In Lewis's prime how long would vitali have lasted

[jrosales13]

If an old out of shape inactive Lennox could beat Vitaly in 6rds. Why wouldn't I think that a prime Lewis wouldn't do the same thing? But, it will be in more dominant fashion.

Prime Lewis beats Vitaly in 6rds.

[hugh grant]

Without cuts, who knows. Maybe last the distance for a points win. If Lewis cut instead of Vitali. Its up to the Gods really.

[BattlingNelson]

Lewis was set up to fight Kirk Johnson, hardly the stuff of legends.

Lewis beats Vitali prime for prime everytime they get in the ring.

As I recall Lewis had a long grueling camp in preparation for this defense while Vitali prepared for some lesser 10 round fight. I just don't buy the notion that Lewis was lesser prepared than Vitali.

[Phirsole]

Who has Vitali got on his resume that is better than Lewis best wins?

Sam Peter? Herbie Hide? Corrie Sanders?

Lewis had much better fighters on his resume; Tyson (past it), Holyfield, McCall, Bruno, Mercer, Briggs, Vitali himself, Rahman, Grant, Golata, Morrison, Ruddock. Almost every fighter I listed there would beat Peter, Hide or Sanders.

Who COULD be on Vitali's resume? Who was a "good" name in 2003-2005, before he was forced out by injuries?

Tua - after the draw with Rahman in 2003 he went into hiding 'till 2005
Tyson - the fight already was planned, but Tyson lost to Williams, and Klitschko defeated Williams convincingly
Lewis - we all know the rematch never happened, but this is not K's fault
Holyfield - had only two fights in 2003-2005, lost both

Who else?

Vitali will have problems to be recognized as an ATG. But I doubt it is due to his skills. He has a 4-year-gap in his resume, and lacks defining competition. That he lost his only duel with an ATG does not help him, either.

He dominates his opponents, fights only the top contenders, has a Guinness-Record on KO (37 of 38, but 23 are TKO), and made many "never-been-down-before" fighters quit like a girl. Not bad, either. But enough for ATG? Time will tell.

[IMDAZED]

I'd say Lewis' prime was between 97-2001, although I'd like to add the Mercer fight in there. He looked splendid that night, whether you thought he won or lost.

Lewis-Klitschko reminded me quite a bit of Lewis-Briggs, where the challenger got off to a great start and rocked the champ but once the champ recovered, the fight was all his. Of course, Vitali had a much better chin and stamina than Briggs did. But his face would get busted up, just as it did against the old Lennox. Lewis TKO5

[Enayze]

how many rounds ?
look at vitali's face after 6 rounds

Lets see Vitali was fighting with one eye and was still winning rounds. Prime for prime I say Vitali stops Lewis somewhere around the 10th round, maybe earlier.

[Bigchill79]

Seconds out round 2.....

Timber

[Kris Silver]

A wider UD.

Lennox took awhile to realise what he was dealing with in what was a quick replacement.

He wasn't his fit usual self which showed, and it was more his skill and experience a few rounds in that allowed him to deal with Vitali.

A Lennox in better shape would avoid more of his knocks, start stronger and remain more active than he did.

It'd be very impressive if he managed a KO because Vitali's chin was ridiculous. Another TKO is not out of the question however because he would still land some damaging shots on a Vitali eager to do damage but getting caught too often himself.

So a wide UD or TKO basically.

[pcr405]

Can someone please tell me how vitali got this lucky cut did he fall over and smash is head during the fight? o wait he was punched nope sorry nothing lucky about that in a boxing fight. Prime lewis will beat vit no problem, i thought lewis was so slow and lethargic in that fight compared to his prime days and yet he still had enough to trouble and beat vit.

[Finn73]

Without the cut...you simply don't know! Even a prime Lewis vs. Vit is only 50:50 imho. Vitali has never been down, the best KO ratio ever and has never been behind on the cards. Say what you want, but he's great. Unfortunately his opponents aren't. Nevertheless I would say that Peter and Sanders are better than most of the guys Lewis fought. All the big names were nearly shot when he fought them. Even Mike Tyson didn't have lots of quality opponents.