Vitali Retires, Article Inside!!!

guess his injuries were legit then sux for us fans but he did what he felt was in his best interest

I respect Vitali for making the right decision here. He's been holding up the division for long enough. He won that WBC title (1/4th of the Heavyweight title) agasint a very poor fighter, and defended it once agasint another very poor fighter. With all the inactivity between and after, it was clear he wouldn't be anywhere close to being able to unify at any point soon. To anyone who says that this is a bad thing for the division, they need to give their head a shake. Vitali had one belt, and he wasn't defending it, and even if he was to get healthy, there was no indication he was going to fight the other title holders. In all likelihood, he would have avoided unifying to spite Don King, and would have spent the next year or so fighting the Oleg Maskievs of the world claiming that he makes the title and not the other way around. The bottom line is what the Heavyweight division needs now (and has needed since Lewis retired) is a UNIFIED Champion. We are now one step closer to this happening. Good on Vitali for realizing that his body isn't what it once was, and for allowing the division to move on without waiting on his ongoing delays.

...Yep, and his place will be debated for a long time. His only two loses due to injury(he was winning both fights), he was never behind on any scorecard after the 2nd round of any fight, never knocked down in any fight, one of the highest KO percentages in history, WBC and Ring Champion when he retired. Hell, it's no telling where he would have stood if not for the injuries. LOL. He place will NOT be debated. He has no place. If his retirment is final, he will receive no hall of fame consideration whatsoever. Your sugar coating in that post is hilarious. He's retired as a guy who lost the two biggest fights of his career, and who has maybe 3 or 4 wins agaisnt top ten oppoisition, and those are meidocre top ten fighters at best. If this is truely it for him, the only people will be debating anything will be clowns like you who try to sugar coat a long list of nothing-isms.

That sucks, 10.19's a good time. But at least you've made the most of it, getting into boxing. yep, it dont bother me in boxing, guess i dont have to run fast but everyonce in a while i'll tweak it a bit throwing a good punch if i aint stretched right..i tried maken a comeback, but just couldnt do it, pulling a hammy really sucks, never really heals

....spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam

Vitali quits again! What a fitting end to the career of a quitter! It doesn't get any better than this, folks. Honestly, we all should have seen it coming.

hell yeah it was, was depressen for me tho, i got a hamstring pull the week after i qualified for the olympic trials after runnen a 10.19 i know it aint under 10, but i was well on my way, that was only the second year i ever ran track,didnt run untill college That sucks, 10.19's a good time. But at least you've made the most of it, getting into boxing.

...Yep, and his place will be debated for a long time. His only two loses due to injury(he was winning both fights), he was never behind on any scorecard after the 2nd round of any fight, never knocked down in any fight, one of the highest KO percentages in history, WBC and Ring Champion when he retired. Hell, it's no telling where he would have stood if not for the injuries. don't forget he never won a meaningful fight in his career

God damn, Vitali was the only good heavyweight......... :( LOL, worst post of November

That was a good final, that 100m in Athens. hell yeah it was, was depressen for me tho, i got a hamstring pull the week after i qualified for the olympic trials after runnen a 10.19 i know it aint under 10, but i was well on my way, that was only the second year i ever ran track,didnt run untill college

i hate injury's they kept me outta runnen the 100m in the 04 olympics, but hey, it turned out for the good, now i am boxing That was a good final, that 100m in Athens.

Makes sense... I was shocked to see this so I guess it wasn't really outta nowhere that he retired...I'm just stunned it happened like this. Now he will have to hear the " did steroids play a part" and all of that. It really doesn't matter and I could care less either way honestly...he's still got money

...Yep, and his place will be debated for a long time. His only two loses due to injury(he was winning both fights), he was never behind on any scorecard after the 2nd round of any fight, never knocked down in any fight, one of the highest KO percentages in history, WBC and Ring Champion when he retired. Hell, it's no telling where he would have stood if not for the injuries. i hate injury's they kept me outta runnen the 100m in the 04 olympics, but hey, it turned out for the good, now i am boxing

I'm not sure why people think this retirement is out of the blue. He was too hurt to even train properly for a fight after nearly a year of trying to heal and couldn't do it. I'm just glad he had the honour to hang it up.

is anyone still a vitali fan after all of this? the postponements and retirement outta the blue? ...Yep, and his place will be debated for a long time. His only two loses due to injury(he was winning both fights), he was never behind on any scorecard after the 2nd round of any fight, never knocked down in any fight, one of the highest KO percentages in history, WBC and Ring Champion when he retired. Hell, it's no telling where he would have stood if not for the injuries.

is anyone still a vitali fan after all of this? the postponements and retirement outta the blue?

what a mockery and waste of time

I hope he does not do a Michael Jordan and ruin his stellar retirement

toney is 5"9, maybe rahman and toney cud fite each other Yeah, now that Toney's biggest challenge is gone. I think Toney was a good chance at least winning a belt or two.

Toney may become undisputed, its certaintly possible...