Sam Peter: "If Vitali Can't Fight, I Want Wladimir"

[Stickman]

if i were him i'd rather fight wladimir too......

wlad might be better skilled but vitali when healthy is a lot tougher and has a better chin...... more important in a heavy if you ask me.

Not to mention the fact that he's one mean muther****er in the ring. You couldn't melt me down and pour me on that man.

[WLAD OWNS]

The way Vitali fights and leans back when he sees a shot would give Peter tremendous problems. Vitali's jab is, IMO, better than Wlad's. It's not faster but it's a lot more powerful. Added with Peter's usually poor conditioning and telegraphing punches, Peter would be exhausted by 6-7 round and would become an easy target for Vitali. As long as Vitali makes it to the fight and is at least 75% of his old self in terms of conditioning and fighter mentality, Peter is going to go home with another L on his record, both of them handed to him by 2-times HW champions, the Klitchko brothers.

Good post, I agree 100%.

[Stickman]

The cut was under control and hadn't bled for 2 full rounds, weven though hit several times. Klitschko had surgery on it and 2 weeks after the fight he showed it on TV, even saying that he couldn't see any sign of a scar. The camera close up didn't either.

Don't forget, on of the phony excuses that lewis used to get out of the promised return in December was that he didn't think that K's eye would heal in time and didn't want to waste his time with a guy who'd be injured again quickly. All deliberate blow. On e of his conditions was that K travel to London to see his-Lewises- super-dooper eye specialist, to give the O.K. before Lewis would fight him. Klitscho did that, but Lewis wouldn't fight anyway, and saw Klitschko demolish Kirk Johnson in a round and a half on the same night that he should have been fighting klitschko. Johnson was Lewis' original opponent for whom K substituted. I believe that THIS finally decided Lewis to "retire".

I don't disagree that Lewis had no desire at all to step back into the ring with Vitali. He too forever to make the decision to retire, and I think it was because he was waiting, hoping Klitchko would lose a fight and the question of a rematch would be forgotten, and he could have another fight or two before retirement, bank some cash, and give a couple of crowd pleasing KO's before cashing out.

And I know the cut wasn't bleading, but that wasn't really the problem. Like I said before, a tear that big leaves the muscles that control eye movement much more susceptible to damage. I'm sure that's why the doctor stopped it. Like I said, I'd probably have given him just one more round to end it, but again, I'm not a doctor, just a guy who knew Klitchko was ahead on the cards and deserved a last chance to close it out.

[edgarg]

I don't disagree that Lewis had no desire at all to step back into the ring with Vitali. He too forever to make the decision to retire, and I think it was because he was waiting, hoping Klitchko would lose a fight and the question of a rematch would be forgotten, and he could have another fight or two before retirement, bank some cash, and give a couple of crowd pleasing KO's before cashing out.

And I know the cut wasn't bleading, but that wasn't really the problem. Like I said before, a tear that big leaves the muscles that control eye movement much more susceptible to damage. I'm sure that's why the doctor stopped it. Like I said, I'd probably have given him just one more round to end it, but again, I'm not a doctor, just a guy who knew Klitchko was ahead on the cards and deserved a last chance to close it out.

Stickman, I appreciate everything you say, believe me, but it didn't show up like you think. The eye muscles are actually attached to the eyeball, inside the socket, and nowhere near the eyebrow. Also the tear wasn't so large, just the fact that it was "Y" shaped and originally LOOKED strange. The point of the V" base of the "Y" was sticking up a little, and aggravated out of position by that idiot Souza rubbing it with a towel in the WRONG direction. he eventually got it right, and sealed up the wound. It really was NO hindrance to Klitschko's performance. Lewis tried to make it worse by rubbing it with his hair braids.

In the clinches, with that eyebrow on the outside, Lewis could-if he tried-hit it with his glove, but soft, just a punch from the elbow. So to protect it, Klitschko kept switching his head position over to Lewises other shoulderto have it on the inside-foolishly I thought- making it easy for Lewis to rub it with his head. However it was fixed by the 4th rd, and Klitschko won the 6th big, with Lewis at his last gasp. Probably your suggestion of another round would have done the trick for K, although there was no need to stop it because of the "eye"-really the eyebrow.

This of course is just my opinion and not absolute.George Foreman made a fool of himself bawling about "the eeeye...Oh thas baaaaad...he can't seeeee...he only has one eyeeee" and all that.

If he'd kept quiet, perhaps the stoppage wouldn't have happeed, since the analysts and commentators can be heard both by the boxers and, I think, other officials too. I've actally heard boxers say this as well as analysts. I'm sure you've often seen boxers signal approval or otherwise to commentators after thay've said soemthing pertinent, and lean over in a lull to add their approval...or the opposite.

[Left Hook Tua]

I don't disagree that Lewis had no desire at all to step back into the ring with Vitali. He too forever to make the decision to retire, and I think it was because he was waiting, hoping Klitchko would lose a fight and the question of a rematch would be forgotten, and he could have another fight or two before retirement, bank some cash, and give a couple of crowd pleasing KO's before cashing out.

And I know the cut wasn't bleading, but that wasn't really the problem. Like I said before, a tear that big leaves the muscles that control eye movement much more susceptible to damage. I'm sure that's why the doctor stopped it. Like I said, I'd probably have given him just one more round to end it, but again, I'm not a doctor, just a guy who knew Klitchko was ahead on the cards and deserved a last chance to close it out.

i'd like to put my 2 cents in on lewis.

when lewis came into that fight against vitali i think he thought vitali was soft and couldn't hang with him and would buckle under pressure.

he foresaw another michael grant. impressive against smaller opponents but would crumble when they ran into someone just as big. that's why he rushed vitali and started throwing bombs right away like he did against grant.

when vitali didn't crumble , lennox realized vitali was the real deal and he'd have to train real hard for the rematch. lennox knew he wasn't the same fighter he was anymore and i don't think he had the hunger to go through another tough training camp which he would need to.

he already had a win against vitali and considering how good vitali showed against him , to him the better vitali did after he retired even better for his legacy. to him there was no need for a rematch and to risk a loss.

[Stickman]

Stickman, I appreciate everything you say, believe me, but it didn't show up like you think. The eye muscles are actually attached to the eyeball, inside the socket, and nowhere near the eyebrow. Also the tear wasn't so large, just the fact that it was "Y" shaped and originally LOOKED strange. The point of the V" base of the "Y" was sticking up a little, and aggravated out of position by that idiot Souza rubbing it with a towel in the WRONG direction. he eventually got it right, and sealed up the wound. It really was NO hindrance to Klitschko's performance. Lewis tried to make it worse by rubbing it with his hair braids.

In the clinches, with that eyebrow on the outside, Lewis could-if he tried-hit it with his glove, but soft, just a punch from the elbow. So to protect it, Klitschko kept switching his head position over to Lewises other shoulderto have it on the inside-foolishly I thought- making it easy for Lewis to rub it with his head. However it was fixed by the 4th rd, and Klitschko won the 6th big, with Lewis at his last gasp. Probably your suggestion of another round would have done the trick for K, although there was no need to stop it because of the "eye"-really the eyebrow.

This of course is just my opinion and not absolute.George Foreman made a fool of himself bawling about "the eeeye...Oh thas baaaaad...he can't seeeee...he only has one eyeeee" and all that.

If he'd kept quiet, perhaps the stoppage wouldn't have happeed, since the analysts and commentators can be heard both by the boxers and, I think, other officials too. I've actally heard boxers say this as well as analysts. I'm sure you've often seen boxers signal approval or otherwise to commentators after thay've said soemthing pertinent, and lean over in a lull to add their approval...or the opposite.

I could be wrong, like I said, I'm not a doctor. What I can tell you, though, is that after catching a piece of shrapnel in my own eyebrow, I have no feeling in much of the scalp on the left side of my head, starting in a rough point at that eyebrow, and moving back, it quickly widens to the center of my head on top and to near my left ear, and then narrows again as it goes toward the back of my head, again, to a rough point. So that tells me that even if there aren't eye muscles easily damaged, there certainly are nerves that can be severed (obviously, in my case this happened). Also, when they reconstructed my eyebrow, they told me they had to "build" a stainless implant for my brow because the shrapnel destroyed an area where a muscle that controls eye movement goes through a hole in the brow. Not sure exactly what it looks like, and I'm sure you can understand that military doctors don't bother to go into great details with servicemen, other than to say "Ok, you're fixed and fit for duty" and that sort of thing.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant. The point I was trying to make is that I understand both points of view. I think Klitchko deserved at least another round to try and close the show, but I can see why the doctor stopped the fight, as well. It was a nasty gash. Foreman did overreact, but I don't know if that made any difference at all. Maybe the doctor was just trying to cover his own ass and wasn't really concerned whether it was dangerous to continue with the cut as it was.

[paul750]

Who nesh!!!!!!