just rewatched Lewis-Klitschko.

[Scott9945]

Vitali was clearly winning the fight at the time of the controversial stoppage, he hurt Lewis badly several times and made him stagger like a drunk...Vitali embarrased Lewis with ONE ****ING EYE...Lewis was dead after the 6th round, Vitali was about to put him away.

Lewis PROMISED Vitali a rematch if he got by Kirk Johnson....Vitali destroyed Johnson in 2 rounds!!....Lewis was then offered well over 20 million dollars for a rematch with Vitali....what does Lewis do??....He cowardly turns down the mega payday and retires like a ***** because he is scared of Vitali and he knew he would get his ass KO'd in the rematch...VITALI RETIRED LEWIS

Lewis NEVER promised Klitschko a rematch under any circumstances. That simply isn't true. If Lewis had fought someone else instead then you would have a point. When a 37 y/o champion decides his career is over, he can't be questioned.

[WLAD OWNS]

Lewis NEVER promised Klitschko a rematch under any circumstances. That simply isn't true. If Lewis had fought someone else instead then you would have a point. When a 37 y/o champion decides his career is over, he can't be questioned.

Why did Lewis retire??....I'll tell you why....FEAR...He took the cowards way out, he didn't wanna tarnish his precious legacy by getting KO'd in a rematch....Anybody with at least 2 brain cells knows that Vitali scared Lewis into retirement...Lewis is a liar, he is not a man of his word.

[Scott9945]

Why did Lewis retire??....I'll tell you why....FEAR...He took the cowards way out, he didn't wanna tarnish his precious legacy by getting KO'd in a rematch....Anybody with at least 2 brain cells knows that Vitali scared Lewis into retirement...Lewis is a liar, he is not a man of his word.

Lewis retired because he was old, rich, and his legs were going. He was smart enough to quit on top. Good luck finding some proof that he ever said he would fight Vitali or anyone else again.

[Orion]

Lewis retired because he was old, rich, and his legs were going. He was smart enough to quit on top. Good luck finding some proof that he ever said he would fight Vitali or anyone else again.

This is the more logical way imo.

[Silencers]

Why did Lewis retire??....I'll tell you why....FEAR...He took the cowards way out, he didn't wanna tarnish his precious legacy by getting KO'd in a rematch....Anybody with at least 2 brain cells knows that Vitali scared Lewis into retirement...Lewis is a liar, he is not a man of his word.

I always found it to be a smart move because he knew he was past it. Why risk getting hurt when he has already made enough money to last his lifetime?

[BattlingNelson]

I always found it to be a smart move because he knew he was past it. Why risk getting hurt when he has already made enough money to last his lifetime?

Some good points in this thread. Allow me to add that I think LL did the right thing.

Remember Rocky Marcianos last fight? It was against Archie Moore. Archie connected with one of the finest punches he ever threw and Rocky went down (but not out). Archie fought very hard but was himself stopped in the end. Rocky felt his age (although he was much younger than Archie) and decided to retire before losing. Lennox did the same thing. He felt the power and determination from a gifted challenger and decided to hang up his gloves. That was smart albiet unsatisfactory from a fans viewpoint since the win was due to cuts but under boxing rules it's still a win.

[Xyei]

Why did Lewis retire??....I'll tell you why....FEAR...He took the cowards way out, he didn't wanna tarnish his precious legacy by getting KO'd in a rematch....Anybody with at least 2 brain cells knows that Vitali scared Lewis into retirement...Lewis is a liar, he is not a man of his word.

I just don't understand this logic. Why should a fighter continue to fight if he is no longer confident in his ability? You speak as if Lennox retired while he was still in his prime which isn't true. He was a shell of his prime self and probably realized this after he fought Vitali. He didn't have the hunger anymore. Are you saying that you would have more respect for Lennox if he took the rematch and got KTFO? I don't believe that you would. You'd be calling him a bum instead of a coward.

You call Lennox a coward? BS... You're clearly showing bias.

[Boogie Nights]

good little review. i always thought that lennox was fortunate to bust that eye with a legit punch and not his head. just imagine how tarnished that tko would have been had people said that had it not been for lennox's head, vitali would have iced that win for himself. well fourtantly nothing like that happened, that right hand did the job and no foul play with dirty tactics was involved.

i thought the fight was great. klitschko was definetly ahead and had lenny going a couple of times. to me it looked like lewis started to come on in the last 2 rounds before the official stoppage. i dont know whether he found his second wind, of vitali was just totally gassed out, but the last rounds were slowly flowing in lenny's court. but again it's hard to judge, both men were exausted. after 5 rounds it was anybody's fight really, even if there was no cut, i doubt it would have went 12 rounds.

the rematch would have brough alotta dollars for both fighters. PPV easily

[Mugwump]

Anyone who says Lewis has a glass jaw after some of those bombs he stood up to doesn't know a thing about boxing.

He shouldn't have taken the fight. He wasn't in shape for it. He had no motivation. Nothing left to prove. Just a ton of money in the bank, a row of vanquished opponents and his health.

Perhaps he should have given Klitsch credit. But if he did he'd have to face up to the fact that he was as much responsible for the damage Klitsch inflicted as Klitsch.

[Derranged]

But shouldnt Klitschko be commended for that effort?

Commended? That performance is his claim to fame. A loss to a semi retired out of shape Lewis. He rode that fight for the remainder of his career.