By Dave Wilcox
My respected fellow scribe Frank Lotierzo wrote an article explaining his opinions on whether or not Lennox Lewis should come out of retirement to give Vitali Klitschko his much sought after rematch. As much as I respect Mr. Lotierzo , I think I’ll have to check mate him on this one. I would agree that with time, Lewis’ legacy will have the “Holmes effect” and grow over the years. I will disagree about possible negative results if he were to lose the rematch with Vitali. Lennox Lewis provokes deep emotions from fans and detractors alike. You either love him or hate him. No matter what transpires in a Klitschko rematch, the so-called “haters” (I despise that term) will always be quick to bark out the names Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall. His fans will always hold firm with the “not focused” and “out of shape” excuses.
If Lennox Lewis comes back and wins the fight, I think it will help him a great deal. Vitali Klitschko is gaining momentum and making a nice name for himself right now. He is big and strong and has put together a couple nice victories. In their first fight, Klitschko did a wonderful job and caused Lewis fits in the ring. I’m not one of those that feel Vitali was a shoe in to win the bout. As Mr. Lotierzo put it, Lewis caused the cut with clean punches and Klitschko could not continue. Lennox won the fight fair and square. I have another dirty little secret for you. If you get me liquored up enough, I would probably admit to you that I thought Lewis was finding the range at the point of stoppage and looked to be on his way to stopping the tough challenger. Regardless of my personal feelings on the fight, Vitali Klitschko fought a tremendous fight and Lewis showed the heart that most would argue he never had.
In my opinion, Lennox Lewis has nothing to prove. His legacy is secure. He was a talented if not an underachieving top 15 Heavyweight Champion of all time. Talent wise, you could stack him against anyone. The question for Lewis is whether or not that will be enough for him? If he shows the nerve to come back and beat the dangerous Vitali Klitschko, would that secure top ten status? Or maybe even be considered higher than that? I think it would do just that. The people that claim he was always a chicken who ducked tough challengers could no longer stake that claim if Lenny were to come back and win. For the record, Bowe ducked Lewis and Byrd was a name that brought no excitement or butts in seats and Lewis made a smart business decision not to fight him. Lennox Lewis is a great fighter that has a solid career resume.
He beat the likes of Ruddock, Holyfield, Tyson, Golata, Mercer and Morrison. He avenged both of the defeats he suffered in grand style. Aside form all that, he played the part of Heavyweight Champ perfectly. He is smart, well spoken and the big right hand doesn’t hurt either.
I guess when it comes right down to it; I am a fan of Lennox Lewis and want to rank him higher on my all time list. Unfortunately when one “tries” to be objective and professional as a scribe, (ok, at least I try to be objective) you try to keep personal feelings in check. If Lenny comes back and defeats Klitschko in a rematch, I think me and everyone else could comfortably put Lennox Lewis in the top ten Heavyweights of all time and possibly higher. If he comes back and loses, he will still have my respect as a very good champ who took a huge risk. His place in history won’t suffer because his detractors will still detract, and his followers can just add one more excuse to their large bag…. .“Lennox was too old”. They can put the Klitschko rematch right alongside Holmes vs. Tyson and Holyfield vs. Toney.
For Vitali Klitschko, if he wins this fight, we all win because it will solidify him as a champ and nobody can question him any longer. As fans, this fight is a can't lose proposition. The fighters have a lot to gain and there is that little detail of 50 million dollars. I’m getting excited just thinking about this one.
Make it so Lewis! He can save the Heavyweight division yet again…win or lose.
DO IT LENNOX!
