By Luke Furman

During a recent visit to Warsaw, Poland, former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis sat down to discuss his career, the infamous fight with Vitali Klitschko in 2003, the status of the heavyweight division, thoughts on WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko, and a lot more.

I felt sorry for Adamek in this fight. There was no response to Vitali's attacks. The trainer and manager, they could have come to me and asked me how to beat the big guy. I was able to help them, because I'm the only one who defeated him. But they preferred to do things their own way. Anyone who fights with Klitschko has no concrete idea [how to beat him], because they lose the same way. However, in this fight Adamek was simply too small.

Thoughts on The Heavyweight Division

Everyone wants a single champion [in the division]. And now there are two. And because they are brothers, they don't want to fight each other. For me, Vitali is better than Wladimir, much better. Did you see how punches he threw in the fight with Adamek. Then look at the fight between Wladimir and David Haye. There's nothing to say and nothing to compare. Vitali is very underrated, and he continues to be like a very good wine - he still gets better. I love watching his fights.

Wladimir is still young, but in the ring he's a little uptight. He has the best coach in the world [Emanuel Steward]. In the last fight he should have showed a better side of himself, but he didn't want do too much. Haye moved around and maybe threw two punches throughout the fight.

Anyone who wants to beats them must be capable of throwing a lot of punches and they must be well prepared in terms of endurance. In the heavyweight division, there is always a new era. First it was Muhammad Ali, who hd a lot of big names around him. Later it was Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, and today its the Klitschko brothers. Eventually with time, there will be an explosion and a new star will emerge, as they always do.

Thoughts on His Fight With Vitali Klitschko

I had a fight with Kirk Johnson, but the switch to Vitali occurred ten days before the fight. It was a year after the fight with Tyson. Tyson was my real curse, because he avoided me throughout his career. Everyone was wondering when the fight would happen. And once it happened, I took a year off. I wanted to return to the ring to fight Johnson.

Today, I know that Vitali paid him [to withdraw] so he could fight me. He told him 'don't fight him, I'll take this fight, and when I win you will get the opportunity in my first defense.' Kirk agreed, and I also took the challenge, but today I think I shouldn't have taken it on only ten days notice. He claims that he didn't lose, but if you want to be best in the world - you must have strength, you must be able to adopt to a strong punch, be able to fight and have the ability to close distance. Besides that, your skin shouldn't break so easily [talking about Vitali's cuts in the fight].

Luke Furman covers the boxing scene for bokser.org