson that beat taller guys with ease either.

Such a shame lennox retired and we never got to see how the fight really would of ended!

A rematch would have been good business-wise and for the fans.

[Taeth]

really good fight that got going right from the 2nd round onwards

It wasnt the same lewis that had beat tyson 6months before. Klitschko landed big on lennox a number of times

But all this crap about the cut saved lewis is b*llocks. Lewis was just beggining to find his feet and the round before it got stopped he was teeing off on klitschko for fun

Such a shame lennox retired and we never got to see how the fight really would of ended!!

Lennox is probably my favorite heavywieght ever, and he wasn't teeing off on Klitschko at any point, If he wasn't landing so much bigger punches he wouldn't ahve even won rounds 5 and 6, and he gasing badly, and the breaks were like a minute and 30 seconds because of all they were checking the cuts so much. I think Lennox in tip top shape beats Vitali in a close fight, but without those cuts on that night Vitali would have crushed Lennox going into the later rounds, I mean he couldn't even see out of that eye, and he was taking huge shots from Lennox way easier than I thought was humanly possible.

[Syntax Error]

I thought it was quite an entertaining fight & I actually think that Lewis hasn't got enough credit for his performance.

He was well out of shape & well past his best, but he still managed to tough it out & get the win.

It's all the more impressive when you consider that Vitali is still on top of the world in the HW division & that's after a lengthy hiatus too.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

primitive crap.

I think it was the most exciting & meaningful Heavyweight fight this side of 2003.

[johnmaff36]

primitive crap.

OK so you don't when heavyweights box and use the sweet science and then you don't like it when they go toe to toe.....you are a boxing fan correct

Klitschko-Lewis was a great fight, it was an even match and both fighters came out of the gates trying to end it as fast as possible...what's not to like about it

Shame about that cut though, and that there was no rematch, but then again we all know why that was

You say that we all know why there wasnt a rematch. Would i be correct in thinking that your inferring that lewis wanted no part of it. Well i dont know myself but my guess would be that Lewis,18mths off 40yrs of age, had did everything asked of him. fought and beat every no1 contender, left his closest rival with 60 stitches inside and out side of his face, and,realising his skills were on the wane, wisely decided to call it a day having absolutely nothing left to prove to anyone. Am i close?

[El Kabong]

...or one could say because Lewis got rocked more often in that fight than had been the case with his most recent fights and that he hit Vitali with the kitchen sink and he was still there, even after having his face split open, Vitali was still there. I think Lennox realized that he had met someone who was bigger, younger, and just as talented as him and then he knew "I got lucky, now I'm going to get out of here while I am still champion"

I don't blame Lennox for retiring, everyone knows both fighters weren't prepared to fight each other, Lennox was supposed to fight Kirk Johnson (which the Lewis supporters think was a huge deal) and Vitali was scheduled to fight Cedric Boswell (which the Lewis supporters tend to overlook). If they were given time to prepare for one another I think given Vitali's relative youth and his brain (the guy is a smart fighter) he would be able to form a fight plan which Lennox Lewis would have a very difficult time dealing with. If Lennox Lewis was given time sure he could try and plan for Vitali but only one person fights the way he does so it's not like sparring would be a great help. Lennox would also be getting older in this time period, and he may have figured he was far easier to "get to" than was the case earilier in his career, although guys like Shannon Briggs had limited success vs Lewis, he was always able to recover and dominate, vs Vitali there was no slowing him down, Lennox hit him with everything and VK was still there.

So yes it's probably a mixture of the two

[porkypara]

Just rewatched the fight again to refresh my memory.


A few point I noticed,as far as I can see Lewis would have most likely won had the fight gone on.He was throwing the better shots over the last few rounds of the fight.At the end both fighters seemed exhasted.

Also the HBO commontators seem very pro Klitchko and as for George Foreman,he just talked bollocks throught the whole fight.Contradicted him self all the time.

[The Fightfan]

You can make a case for both fighters IMO. It seems those who liked Lennox gave him the fight and those who like Vitali had him winning the rounds. Lennox did do everything he could to get rid of Vitali especially that huge right uppercut in I believe it was the fifth and Vitali walked through it. Lennox did start to gain ground in the ending rounds but I do remember Vitali landing his right hand at will when he threw it. The best evenly matched fight I've seen in a long time and probably never again in the heavyweight division.

[porkypara]

You can make a case for both fighters IMO. It seems those who liked Lennox gave him the fight and those who like Vitali had him winning the rounds. Lennox did do everything he could to get rid of Vitali especially that huge right uppercut in I believe it was the fifth and Vitali walked through it. Lennox did start to gain ground in the ending rounds but I do remember Vitali landing his right hand at will when he through it. The best evenly matched fight I've seen in a long time and probably never again in the heavyweight division.

That uppercut was a great punch.

How did Klitchko stay on his feet

It seemed as if both fighters just decided not to bother with defence and just load up with big singel shots.

Not the most skillfull fight you will watch but very entertaining.

[ElTerribleMorales]

the last GREAT heavyweight fight, i had Lewis slightly ahead but he seemed to be slowing down, and i feel at least on that night, if it weren't for the cut, Klitschko would have out lasted him