Why Does Vitali Get More Credit for Losing to Lewis than Rahman Gets for Winning?

Drastically is the key word in my post. Lennox never relied to much on his speed - he never was that fast to start with. Lennox was no speedster, true, but he relied on fast inside handiwork often, and these deteriorate with reflex speed. Look at his fight against Tua.... Tua, a top 50 puncher of all time, weighed up against a good CW champ like Haye. Sure credit were credits due, but you get more credit for beating Tua than someone at least one division below you in wieght. Peter is not a bad opponent for Vitali, and Arreola is not terrible (at least hes not a CW dwarf like most of the Klitscho opponents), but they arent good contenders of the ilk we saw Lennox up against in at least 3/4ths of his defences. Gomez really isnt good.

anyone who thinks the 38 year old version of themselves isnt going to be slower than a younger, primer version is living a lie. It is a the law of nature that reflexes slow with age. Drastically is the key word in my post. Lennox never relied to much on his speed - he never was that fast to start with. Look at his fight against Tua. People are not giving credit to Wlad how he boxed Haye and yet they are giving credit to Lennox how he boxed Tua. It was boring as hell but Lennox did what he needed to do to win (he knew that Tua could drop him with one punch). All the credit to Lennox he didn't allow that and all the credit to Wlad he didn't allow same to Haye. Vitali destroyed Gomez, Peter and Arreola in great fashion when he was 37/8 or older. You are not hearing that much about his reflexes or speed or age.. Even now people are so eager to see Vitali fights Haye at age of 41/2... I don't understand british/lennox fans. Love your heros - lennox, hatton and so on (I love them) but give due credit to other great boxers. You won't take off anything from your favorites...

I swear...so many of yall trying to make this a complicated matter when it is not. Difference is that Lennox got KTFO with ONE LUCKY punch by Rahman where Vitali was doing serious work througout. Rahmans future proved that he was just destined for 15 minutes of fame. End of story.

i dont think he does but you have to realize at time no one gave him a chance in hell they thought his brother was better suited for the fight. they also thought he had no heart because of quiting in a fight where he broke his arm or dislocated his shoulder i think. then he came out and out boxed lewis. was just a classic fight and he proved all doubters wrong in every way. man has never been stopped not many fighters can say that exp those who fought at his age and being a heavyweight against bums or not. i dont understand why people dont like watching him fight. he throws strait rights like a middleweight his distance keeping is sick exp for his height.

and I am 33 years old and you have NO IDEA what you are talking about. Lewis was in his prime when he fought Vitali Klitschko and if you can't see that or don't know that you just don't care about the truth. I followed his whole career and he wasn't past his prime AT ALL when he fought Klitschko. But I understand as a Klitschko hater you would say something like that cause Klitschko was at times beating him up pretty good and Lennox looked really bad at times in that fight. Some hater somehow comes up with the argument "Lewis was old and way past his prime" and all the other idiots repeat that BS on this forum. All these retarded kids here on this forum have no clue what they are talking about. When Lewis fought Klitschko most of the pple who post in this thread were still in elementary school. I wasn't. I was 24 years old and watched the fight live on TV. I know Lewis was ducking both Klitschkos since years before the fight happened. Lewis just never fought them. And then suddenly he gave Vitali a chance, but Klitschko only had 2 weeks to prepare cause Lewis didn't want to face a Klitschko who was well prepared for Lewis. Lewis probably paid off his opponent back then to pull out of the fight and Lewis knew all the time he would fight Klitschko, but Klitschko didn't know it. Anybody who was following boxing back then knows both Klitschkos were chasing a fight with Lennox since YEARS. You've got to be kidding me.

I recently re-watched Lennox-mercer and lennox-holyfield and I really, honestly can't see anything drastically more crisp, faster and overall better in lennox's performance. Actually I think that Lennox was very crisp in vitali's fight and that his strategy was spot on - just perfect! anyone who thinks the 38 year old version of themselves isnt going to be slower than a younger, primer version is living a lie. It is a the law of nature that reflexes slow with age.

I'll co-sign that whole statement. It seemed like one person started bashing the Klitschko's and everybody else jumped in. I'm kind of wondering if any of these kids even watched the fights live or if their just being haters on the bandwagon. since the crux of your argument is based on the wild assumption that 'Lewis probably paid off his opponent to pull out...(so that he could fight an unprepared Vitali)' which has no basis in fact whatsoever, then what kind of fool are you for signing such a statement in blind faith with no suppporting facts? Bottom line is - Vitali=good single major title champ, performs well against bums and lower weight division fighters but comes unstuck versus semi decent contenders. Not knocking him, he is good for being a protected single title champ. Lewis= great champ, King of HW division, beats everyone, even the odd unlucky loss is avenged. If you have a problem with these facts, no matter what your age is, then you need to address your own opinions, not those of other people.

@halls of fame and I am 33 years old and you have NO IDEA what you are talking about. Lewis was in his prime when he fought Vitali Klitschko and if you can't see that or don't know that you just don't care about the truth. I followed his whole career and he wasn't past his prime AT ALL when he fought Klitschko. But I understand as a Klitschko hater you would say something like that cause Klitschko was at times beating him up pretty good and Lennox looked really bad at times in that fight. Some hater somehow comes up with the argument "Lewis was old and way past his prime" and all the other idiots repeat that BS on this forum. All these retarded kids here on this forum have no clue what they are talking about. When Lewis fought Klitschko most of the pple who post in this thread were still in elementary school. I wasn't. I was 24 years old and watched the fight live on TV. I know Lewis was ducking both Klitschkos since years before the fight happened. Lewis just never fought them. And then suddenly he gave Vitali a chance, but Klitschko only had 2 weeks to prepare cause Lewis didn't want to face a Klitschko who was well prepared for Lewis. Lewis probably paid off his opponent back then to pull out of the fight and Lewis knew all the time he would fight Klitschko, but Klitschko didn't know it. Anybody who was following boxing back then knows both Klitschkos were chasing a fight with Lennox since YEARS. I'll co-sign that whole statement. It seemed like one person started bashing the Klitschko's and everybody else jumped in. I'm kind of wondering if any of these kids even watched the fights live or if their just being haters on the bandwagon.

@stef This is horse ****. Vitali is so overrated by some people. Let me explain: 1) People say Vitali is one of the best punchers ever. These same people know nothing about boxing because Vitali is nothing more than an arm puncher. Wladimir is a good puncher but Vitali isn't. Lewis was shattered, doesn't have a particularly good chin and Vitali's clean shots were not doing anything, which proves he does not have one punch power by any standards. 2)People also say that Vitali has one of the best chins ever, which is also a load of **** as nobody but Lewis has ever tested it, and he was wobbled a few times by a tired Lewis in their fight. 3)People like yourself think that a relatively good performance against Lewis somehow puts him up there with the greats. Winning 4 rounds out of 6 does not mean that he would have won a 12 rounder. If anything Lewis was looking the better and was landing disgustingly hard punches on Vitali by the sixth (although Lewis looked tired too, giving further credit to the notion that he wasn't at his best). 4)People look at punch stat numbers and conclude that Vitali has a good defence. Well, I'm sorry to reveal that Vitali has an absolutely terrible defence; if he wasn't so tall people would see this. The reason people don't land much is because they suck or are way shorter and don't know how to get inside. When Vitali fought Lewis he got hit with 49% of Lewis' power punches, 43% of his jabs and 46% in total, and he got hit with many absolute bombs. Getting hit with that percentage of power shots in any circumstance proves that his defence is absolutely horrible when he fights somebody good/his own size. 5) People can say what they want, but Lewis clearly wasn't himself that night and wasn't in his prime either. Lewis had a history of avenging defeats and he should, in my opinion have avenged his poor performance against Vitali because Vitali is in fact very limited - the opposition just isn't there to show it. ....really, man, I can't believe I just read through all that Vitali hate garbage. I'd rather watch Vitali over Wladimir. But, both brothers are the most dominant heavyweights of the new era. ..... its not their fault that their opponents show up fight night in crappy condition and always get KO'd. Its not their fault they are 6'6". Are you a Hasim Rahman fanboy or something? If your crapping on Vitali KO Klitschko and his workrate & style, I hope to god your not a fan of Floyd Mayweather, because Floyd has all the same attributes that Vitali does. Why all the Klitschko hate?

I recently re-watched Lennox-mercer and lennox-holyfield and I really, honestly can't see anything drastically more crisp, faster and overall better in lennox's performance. Actually I think that Lennox was very crisp in vitali's fight and that his strategy was spot on - just perfect! Are you being serious here or just having a bit of a laugh?

A prime Lennox would not have come into the ring looking sloppy and out of shape, he was out of the ring for one year, so you could see he had fallen out of love with the sport, but like all boxers thought he could just lace them gloves up and see if he still had it, but he didnt. Lewis was moving slower and slower as the years went by, a prime lewis was faster, more crispy with his attack, and moves around better. Lewis started to look sluggish, thats just the facts of age and long lay offs I recently re-watched Lennox-mercer and lennox-holyfield and I really, honestly can't see anything drastically more crisp, faster and overall better in lennox's performance. Actually I think that Lennox was very crisp in vitali's fight and that his strategy was spot on - just perfect!

All the respect to Lennox for giving Vitali a chance as didn't have to. But looking at all the other fights Lewis ever fought I really can't see this fight would be dramatically different if Lennox was in his 'prime' or 'primer'. If you take 'prime lennox' (lennox that fought holyfield, mavrovic or mercer) I don't see anything that much more impressive than what he showed in Vitali's fight. He might be more athletic, but he never was especially fast guy. His chin always was ok, nothing extraordinary so he would still be stunned by clean vitali's shot. I simply can't see what he was doing bad, or worse than he was normally doing in his whole career. People should give Vitali due credit rather than saying Lennox was bad when he wasn't doing anything dramatically worse than normal. A prime Lennox would not have come into the ring looking sloppy and out of shape, he was out of the ring for one year, so you could see he had fallen out of love with the sport, but like all boxers thought he could just lace them gloves up and see if he still had it, but he didnt. Lewis was moving slower and slower as the years went by, a prime lewis was faster, more crispy with his attack, and moves around better. Lewis started to look sluggish, thats just the facts of age and long lay offs

Lewis was way past it, he had grey hairs for godsake He took the fight on short notice, just shows you what a tough ****a Lewis was He gave Vitali his shot, u get one shot at Lewis, if u knock him out u will a rematch to do it again, of u dont then thats it Lewis knew his body was over, he'd been in so many wars, he was nearing 40 and struggling with fitness and legs and injuries, he did the right thing and retire, dont think he wanted to carry on training. Vitali had a chance he just cudnt hang with the old timer All the respect to Lennox for giving Vitali a chance as didn't have to. But looking at all the other fights Lewis ever fought I really can't see this fight would be dramatically different if Lennox was in his 'prime' or 'primer'. If you take 'prime lennox' (lennox that fought holyfield, mavrovic or mercer) I don't see anything that much more impressive than what he showed in Vitali's fight. He might be more athletic, but he never was especially fast guy. His chin always was ok, nothing extraordinary so he would still be stunned by clean vitali's shot. I simply can't see what he was doing bad, or worse than he was normally doing in his whole career. People should give Vitali due credit rather than saying Lennox was bad when he wasn't doing anything dramatically worse than normal.

Lewis was way past it, he had grey hairs for godsake He took the fight on short notice, just shows you what a tough ****a Lewis was He gave Vitali his shot, u get one shot at Lewis, if u knock him out u will a rematch to do it again, of u dont then thats it Lewis knew his body was over, he'd been in so many wars, he was nearing 40 and struggling with fitness and legs and injuries, he did the right thing and retire, dont think he wanted to carry on training. Vitali had a chance he just cudnt hang with the old timer

the problem with guys like you is that you don't understand boxing. You see how Lewis looked against Klitschko and therefore you say "he was past his prime". What you don't understand is that for both Lewis and Klitschko this was a special fight cause both couldn't fight "tall" like they did in all their other fights. Cause this time they were facing an opponent who was as tall and big as themselves. Previously Klitschko and Lewis always had a size and/or reach advantage over their opponent and they could keep their opponents at the end of their jabs. But this time this wasn't possible cause the size/style matchup was different. And that is why Lewis looked totally different in that fight. But he wasn't past his prime AT ALL. And I have seen all his fights and followed his career and there was no indication of him being past his prime. He avenged the loss against Rahman in spectacular fashion before the Klitschko fight and then smoked (a past prime) Tyson. I understand boxing well enough to see through BS. Lewis at 38, inactive for a year, and the heaviest of his career was not "prime." The other lies you told are not even worth a response.

That's a flat out lie. the problem with guys like you is that you don't understand boxing. You see how Lewis looked against Klitschko and therefore you say "he was past his prime". What you don't understand is that for both Lewis and Klitschko this was a special fight cause both couldn't fight "tall" like they did in all their other fights. Cause this time they were facing an opponent who was as tall and big as themselves. Previously Klitschko and Lewis always had a size and/or reach advantage over their opponent and they could keep their opponents at the end of their jabs. But this time this wasn't possible cause the size/style matchup was different. And that is why Lewis looked totally different in that fight. But he wasn't past his prime AT ALL. And I have seen all his fights and followed his career and there was no indication of him being past his prime. He avenged the loss against Rahman in spectacular fashion before the Klitschko fight and then smoked (a past prime) Tyson.

Could we please stop with official and unofficial ("uncle") FACTS! Only relevant info is their fight. No expert/boxer ever doubt Vitali's chin or skills. I really find quite funny people are working so hard trying to dismiss Vitali. And I don't get the agenda.. You can like/love other fighters and still respect Vitali. Lewis in that fight wasn't in his prime and wasn't best ever but neither was Vitali. I choose Vitali that fought Peter/Gomez/Arreola over the one that fought Lennox every time. He was much more matured, smarter and overall better boxer! Prior to Lennox fight he was used to finish the guys with pure aggressiveness..

Great read. And Yes .. People rather glorify a lost than an actual win.. Vitali also avoided Rahman FOUR times in one year....Back when Rahman meant something., lol. What kind of crap is this?? Klitschko had injuries all the time before he took a break from boxing. That is why he had to pull out of the fight and he lost a big big payday. He would have smoked Rahman like he smoked all the other guys on Rahman's level (Herbie Hide, Vaughn Bean, Larry Donald, Kirk Johnson, Corrie Sanders, Arreola, Sam Peter)

and I am 33 years old and you have NO IDEA what you are talking about. Lewis was in his prime when he fought Vitali Klitschko and if you can't see that or don't know that you just don't care about the truth.I followed his whole career and he wasn't past his prime AT ALL when he fought Klitschko. But I understand as a Klitschko hater you would say something like that cause Klitschko was at times beating him up pretty good and Lennox looked really bad at times in that fight. Some hater somehow comes up with the argument "Lewis was old and way past his prime" and all the other idiots repeat that BS on this forum. All these retarded kids here on this forum have no clue what they are talking about. When Lewis fought Klitschko most of the pple who post in this thread were still in elementary school. I wasn't. I was 24 years old and watched the fight live on TV. I know Lewis was ducking both Klitschkos since years before the fight happened. Lewis just never fought them. And then suddenly he gave Vitali a chance, but Klitschko only had 2 weeks to prepare cause Lewis didn't want to face a Klitschko who was well prepared for Lewis. Lewis probably paid off his opponent back then to pull out of the fight and Lewis knew all the time he would fight Klitschko, but Klitschko didn't know it. Anybody who was following boxing back then knows both Klitschkos were chasing a fight with Lennox since YEARS. That's a flat out lie. Also, both had two weeks notice but they were scheduled to fight in December anyway.

Damn, I never thought of it like that.