vitalis hardest fight

alot of anger here about how lewis wasnt "troubling" vitali...obiously he troubled him some what with the cut, i just mean from a boxing perspective it didnt look like lewis had what it would have taken to beat vitali if it wasnt for the cut.

Lewis wasn't troubling him? He landed the clean right hand on the eye that caused one of the worst cuts I've ever seen in a professional fight. Then he lands something like 12 straight right hands to the side/kidney area while Vitali just holds. You can't just let a fighter do that to you, he can break your ribs. Then, in the final round, Lewis landed a bomb of an uppercut, and followed it up by stunning Vitali with a left hook along the ropes that prompted Vitali to hold and walk Lewis to the other side of the ring before eating another uppercut at the bell. The cut hadn't really worsened too much over the last few rounds, but because Vitali was starting to fade and the punishment was setting in on him, the doctors stopped the fight. If Vitali had a good round there, he might have been allowed to continue. Wasn't troubling him much? yeah that pretty much sums up my memories a very rough fight on both guys with Klit getting the worse at least as far as damage goes. I think the guy showed a huge chin and heart in that fight.

Just saw the fight in its entirety and I thought Vitali was clearly outboxing Lewis until the third round when Lewis landed that BIG over hand right. After that Vitali couldnt see the punches coming clearly. Lennox was the stronger man that night but Vitali was the more well-conditioned man. I would have loved to see them prime for prime although I think a fit Lewis probably beats Vitali.

What the ratio for how much punishment a man can take? I'm sure Sanders stock rises high in that poll! LOL Sanders is weird. In some fights it looks like he has a glass jaw, then in others he absorbs insane levels of punishment. Not sure how to explain it, since none of the guys who KOed him were especially big punchers, with the exception of Rahman.

Of all KO kings Corrie Sanders' KOratio in later rounds drops the most. Once you survive the first rounds against Corrie your chances increase dramatically. The same applies to Earnie Shavers (KOratio in rounds 1-6 = 92%, rounds 7-12 = 23%) and others like Sugar Ray Robinson (96% --> 16%) or Lennox Lewis (93% --> 33%). The difficulty is to survive Sanders for the first rounds, as you correctly pointed out. What the ratio for how much punishment a man can take? I'm sure Sanders stock rises high in that poll! LOL

Corrie Sanders was a beast, which is why it pisses me off when people call him a fat bum, fat golfer etc. That "fat golfer" had some of the fastest and hardest hands in the division at the time and was a nightmare for anyone in the first few rounds. Of all KO kings Corrie Sanders' KOratio in later rounds drops the most. Once you survive the first rounds against Corrie your chances increase dramatically. The same applies to Earnie Shavers (KOratio in rounds 1-6 = 92%, rounds 7-12 = 23%) and others like Sugar Ray Robinson (96% --> 16%) or Lennox Lewis (93% --> 33%). The difficulty is to survive Sanders for the first rounds, as you correctly pointed out.

Yeah Lennox never troubled him... http://www.boxnews.com.ua/photos/201/08.jpg

Vitali wasnt in that much trouble against Sanders, people act like he was dying in the ring or something. He got his with a few shots that backed him off and brought him back to earth, but the majority of that fight he was beating on Sanders like he was nothing. In rounds 5-8 Vitali hit sanders with 158 total shots (120 being power punches) and Sanders in turn hit Vitali 19 times. He outlanded him 8x over. Seriously, that fight was a drubbing,t he only thing that was close to happening was in the first, Vitali, having felt that Sanders was done early, overextended himself and almost paid with a knockdown. Was Jones a hard fight for Calzaghe? Cause it was a much harder fight than Sanders was to Vitali. Vitali beat him up like a bum, just let his guard down for a second and came close to almost getting close to getting knocked down. Do you know how amazing Vitali must be if people are considering that Sanders fight a negative. do you know how nitpicky you have to be for that? Ali was knocked down and taken 15 rounds by Chuck Wepner...a guy who makes Sanders look like the GOAT within months of the best win of his career (Foreman), but nope,t hat doesnt count right? Its such a joke. A guy lands a lucky counter punch on an angry Vitali, who was often known as a slow starter, and youd think he was in the war of his life and struggled the whole fight. From round 5 on Sanders landed 6 shots a round. Sanders landed 9 of 90 jabs in that fight. An 8 round heavyweight fight where one fighter lands 9 jabs...9. no one said Vitali was Jesus, but trying to find fault in that Sanders fight and saying thats somehow a negative on his career....man you guys must think Marciano blew. Hell, ali was knocked down by 188 lbs bum Henry Cooper, what about Lewis getting sparked by 2 journeymen...shavers losing to a guy with a losing record...these are all guys I see habitually in peoples ATG lists but Vitali...Vitali against a guy Vitali simply gets stunned by a counter punch and youd think he lost to a bum or something. Vitali, against a heavyweight champion with 2 losses (one from getting caught and knocked out early, and the other in a brutal war with another heavyweight champion...who said Sanders hit harder than Tua) gets stunned a little early on and then destroys a guy...I suppose PBF sucks since Mosley did about the same damage on him and Mosley is old and washed up and hasnt been the same since they took his steroids away...And Pac sucks too, since he was stunned by Margarito...who is washed up since they took the plaster out of his gloves...You find me a fighter who even in their prime never was stunned at all... Vitali's hardest fight was Lewis and its a shame we didnt get to see more of him vs. Lewis because then maybe we'd know how tough Vitali really is and how deep he can dig to win a fight. I do know this, a blinded Vitali, in a pretty big step up, fought Lewis to the edge WOW EPIC LONGNESS! I wasn't saying Sanders was his toughest fight,but he is a TOUGH opponent and TOUGH guy 4sure. Lewis had Vitalis whole face ripped open man,of course he was his toughest fight but he was also on the losing end of the stick toward the end and the fight was stopped! Who knows wut may or may not have happened if the fight wasn't stopped? But the right call was made at the time and the rest IS history. Lewis Wins!

Vitali wasnt in that much trouble against Sanders, people act like he was dying in the ring or something. He got his with a few shots that backed him off and brought him back to earth, but the majority of that fight he was beating on Sanders like he was nothing. In rounds 5-8 Vitali hit sanders with 158 total shots (120 being power punches) and Sanders in turn hit Vitali 19 times. He outlanded him 8x over. Seriously, that fight was a drubbing,t he only thing that was close to happening was in the first, Vitali, having felt that Sanders was done early, overextended himself and almost paid with a knockdown. Was Jones a hard fight for Calzaghe? Cause it was a much harder fight than Sanders was to Vitali. Vitali beat him up like a bum, just let his guard down for a second and came close to almost getting close to getting knocked down. Do you know how amazing Vitali must be if people are considering that Sanders fight a negative. do you know how nitpicky you have to be for that? Ali was knocked down and taken 15 rounds by Chuck Wepner...a guy who makes Sanders look like the GOAT within months of the best win of his career (Foreman), but nope,t hat doesnt count right? Its such a joke. A guy lands a lucky counter punch on an angry Vitali, who was often known as a slow starter, and youd think he was in the war of his life and struggled the whole fight. From round 5 on Sanders landed 6 shots a round. Sanders landed 9 of 90 jabs in that fight. An 8 round heavyweight fight where one fighter lands 9 jabs...9. no one said Vitali was Jesus, but trying to find fault in that Sanders fight and saying thats somehow a negative on his career....man you guys must think Marciano blew. Hell, ali was knocked down by 188 lbs bum Henry Cooper, what about Lewis getting sparked by 2 journeymen...shavers losing to a guy with a losing record...these are all guys I see habitually in peoples ATG lists but Vitali...Vitali against a guy Vitali simply gets stunned by a counter punch and youd think he lost to a bum or something. Vitali, against a heavyweight champion with 2 losses (one from getting caught and knocked out early, and the other in a brutal war with another heavyweight champion...who said Sanders hit harder than Tua) gets stunned a little early on and then destroys a guy...I suppose PBF sucks since Mosley did about the same damage on him and Mosley is old and washed up and hasnt been the same since they took his steroids away...And Pac sucks too, since he was stunned by Margarito...who is washed up since they took the plaster out of his gloves...You find me a fighter who even in their prime never was stunned at all... Vitali's hardest fight was Lewis and its a shame we didnt get to see more of him vs. Lewis because then maybe we'd know how tough Vitali really is and how deep he can dig to win a fight. I do know this, a blinded Vitali, in a pretty big step up, fought Lewis to the edge

Oh, and the Lewis fight was quite clearly the toughest fight of his career. Sanders gave him his hariest moment and was the closest to knocking him down in that first round, but other than that Vitali had things relatively his own way. Lewis on the other hand was consistently landing hard, hard shots to Vitali throughout the fight and looked likely to stop him had the fight gone on past the sixth. Everyone mentions the uppercut, but watch the effect Lewis's jabs were having on Vitali. They were jarring him to the bones and stopping him in his tracks. Watch also the number of heavy overhand rights he was landing in close, and the nasty punches he was catching Vitali with in the clinches, including the one near the end of the sixth that stunned him and had him desperate to hold on. Watch also the increasing lack of effect Vitali's shots were having on Lewis as the fight went on, and the way he was slowly getting bullied and pushed back by Lewis's assault. No one's ever done that to Vitali before or since.

i dont think lewis was troubling him really besides the cut, i just wondered if anyones ever seen vitali hurt or trying hard in a fight? everything iv seen of him he looks like his not really trying hard at all. Um, yeah. Asian Sensation says everything I want to say on that point...

i was gonna mention Corrie Sanders aswell,and while your at it you should watch the fight before that when the old man spanked little Wlad's butt! Corrie Sander's is a BEAST! :P Corrie Sanders was a beast, which is why it pisses me off when people call him a fat bum, fat golfer etc. That "fat golfer" had some of the fastest and hardest hands in the division at the time and was a nightmare for anyone in the first few rounds. Kinda like a HW Zab Judah.

:rofl: @ Lewis wasn't troubling him.

wtf? lennox wasn't troubling him. this thread is officially a joke.

Lewis obviously, but Vitali wasn't 100% in that bout or Sanders (the injuries that retired him were still taking injections) but he still out boxed Lewis. Vitali has been amazingly super dominant since he came back, the rest did him good. I doubt he'd still be fighting as well if he'd not taken that hiatus.

Corrie could still give and take even though he wasn't in the best shape,that's the toughness that sets him apart from other guys like Wlad,who although always is in shape,is not as tough as his older bro and Sanders.

Yea Sanders was a true beast when he was on the attack. Too bad he doesn't get himself in good shape for fights, really could have been much more than he was.

Go watch the first three rounds of his bout with corrie Sanders he got caught with some good shots and was reeling at times. Thats the only time i can remember him hurt and a bit wobbly. cheers man, thats what i was after. this is the first time iv seen sanders fight, he looks like a tough sob

i dont think lewis was troubling him really besides the cut, i just wondered if anyones ever seen vitali hurt or trying hard in a fight? everything iv seen of him he looks like his not really trying hard at all. How could you say only the cut was bothering him against Lewis? Did you even see that fight? Did you see the shots Vitali took in that fight? I'd say that was definitely his toughest fight. If he would have quite, I wouldn't blame him. But when he quite against Byrde, I was shocked, Vitali looked fine compared to the Lewis fight. Sanders was also a tough fight for Vitali. Based off those two, an old out of shape Lewis, and old Sanders, Vitali was an alright fighter but not great at all. definitely better than his brother though.

I would say the Lewis fight was the hardest. But had the fight not been stopped I think Vitaly would have won. What even with no face left?