Lennox revising history re Vitali rematch

[Bennyleonard99]

Lewis retired right when should have.

A fighter owes nothing to nobody when he actually retires.

The thought that a fighter should take a fight he no longer wants for the sake of legacy or more money, he doesn't need, exists only in the mind of these silly opinions by BS posters.

It is as if these posters have no clue how brutal a boxing career actually is; they speak of these fighters as though they were merely icons to satisfy their vicarious nature.

Lewis held the belts hostage for over a year waiting and hoping Vitali lost to Sanders and Johnson. That cost the top contenders a lot of money. He should have quit the day after he beat Vitali. But he intended to keep fighting if Vitali lost to Sanders or Johnson.

Lennox retired because Vitali ran him out of the game. He didn't want that smoke again. Beating Vitali was the best win of his career. Even if the win was ringside aided by promoter Gary Shaw who allegedly gave the order to the ref to stop the fight, which of course enraged Vitali and the fans inside Staples Center who took Vitali's side. And then booed Lennox when he left the ring.

[Bronson66]

Lewis held the belts hostage for over a year waiting and hoping Vitali lost to Sanders and Johnson. That cost the top contenders a lot of money. He should have quit the day after he beat Vitali. But he intended to keep fighting if Vitali lost to Sanders or Johnson.

Lennox retired because Vitali ran him out of the game. He didn't want that smoke again. Beating Vitali was the best win of his career. Even if the win was ringside aided by promoter Gary Shaw who allegedly gave the order to the ref to stop the fight, which of course enraged Vitali and the fans inside Staples Center who took Vitali's side. And then booed Lennox when he left the ring.

This is you projecting all this,you have no factual basis for saying it,no more than you have any proof he deliberately came in at the heaviest of his career257 1/2lbs necause he was fighting 248lbs Vitali.

This BS is blown out of the water when we see Lennox was 247lbs,almost10lbs lighter, when he faced Grant ,who was the same height as Vitali and,at 250,2 lbs heavier .

[Bennyleonard99]

This is you projecting all this,you have no factual basis for saying it,no more than you have any proof he deliberately came in at the heaviest of his career257 1/2lbs necause he was fighting 248lbs Vitali.

This BS is blown out of the water when we see Lennox was 247lbs,almost10lbs lighter, when he faced Grant ,who was the same height as Vitali and,at 250,2 lbs heavier .

Grant was nothing compared to Vitali and Lennox, totally different level, basically an amateur still. Easy win of course For Lennox.

[JAB5239]

Then he should have quit the day after the fight with Vitali instead of waiting and hoping Vitali lost to Sanders and Johnson. That stagnated his belts and cost a contender the chance to fight for the vacant titles. The optics were Lennox was waiting hoping Vitali lost so he could continue his career and handpick guys who he knew he would beat.

Lewis owed to to the top ten contenders to make the belts available asap.

You are making up more BS with no proof.

[JAB5239]

Jim Lampley knows nothing about boxing conditioning. Lewis was tired because Vitali was the toughest fight of his life and the biggest strongest guy he ever fought in his life. He had to be in great shape to survive those early rounds and turn the tables. Lewis maybe was at his best lighter vs smaller less talented and less dangerous challengers but Vitali was a different animal altogether. Vitali became a top 3 ATG and he learned a lot from Lennox for sure. And Lennox learned a lot from Vitali.

Sure, a guy who covered the sport for decades know nothing but you do. Lmao!! What about Foreman? Does he know nothing about conditioning as well? You're making things up to excuse Vits loss and try to make Lewis look bad. A bad look for you. What reputable historian or publication ranks Vits a top 3 all time great? I don't know of any that even ranked him in the top 15. His resume is pure garbage, he didn't fight 28 top 10 contenders ranked by the Ring during his time. Lost his two biggest fights and quit against Byrd and never sought a rematch.

[Bronson66]

Grant was nothing compared to Vitali and Lennox, totally different level, basically an amateur still. Easy win of course For Lennox.

The Ring title was vacant Lewis was number 1 ,Holyfield number 2 and undefeated Grant number 3 .
Grant had had 31 fights ,Vitali 33, stop with the revisionism.

[BKM-]

@ OP I respect your opinion but I'm not seeing much analysis on the fight itself. Reading Lewis' statement, it matches up well with the fight, which happens to be one I've watched more than almost any other heavyweight boxing match.

Lewis did look physically unprepared, he did have a spotty start while Vitali the younger eager man started out fast and strong hence his significant success.

It is also true that Lewis was figuring him out as the fight went on. He was figuring out the range, which punches worked best against Vitali(with brilliant couching from Steward telling him to stay in close and work that left hook) he was also realizing how much he could take.

In a way, Vitali hurting Lennox early in the fight kind of worked against him. He knew early on he could take Vitali's hardest shot, and it wasn't harder than anything he's been hit with before(Don't forget, no heavyweight ever except for maybe Muhammad Ali faced as many hard punchers as Lennox did)Because Lennox at some point is showing less and less respect for Vitali, attacking hard with his hands down. And landing, hard. Vitali's face was the result of that.

So I have to agree with Lennox Lewis that he figured Vitali out by the end of that fight. He was landing the hardest shots and hurt him bad at the end of that round which he won. Left hooks, right cross, uppercut in the clinch, everything was landing.

The only thing holding Lewis back was his age and conditioning, the two hardest things to overcome. So his retirement makes sense. He knew that this matchup is brutal and dangerous win or lose, and that is no fight any aging champ should take when he already has one foot out the door.

[BKM-]

Sure, a guy who covered the sport for decades know nothing but you do. Lmao!! What about Foreman? Does he know nothing about conditioning as well? You're making things up to excuse Vits loss and try to make Lewis look bad. A bad look for you. What reputable historian or publication ranks Vits a top 3 all time great? I don't know of any that even ranked him in the top 15. His resume is pure garbage, he didn't fight 28 top 10 contenders ranked by the Ring during his time. Lost his two biggest fights and quit against Byrd and never sought a rematch.

Wasn't there another BennyLeonard poster here years ago? A good poster. I think I confused OP with this one.

[Nash out]

Lennox Lewis explains why he didn’t take the Vitali Klitschko rematch back in the day.
Lewis said: “Let me clear this up for you. Vitali was always supposed to be my last fight. I took it on 10 days notice.
No champ has ever taken on a number 1 contender on such short notice. I looked forward to the moment of starting a family and no more camps. I seriously considered a rematch, but in the end, decided to go with the original plan.
Vitali went on to be a great champion in his own right. I also knew that Father Time was not in my corner.”
“But I’ve always said, I had him figured out by the time the fight was stopped. I took this fight on 10 day notice. On ten days notice it was very hard to get sparring partners that tall with good skills. Most of what I had to learn about Vitaly I had to do so during the fight.
He did well early on because I had to solve the puzzle. Once I did, I was able to get to him more. Unfortunately, his face just couldn’t hold up. I would have preferred to stop him so there wouldn’t be any speculation, but it was not my call. For his safety, the ref stopped the fight.”

I have the HBO vhs tape of the Lennox vs Vitali fight and before the fight there is an interview with Lennox and he says nothing about it being his final fight,in fact he even mentions having more fights after he expected to beat Vitali.

This fabrication by Lennox shows he is still insecure about the Vitali fight even though he won it, it was an incredibly gutsy win, he still feels some guilt and perhaps shame or regret for not taking the rematch. He is still hounded by this by boxing fans. And so now he's trying to change history by saying Vitali was always going to be his last fight. The HBO telecast tape proves otherwise.

Lewis ducked the fight. He called his grandmother (I think) or mother, one or the other, and the top and bottom of it is they told Lewis that Vitali had just kicked his ass, that he got very lucky with the cut, and that he'd lose the rematch, that's why Lewis ducked it and retired. He got absolutely pasted by Vitali who had next to no notice for the fight, and no matter what people try to say sometimes, a cut is always a huge slice of luck. Always! Nash out - His Majesty

[JAB5239]

I have the facts..


Lewis said he gave the re-match on air and in the press. The boxing world waited in anticipation and the money was up for Lewis to the tune of 16+ million ( then a lot of money ) for Lennox alone. Lewis tried to make other matches with Roy Jones who declined a match with Lewis post Vitali 1. When the WBC ordered the re- match with Vitali it was his only belt at time time ( Lewis avoided orders to face Ruiz and Bryd ) and wast stripped of those belts ) he suddenly retired! Lewis knew deep down he would likey lose.


These are the facts. Fight news reported the loose tape on Lewis glove caused cuts and there was definitely was a collision of top of Lewis head when it crashed down into Vitali's eye region. I have posted the moment before here in viideo.

Anyway Lewis who was given re-matches by McCall and Rhaman to avenge early one punch KO loses, would not give one to Vitali.


I am fair to Lewis and rate him in the top 5 all time.

You don't have the facts. The fact is Vits major cut was caused by a right hand. Saying there was tape or dreads that caused it is disingenuous. What Lewis said immediately after the fight also has nothing to do with his plans to retire after fighting vits or Jones. You've said he tried to make a fight with Kirk Johnson in Canada, I'm still waiting to see proof of that.