Who ranks higher all time, Klitschko's or Lewis?

[Mugwump]

I voted for Lewis originally, but I actually think that since his comeback, Vitaly is proving to be the more complete and intelligent fighter.

Winning on a dubious cut when behind on the cards is not sufficient to say Lewis> VK.

There was nothing "dubious" about the cut. It was one of the most horrific boxing has seen.

At the end of the day it's the ring doctor's PROFESSIONAL opinion & decision whether to continue or not. He is the man BEST PLACED and MOST QUALIFIED to make the call - not some crazy keyboard warrior with a Klitschko boner who knows as much about facial tissue as I know about basket weaving. If he thinks there is a chance that a fighter's health could be seriously damaged as a result of it he is LEGALLY, MORALLY & ETHICALLY compelled to pull him out.

Both fighters agreed to these rules when they entered the ring. Which means they knew they HAD TO protect their faces. Lewis did. Vitali did not. It's the reason he lost.

I just can't understand why people fail to accept this.

[Special K]

There was nothing "dubious" about the cut. It was one of the most horrific boxing has seen.

At the end of the day it's the ring doctor's PROFESSIONAL opinion & decision whether to continue or not. He is the man BEST PLACED and MOST QUALIFIED to make the call - not some crazy keyboard warrior with a Klitschko boner who knows as much about facial tissue as I know about basket weaving. If he thinks there is a chance that a fighter's health could be seriously damaged as a result of it he is LEGALLY, MORALLY & ETHICALLY compelled to pull him out.

Both fighters agreed to these rules when they entered the ring. Which means they knew they HAD TO protect their faces. Lewis did. Vitali did not. It's the reason he lost.

I just can't understand why people fail to accept this.

Of course it was a bad cut. I meant 'dubious' as in the legality of its origin.

[Mugwump]

It's difficult to say when the worst of it happened. But one thing's for sure - Lewis was catching it increasingly often and making it worse. I mean, as far as bleeding goes I've seen nastier. A lot nastier. But the tissue damage was immense. Near the end of the fight I was half expecting Lewis catching it and a huge flap of skin peeling off.

I find it hard to believe there are many ringside doctors who would be prepared to let a guy fight on in such a state.

[sonnyboyx2]

Lewis .....this is not a tough one to call!!.....Lewis's resume is sick!!!....EVERY dam HW that was relevant is on it!!.....he has beaten EVERYONE he's faced including Vitali......he revenged his only losses with KO's in the rematches!!.....he was the last HW to unify the titles!!!....2 Klitschko's don't match up to 1 Lewis when it comes to accomplishments in the ring!!!

1/ Lots of heavyweights during the 90s Lewis refused to fight, Bowe in 93 & 95 Tyson in 96 Holmes, Foreman, Moorer, Sanders, Smith, Hide, Wlad, Jones jr, was all avoided, Lewis chose instead to fight Botha, Butler, Jackson, Fortune, Mavrovick, Akinwande, Bruno, Grant.

2/ Lewis was poleaxed by 2 mediocre journeymen, avenging his loss to McCall with the fight taking place only days after McCall was released from a Drug-Rehab and clearly in no condition to fight... Lewis KO of Rahman was `nothing special` as Oleg Maskaev had poleaxed Rahman TWICE even knocking him over the top ropeout of the ring for 5 minutes.. Rahman was the worst champion in boxing history.

3/ Lennox Lewis was `Gifted` the undisputed Title in his return fight with Evander Holyfield, 42 of 45 ringside journalists had Holyfield the clear winner. Lewis then `REFUSED`to fight the official No1 contenders so was stripped of every version of the title, both John Ruiz & Chris Byrd both beat Holyfield far more convincingly than Lewis with Ruiz flooring Holyfield something Lewis never came near to doing.. Lewis turned down the largest purse in pro-sports history a staggering $35 million + PPV to fight newly crowned WBA champion Roy Jones jr.

Lennox Lewis was a FRAUD and an oppotunist who only ever fought fighters that was on the downside of their careers, he never ever wanted anything to do with fighters who was at the top of their game, never in Lewis whole career did he ever face an opponent who was at the `Top of their Game` Lewis fought Mike Tyson 11yrs after Buster Douglas had beaten Tyson, some 6yrs after Holyfield had finished off Tyson as an elite fighter, with Tyson serving several prison sentences along the way, Lewis victory over Tyson was no greater than Danny Williams or Kevin McBrides victory over the former champion.

Lewis defeated Tommy Morrison when Morrison was on the slide and HIV positive..
Lewis beat David Tua who was the fattest man to ever fight for the title.
Lewis beat Razor Ruddock who was `Damaged Goods`after 2 brutal beating from Mike Tyson, having his jaw and eye socket broken in the fight.

So who on Lewis resume was `AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME`other than Vitali Klitschko and Lewis was most fortunate to win that fight, an immediate rematch should have been called, yet Lewis dragged out his title reign for another 18 months before announcing his retirement only days before he was to be stripped of his last remaining belt.

[Mugwump]

1/ Lots of heavyweights during the 90s Lewis refused to fight, Bowe in 93 & 95 Tyson in 96 Holmes, Foreman, Moorer, Sanders, Smith, Hide, Wlad, Jones jr, was all avoided, Lewis chose instead to fight Botha, Butler, Jackson, Fortune, Mavrovick, Akinwande, Bruno, Grant.

Moorer? Who? Everybody and the world knew Herbie is/was a blown up cruiser who isn't strong enough to match up with big guys. As for avoiding Roy Jones - Roy should thank his lucky stars that he did.

Lennox would have killed him. Seriously.

[sonnyboyx2]

Moorer? Who? Everybody and the world knew Herbie is/was a blown up cruiser who isn't strong enough to match up with big guys. As for avoiding Roy Jones - Roy should thank his lucky stars that he did.

Lennox would have killed him. Seriously.

Moorer was champion of the world and a very dangerous southpaw.

Hide was undefeated and WBO champion also a huge money fight for Lewis

Roy Jones looked `unbeatable` back in 2000, he was calling out Holyfield, Tyson and Lewis, yet when he defeated Ruiz at heavyweight Lewis wanted nothing to do with Super-Roy.... no matter how much money he was offered

[Special K]

1/ Lots of heavyweights during the 90s Lewis refused to fight, Bowe in 93 & 95 .

Wasn't it Bowe, or more specifically his manager Rock Newman, who refused to fight Lewis? He was scared Lewis would take away his cash cow.


And I don't think a cut of dubious origin is enough to say 100% Lewis>VK. It was an unsatisfactory outcome for everyone, except for Lewis who had no intention of allowing VK a rematch to properly settle the matter. I think Lewis was a great fighter, no doubt, but he should have went one more fight.

[sonnyboyx2]

There was nothing "dubious" about the cut. It was one of the most horrific boxing has seen.

At the end of the day it's the ring doctor's PROFESSIONAL opinion & decision whether to continue or not. He is the man BEST PLACED and MOST QUALIFIED to make the call - not some crazy keyboard warrior with a Klitschko boner who knows as much about facial tissue as I know about basket weaving. If he thinks there is a chance that a fighter's health could be seriously damaged as a result of it he is LEGALLY, MORALLY & ETHICALLY compelled to pull him out.

Both fighters agreed to these rules when they entered the ring. Which means they knew they HAD TO protect their faces. Lewis did. Vitali did not. It's the reason he lost.

I just can't understand why people fail to accept this.

true enough, yet Lennox Lewis told the world that he would face Vitali Klitschko in a rematch, yet he knew all along that he had been fortunate to win and had no intention of going ahead with any rematch, so he dragged out his reign for another 18 months then announcing his retirement only days before he was to be stripped of the belt for refusing to face Vitali Klitschko

[Phirsole]

Sorry, Sonnyboyx2, you are wrong.

Lennox faced far better opposition in the 90s, than the Klitschkos in this decade. While both K boys are very good fighters, they fall short to him in a few points:
- Lewis has far bigger names on his resume
- Lewis was defeated, but avenged both his losses himself
- Lewis fought a Klitschko boy in his prime and won (legal TKO by injury)
- Lewis dominated a division, which had far more "decent" and "good" boxers than the following years.

It may be cool to have a brother, who avenges your losses for you. But in the end, it damages your reputation. Further, the K brothers are both top notch, but will not face each other, so we'll never know who is the true king of the hill today.

Lewis looked as he avoided some of the difficult fights. In the end, he fought all of those who mattered in his decade, and that's what matters in the end.

Both Klitschkos and Lewis are the same tier in terms of skill, power, reach, ring generalship, speed... but Lewis prevailed in a more difficult division, and thus accomplished more.

[Chunk..]

Lennox Lewis TKOed Vitali after a tough fight. Vitali was ahead on points and giving Lewis all he could handle, and Lewis cranked it up a notch like champions have been known to do in tough fights and busted Vitali's face wide open with a booming combination of heavy punches causing the ref and ring side doctor to stop the fight. They probably saved Vitali from a career ending injury or worse by the stoppage.

Lennox Lewis was by far the better than either Klitschko, and IMO is one of the greatest Heavyweight champions of all time.

Unlike most on here, i rank Wlad ahead of Vitali - He has better all round boxing ability and is dominating this era. He also has a very good chance of beating Joe Louis's 25 title defense record.