Vitali

[StarshipTrooper]

I had not read this before I posted! So I guess we should all understand that "Vagina face" is a perfectly normal consequence of getting hit repeatedly and accurately in the same area. Welters*** has nothing to be ashamed of. Vitali followed a normal psychological trajectory for "phase one" of Vagina face: as stated in the AMA journal: "A patient upon diagnosis of this syndrome/ condition, which is characterized by a superior, to inferior, ventral positioned gash, usually manifesting as a distal to proximinal oriented facial ulceration, will DENY the wound has manifested. This is partially a defense mechanism and usually occurs in males more than females because of the stigma of having a face that functions as a sexual reproductive organ."

The fight was stopped by the doctor because...and again I will let the AMA Physician's manual clear up any confusion:

"Later stages of Vagina face can result in the spontaneous birth of a second head." Boxing fans may remember this happened to Rahmin when hefought Holyfield when after a head butt, a protusion from his head started to grow and grow and grow! after a point it was obvious the fight had to stop as Rahman's second head was becoming antagonistic towards the ref and actually referred to Rahman's opponent (Hollyfield) as a bastard maker!"

Eventually if not treated the condition becomes a handicap....one can fight on as a boxer at great personal expense: We have for example "six heads lewis" what people do not know is that Ricardo Mayorga used to be a fundamentalist Christian with never an unkind word for any opponent in the ring....However having to knock out all six of lewis' heads during his crowning victory made Mayorga a ****** stealing, chain smoking, thug with a vindictive temperament.

So please do not joke about Vagina face...it is no laughing matter. Fans of a fighter subject to this condition are also affected by seeing their hero having their faces turned into a Vagina. Welters*** prolly should have therapy because of the trauma induced by this occurance. For his part Lennox Lewis donated money to the charity fighting this condition. He retired because he was traumatized and gunshy having turned a man's face into a vagina.

I dunno, I rather enjoy having a face full of vagina but that's just me :chuckle9:

[soul_survivor]

No offense but it was the exact opposite. Lewis was landing bombs in the last 2 rounds of the fight as he found his range, that's why he won those rounds(and IMO I scored the fight 3-3). The famous uppercut ruined Vitali and by the end of the last round Lewis landed a punch to the temple which had Vitali staggering around the ropes.

People overanalyze Lewis sitting down on his stool. I believe that it is better for a fighter to be worn out because of stamina related issues as a pro will likely find a second wind, compared to being worn out because of punishment that they have taken. The latter is something that fighters rarely recover from during a fight, and there is no doubt that Vitali took the most damage of the fight whereas Lewis had only been hurt in round 2 and was literally walking through Vitali's punches in the last couple of rounds with no care.

I'll look at that fight again but having seen it only once since it was live (about 3 years ago or so) and both times I came away with the impression that Lewis was looking faded, slow and out of breath.

Yes THAT upper cut was huge and Vitali was wobbled but Vitali recovered, was up on points in like 90% of cards and had landed big, BIG shots on Lewis.

I have always maintained that the fight should have gone on for at least another round, if Vitali looked in trouble again, then fair enough, stop it. But it was for THE heavyweight championship of the world, the biggest prize in sport, there could have been a historic moment yet the ref stopped it just when the fight was lighting up!

The one thing that can tell who you was winning the fight or who did win the fight are the fighters reactions. Lewis was upset after the fight, at the booes, at the interviewers questions, all his answers were passive aggressive and he kept going back and forth on whether or not there would be a rematch. Kinda like Froch/Bradley/Duran and all those who have lost when they weren't supposed to or gotten dodgy decisions.

Where as Vitali was honest and straight to the point because he knew what the fight was like, "I want the rematch, I feel like the people's champ".

[Weltschmerz]

It would depend upon how greatness is defined. In fantasy head to head matchups, he'll absolutely rank up there.

Agreed. Greatness should be measured on more than just resume. Ali's greatness was measured on more than just resume, for instance.

[BKM-2010]

I'll look at that fight again but having seen it only once since it was live (about 3 years ago or so) and both times I came away with the impression that Lewis was looking faded, slow and out of breath.

Yes THAT upper cut was huge and Vitali was wobbled but Vitali recovered, was up on points in like 90% of cards and had landed big, BIG shots on Lewis.

I have always maintained that the fight should have gone on for at least another round, if Vitali looked in trouble again, then fair enough, stop it. But it was for THE heavyweight championship of the world, the biggest prize in sport, there could have been a historic moment yet the ref stopped it just when the fight was lighting up!

The one thing that can tell who you was winning the fight or who did win the fight are the fighters reactions. Lewis was upset after the fight, at the booes, at the interviewers questions, all his answers were passive aggressive and he kept going back and forth on whether or not there would be a rematch. Kinda like Froch/Bradley/Duran and all those who have lost when they weren't supposed to or gotten dodgy decisions.

Where as Vitali was honest and straight to the point because he knew what the fight was like, "I want the rematch, I feel like the people's champ".

Yeah you should definitely rewatch the fight as well as the interviews afterwards 'cause you have many things backwards. Vitali was completely deluded and out of control. He almost caused a riot and was saying that Lewis never hit him with any hard punch once and that every one of the cuts were caused by headbutts and things like that. Lewis I feel was being attacked by Larry Merchant and was merely defending himself, and in a classy way as well. But the constant "Look at the state of his face" is hilarious though lol.

[Weltschmerz]

Yeah you should definitely rewatch the fight as well as the interviews afterwards 'cause you have many things backwards. Vitali was completely deluded and out of control. He almost caused a riot and was saying that Lewis never hit him with any hard punch once and that every one of the cuts were caused by headbutts and things like that. Lewis I feel was being attacked by Larry Merchant and was merely defending himself, and in a classy way as well. But the constant "Look at the state of his face" is hilarious though lol.

Evidence, please.

[joseph5620]

Agreed. Greatness should be measured on more than just resume. Ali's greatness was measured on more than just resume, for instance.

Ali's greatness is based is based on what Ali actually did. Not fantasy fights based on opinions that can never be proven one way or the other. You can't even compare the two situations.

The fact remains Vitali failed against the best opponents he faced. You can make all of the excuses you want, but he lost. Other than that, he doesn't have a single win over a fighter that would even qualify for the watered down boxing hall of fame.


There is nothing great about that no matter how you try to spin it. You would be better off arguing a case for his brother. But Vitali is no where near great and doesn't even belong in any kind of all time great discussion.

[Rip Chudd]

^^^^^ Was that what you meant to post?

Oh man that was hilarious. Green K sent

[New England]

Vitali is a great of his era but in the second half of his career, his opposition has faded, with the last few fights being laughable at best.

In terms of the whole Lewis/Vitali argument, Lewis was badly faded by the end of the 4th, Vitali was landing huge shots on him and yes Vitali was cut but white fighters normally cute faster anyway. Lewis was all but done when he sat on hs stool at the end of the 6th, you could see it on his face when the fight was called off, the relief damn.

Lewis didn't fight again because he knew he was done.

for the sake of discussion, let's say that your assessment of the fight is spot on.

does that negate the fact that clean punches opened up vitali's face and prompted a very appropriate stoppage?

[Weltschmerz]

Ali's greatness is based is based on what Ali actually did. Not fantasy fights based on opinions that can never be proven one way or the other. You can't even compare the two situations.

The fact remains Vitali failed against the best opponents he faced. You can make all of the excuses you want, but he lost. Other than that, he doesn't have a single win over a fighter that would even qualify for the watered down boxing hall of fame.


There is nothing great about that no matter how you try to spin it. You would be better off arguing a case for his brother. But Vitali is no where near great and doesn't even belong in any kind of all time great discussion.

And what did Ali actually do? Knock out limited slugger Foreman? In my book, no huge accomplishment. Klitschko's would kill both Foreman and Ali. Ali lost as well, to lesser opponents.

Vitali belongs among the greats.

[Weltschmerz]

Oh man that was hilarious. Green K sent

What was hilarious?