Lennox revising history re Vitali rematch

[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.

[Bennyleonard99]

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.

I think Vitali retired the first time because he his body had broken down, not to duck Hasim Rahman. What was so scary about Rahman for Vitali? Then Vitali regained his health and decided to comeback and challenge new champ Sam Peter, who probably was the more formidable challenge at that time, more so than Rahman. I remember the time and it never seemed Vitali was dodging Rahman. Vitali never dodged anyone. He fought Sanders at his most dangerous, with enormous pressure on him Vitali beat the hell out of Sanders who is outrageously underrated. Crazy power in that lightning bolt left hand, probably the most lethal left hand in boxing history. Sanders was far far better than the part time golfer the media made him out to be. That was an unbelievable win by Vitali and an awesome performance. Though nobody remembers it for what it was because the media labeled Sanders as a washed up part time golfer. Peak Sanders would have knocked old Ali into the third row. Peak Sanders would have KOed Frazier, Norton and many other champs.

[Bronson66]

I think Vitali retired the first time because he his body had broken down, not to duck Hasim Rahman. What was so scary about Rahman for Vitali? Then Vitali regained his health and decided to comeback and challenge new champ Sam Peter, who probably was the more formidable challenge at that time, more so than Rahman. I remember the time and it never seemed Vitali was dodging Rahman. Vitali never dodged anyone. He fought Sanders at his most dangerous, with enormous pressure on him Vitali beat the hell out of Sanders who is outrageously underrated. Crazy power in that lightning bolt left hand, probably the most lethal left hand in boxing history. Sanders was far far better than the part time golfer the media made him out to be. That was an unbelievable win by Vitali and an awesome performance. Though nobody remembers it for what it was because the media labeled Sanders as a washed up part time golfer. Peak Sanders would have knocked old Ali into the third row. Peak Sanders would have KOed Frazier, Norton and many other champs.

Some ranked men Vitali never fought whilst being ranked himself.
Tua
Tyson
Dimitrenko
Valuev
Rahman
Fury
Povetkin
Pulev
Helenius
Haye
Chagaev
Boytsov
Ibragimov
Brewster
Oquendo
Barrett
Golota
Toney
Holyfield
JonesJnr
McCline

Instead fighting
Charr
Sosnowski
Williams
Kevin Johnson
Chisora
Briggs
Donald.

None of them ranked by the Ring
After Lewis, Vitali fought 12 men how many of them were Ring ranked?
Cherry Picker.

[JAB5239]

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

Byrd had the WBO title he took from Vits that Vits swore to to home town German fans he would get back.

[Bennyleonard99]

Some ranked men Vitali never fought whilst being ranked himself.
Tua
Tyson
Dimitrenko
Valuev
Rahman
Fury
Povetkin
Pulev
Helenius
Haye
Chagaev
Boytsov
Ibragimov
Brewster
Oquendo
Barrett
Golota
Toney
Holyfield
JonesJnr
McCline

Instead fighting
Charr
Sosnowski
Williams
Kevin Johnson
Chisora
Briggs
Donald.

None of them ranked by the Ring
After Lewis, Vitali fought 12 men how many of them were Ring ranked?
Cherry Picker.

I remember he tried to fight Tyson but Mike didn't want that smoke. He would have murdered Valuev Toney Golota and all the guys on your list. Roy did not demand to fight Vitali LOL he would have gotten killed. No one on your list called out Vitali. Toney did but he was shot and old and had no chance whatsoever.

[Bennyleonard99]

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

Right, Byrd was just a Don King pawn at the time, used by King to control the IBF belt, like Ruiz was used by King to control the WBA belt. King knew both Byrd and Ruiz had no chance vs either Klitschko and kept them in house as long as he could.

Lewis selling the belt to King was a move which helped King, his former backstabber, and it hurt the Klitschkos quest of trying to win all four belts together.