Lennox revising history re Vitali rematch

[Bennyleonard99]

Bull****. Vitali made the fight several times and backed out. I think it was the last time he pulled out because of supposed injury he fought a month after that date. If you think k alewis ducked a Vits rematch you have to see Vits ducking Rahman and a Byrs rematch. You can call me a hater all you want, but the facts speak for themselves and you've got double standards. Want to bet i can post the timeline?

Why on earth would Vitali be afraid of anyone, particularly a shot Rahman? He obviously had a reason because Rahman was tailor made to be his heavy bag. Vitali never showed reluctance to face anyone. He beat Byrd easy and IMO threw the fight with a phony shoulder injury, to set up Byrd to later face Wladimir who became Byrd's mandatory. A Ukraine mafia move. Because Vitali could have beat Byrd with one arm and he never showed any hint of pain. He just quit. And did not demand rematch. Very suspect.

Vitali could have easily boxed and floated for two more rounds and won the decision. Byrd had nothing to hurt him with. Vitali tanked it IMO. Boxing is very corrupt. More corrupt than anyone realizes.

[JAB5239]

Why on earth would Vitali be afraid of anyone, particularly a shot Rahman? He obviously had a reason because Rahman was tailor made to be his heavy bag. Vitali never showed reluctance to face anyone. He beat Byrd easy and IMO threw the fight with a phony shoulder injury, to set up Byrd to later face Wladimir who became Byrd's mandatory. A Ukraine mafia move. Because Vitali could have beat Byrd with one arm and he never showed any hint of pain. He just quit. And did not demand rematch. Very suspect.

Vitali could have easily boxed and floated for two more rounds and won the decision. Byrd had nothing to hurt him with. Vitali tanked it IMO. Boxing is very corrupt. More corrupt than anyone realizes.

Oh my god.......the audacity of the things you make up!!!

Im willing to make any bet you want that says I can prove Vits never sought a Byrd rematch after losing and never fought his number one contender Rahman even though he could have. Name your bet. You're in the deep end of the pool now. You want us to believe a guy who won and retired owed Vits a rematch but Vits had no obligation to his loss to Byrd and his number one contender Rahman? Lmao!!

[Bennyleonard99]

Oh my god.......the audacity of the things you make up!!!

Im willing to make any bet you want that says I can prove Vits never sought a Byrd rematch after losing and never fought his number one contender Rahman even though he could have. Name your bet. You're in the deep end of the pool now. You want us to believe a guy who won and retired owed Vits a rematch but Vits had no obligation to his loss to Byrd and his number one contender Rahman? Lmao!!

Vitali did NOT demand the rematch with Byrd, likely for the reasons I noted above. Rahman was shot and irrelevant and I can't remember why the Vitali fight didn't happen. Not that anyone regrets it, everybody knows Vitali would have slaughtered the shot Rahman at that point. Why didn't Rahman force the fight if he was mandatory challenger if he wanted Vitali so bad?

[JAB5239]

Vitali did NOT demand the rematch with Byrd, likely for the reasons I noted above. Rahman was shot and irrelevant and I can't remember why the Vitali fight didn't happen. Not that anyone regrets it, everybody knows Vitali would have slaughtered the shot Rahman at that point. Why didn't Rahman force the fight if he was mandatory challenger if he wanted Vitali so bad?

Nobody said Vits demanded a rematch with Byrd. That's the problem. You excuse this but think Lewis owed him ANYTHING after beating him and retiring. As far as Rahman goes...he avoided his number one contender. If Rahman was no threat than why not make the fight? More excuses but nuthuggers forthcoming I'm sure. Why did Vits feign injury to get out of a Rahman fight only to schedule a different fight after the Rahman fight fell thru? I told you you were in the deep end of the pool now, and youre drowning. You like to use a lot of conjecture but very little facts.

[QueensburyRules]

If he had come back and made another fight I would get their point. As it stands he did not. I don't see how we can fault a man for retiring and staying that way when so many others cannot.

- - He was faulted for selling his belts to Dking.

He was faulted for saying he had 5 more fights planned after taking care of Kirk Johnson with Vit on the undercard.

He was faulted for agreeing to rematch Vit, but making him jump through hoops, the last being his mommy who he lived with who when she met Vit, she gasped and say "U NOT Fighting this man the day before the WBC was due to strip him.

Nobody faults like U fault. U #1-Uno!!!

[JAB5239]

- - He was faulted for selling his belts to Dking.

He was faulted for saying he had 5 more fights planned after taking care of Kirk Johnson with Vit on the undercard.

He was faulted for agreeing to rematch Vit, but making him jump through hoops, the last being his mommy who he lived with who when she met Vit, she gasped and say "U NOT Fighting this man the day before the WBC was due to strip him.

Nobody faults like U fault. U #1-Uno!!!

Why do you insist on making up lies? Can you prove he "sold " his belts to King? Of course you cant.

[Haka]

Oh my god.......the audacity of the things you make up!!!

Im willing to make any bet you want that says I can prove Vits never sought a Byrd rematch after losing and never fought his number one contender Rahman even though he could have. Name your bet. You're in the deep end of the pool now. You want us to believe a guy who won and retired owed Vits a rematch but Vits had no obligation to his loss to Byrd and his number one contender Rahman? Lmao!!

The key difference — and what many critics overlook — is the context and stakes involved in each situation.

Lennox Lewis was the reigning heavyweight champion when he fought Vitali Klitschko in 2003. It was a high-stakes bout, and despite being behind on the scorecards, Lewis won by TKO due to a severe cut on Vitali's face. The fight ended controversially, and a rematch was strongly anticipated. Lewis, however, chose to retire instead of defending his title again — especially after publicly suggesting a rematch would happen. That's why Klitschko fans criticize Lewis: not because he retired, but because he left unresolved business with the top contender who had been giving him serious trouble.

Now, regarding Vitali Klitschko and Chris Byrd: when Vitali pulled out of their 2000 fight due to a torn rotator cuff, he was winning the fight. Byrd won by TKO due to that injury. A rematch never happened, true — but Byrd was not seen as a dangerous or marketable opponent at the time, and Vitali quickly focused on other bigger opportunities. More importantly, Byrd didn’t have a belt Vitali needed after that, so there was less incentive. Fans don’t dwell on that loss because the injury was legitimate, and Vitali later went on to dominate the division for years, proving he was the superior fighter overall.

As for Hasim Rahman: yes, the fight was scheduled multiple times but was derailed due to Vitali’s injuries — some of which were well-documented and long-term, including a serious back injury that sidelined him for years. When he did return, he didn't avoid Rahman — he actually beat the man who beat Rahman (Oleg Maskaev) and reclaimed the WBC title.

So while it's fair to question missed fights in any top fighter's career, equating Lewis’s decision to retire on a win (with unfinished business) to Vitali’s injury-related delays — especially when Vitali continued to fight top contenders and dominate — isn’t exactly a fair comparison. That’s why Klitschko fans view it differently.

[Bennyleonard99]

Why do you insist on making up lies? Can you prove he "sold " his belts to King? Of course you cant.

Yes he's right. Lewis sold the IBF belt to King and later Byrd who won it... for a Range Rover. It was a stunning story back in the day when it happened.

[Bennyleonard99]

The key difference — and what many critics overlook — is the context and stakes involved in each situation.

Lennox Lewis was the reigning heavyweight champion when he fought Vitali Klitschko in 2003. It was a high-stakes bout, and despite being behind on the scorecards, Lewis won by TKO due to a severe cut on Vitali's face. The fight ended controversially, and a rematch was strongly anticipated. Lewis, however, chose to retire instead of defending his title again — especially after publicly suggesting a rematch would happen. That's why Klitschko fans criticize Lewis: not because he retired, but because he left unresolved business with the top contender who had been giving him serious trouble.

Now, regarding Vitali Klitschko and Chris Byrd: when Vitali pulled out of their 2000 fight due to a torn rotator cuff, he was winning the fight. Byrd won by TKO due to that injury. A rematch never happened, true — but Byrd was not seen as a dangerous or marketable opponent at the time, and Vitali quickly focused on other bigger opportunities. More importantly, Byrd didn’t have a belt Vitali needed after that, so there was less incentive. Fans don’t dwell on that loss because the injury was legitimate, and Vitali later went on to dominate the division for years, proving he was the superior fighter overall.

As for Hasim Rahman: yes, the fight was scheduled multiple times but was derailed due to Vitali’s injuries — some of which were well-documented and long-term, including a serious back injury that sidelined him for years. When he did return, he didn't avoid Rahman — he actually beat the man who beat Rahman (Oleg Maskaev) and reclaimed the WBC title.

So while it's fair to question missed fights in any top fighter's career, equating Lewis’s decision to retire on a win (with unfinished business) to Vitali’s injury-related delays — especially when Vitali continued to fight top contenders and dominate — isn’t exactly a fair comparison. That’s why Klitschko fans view it differently.

Pretty good documenting except Vitali never fought Maskaev, Vitali regained the WBC title from Samuel Peter when WBC gave him champion emeritus status when he decided to comeback and they gave him the direct shot at Peter who had just won the title. I remember Dino Duva was really upset that his guy Peter had to fight Vitali for his first title defense, which of course he lost. Also, the shoulder injury vs Byrd was suspect, there was no hint of pain or anything. It actually looked like a dive for ******** purposes perhaps or to set up Wladimir with an easy title. Byrd and King tried dodging Wladimir for a while but eventually got forced into it and he lost badly. Vitali did not even bother to try to rematch Byrd which was suspect. If the fight was on the level, you would expect Vitali to desperately want to redeem himself asap - just like he wanted the Lewis rematch. Can you explain why Vitali didn't pursue the Byrd rematch?

[Haka]

Pretty good documenting except Vitali never fought Maskaev, Vitali regained the WBC title from Samuel Peter when WBC gave him champion emeritus status when he decided to comeback and they gave him the direct shot at Peter who had just won the title. I remember Dino Duva was really upset that his guy Peter had to fight Vitali for his first title defense, which of course he lost. Also, the shoulder injury vs Byrd was suspect, there was no hint of pain or anything. It actually looked like a dive for ******** purposes perhaps or to set up Wladimir with an easy title. Byrd and King tried dodging Wladimir for a while but eventually got forced into it and he lost badly. Vitali did not even bother to try to rematch Byrd which was suspect. If the fight was on the level, you would expect Vitali to desperately want to redeem himself asap - just like he wanted the Lewis rematch. Can you explain why Vitali didn't pursue the Byrd rematch?

Byrd was irrelevent had no titles, and Vitali had bigger fish to fry which he did in chasing after Lennox.