Vitali explaining the Byrd loss.........

[jimmy1569]

Speaking of fighting with 1 arm:

How you are attempting to classify every injury as one & the same is beyond ri****ulous & then giving me an example of a fighter supposedly tougher than Vitali WHO VITALI bounced like a ping pong ball all over the ring is beyond me.

[winky's right]

BHop also fought with a dislocated shoulder vs. Echols. Furthermore, it was like what? 2-3 rounds to go in the Byrd fight? He should've just ****** it in for a few more rounds; that's what champions do.

[jimmy1569]

BHop also fought with a dislocated shoulder vs. Echols. Furthermore, it was like what? 2-3 rounds to go in the Byrd fight? He should've just ****** it in for a few more rounds; that's what champions do.

First of all Vitali is unlike any other fighter.. he's got immense pride. To him it was better to quit than to be caught dead going backwards against the lightest puncher in the heavyweight division for 9 straight minutes. Either way he would've been brandished a coward for suddenly running from a featherfisted defensive pugilist. You guys that say he should've finished off the W are the same haters that would've called him a coward anyways. Vitali to be frank as i am his representative didn't want to give people that visual in there head as soon as he realized the pain was too intense & that he was actually being put on his backfoot after dominating Byrd the entire fight.. he made the abrupt decision to halt the bout. Severe physical pain & immense pride were the culprits here.


Vitali never would disclose this information because people would think it's ridiculous that he indeed couldn't swallow his pride but everything we know about this man & how he behaves is that he doesn't want to show weakness in the ring.. so very easy for all you haters to simply state any other fighter would've just backpedaled to preserve the W.....


THESE are all assumptions & you have to understand psychology as I do To figure out why he did what he did.. You all need to take your rosecolored glasses off as things aren't always the way they appear.. many more variables involved.. so to state that others continued with same or worse injuries defeats the purpose just as much as the naysayers saying he should've continued regardless..


All the other examples given are not the same because Vitali was the only super heavy fighting a blown up middle weight who couldn't punch... the fact that he couldn't punch made Vitali's decision easier as i'm sure he thought fans would'nt call him a coward.. quitting against a guy who couldn't hurt him & a guy he was dominating for nearly all 9 rds..... the psychology & mind reasoning here.... no one ever has taken into account... it's all black & white... he quit there4 he does not have heart.... but look what happened in his very next title bout.. he was accused of having TOO much heart.. so again i ask.. did this fighter who used to be a professional kickboxing champion change his mentality overnight between the Byrd & Lewis title fights or was the sense of urgency not as present in the Byrd fight?

[winky's right]

First of all Vitali is unlike any other fighter.. he's got immense pride. To him it was better to quit than to be caught dead going backwards against the lightest puncher in the heavyweight division for 9 straight minutes. Either way he would've been brandished a coward for suddenly running from a featherfisted defensive pugilist. You guys that say he should've finished off the W are the same haters that would've called him a coward anyways. Vitali to be frank as i am his representative didn't want to give people that visual in there head as soon as he realized the pain was too intense & that he was actually being put on his backfoot after dominating Byrd the entire fight.. he made the abrupt decision to halt the bout. Severe physical pain & immense pride were the culprits here.


Vitali never would disclose this information because people would think it's ridiculous that he indeed couldn't swallow his pride but everything we know about this man & how he behaves is that he doesn't want to show weakness in the ring.. so very easy for all you haters to simply state any other fighter would've just backpedaled to preserve the W.....


THESE are all assumptions & you have to understand psychology as I do To figure out why he did what he did.. You all need to take your rosecolored glasses off as things aren't always the way they appear.. many more variables involved.. so to state that others continued with same or worse injuries defeats the purpose just as much as the naysayers saying he should've continued regardless..


All the other examples given are not the same because Vitali was the only super heavy fighting a blown up middle weight who couldn't punch... the fact that he couldn't punch made Vitali's decision easier as i'm sure he thought fans would'nt call him a coward.. quitting against a guy who couldn't hurt him & a guy he was dominating for nearly all 9 rds..... the psychology & mind reasoning here.... no one ever has taken into account... it's all black & white... he quit there4 he does not have heart.... but look what happened in his very next title bout.. he was accused of having TOO much heart.. so again i ask.. did this fighter who used to be a professional kickboxing champion change his mentality overnight between the Byrd & Lewis title fights or was the sense of urgency not as present in the Byrd fight?

I'm a huge Vitali fan, but I don't agree with him quitting in the Byrd fight. Furthermore, I'm not looking through rose-colored goggles; you are. Your arguments that justify him quitting are really obscure. You have proposed two reasons for Vitali quitting, a) physical pain, and b) pride. We are in agreement with a) as I think we'd both believe that champions should fight through pain, and physical pain was and independent variable during the stoppage. I don't agree with b), and it think it's a weak argument in general. My criticisms of b) are as follows:


Firstly, it is YOU who is making the ridiculous assumptions. You are assuming that a) Vitali quit because of pride, and b) He thought back-pedalling for two more rounds for a W would be more cowardly than quitting. It's funny how you criticise me for not understanding the 'psychology', but having studied psychology at a tertiary level, I know psychology is an evidence based discipline. What evidence do we have of Vitali quitting because of pride? None. What evidence do we have of Vitali quitting because of pain? The post-fight interview.


Having refuted b), we are left with a), that is Vitali quit because of physical pain. It is my belief that champions should fight through physical pain, and Vitali didn't.

[jimmy1569]

I'm a huge Vitali fan, but I don't agree with him quitting in the Byrd fight. Furthermore, I'm not looking through rose-colored goggles; you are. Your arguments that justify him quitting are really obscure. You have proposed two reasons for Vitali quitting, a) physical pain, and b) pride. We are in agreement with a) as I think we'd both believe that champions should fight through pain, and physical pain was and independent variable during the stoppage. I don't agree with b), and it think it's a weak argument in general. My criticisms of b) are as follows:


Firstly, it is YOU who is making the ridiculous assumptions. You are assuming that a) Vitali quit because of pride, and b) He thought back-pedalling for two more rounds for a W would be more cowardly than quitting. It's funny how you criticise me for not understanding the 'psychology', but having studied psychology at a tertiary level, I know psychology is an evidence based discipline. What evidence do we have of Vitali quitting because of pride? None. What evidence do we have of Vitali quitting because of pain? The post-fight interview.


Having refuted b), we are left with a), that is Vitali quit because of physical pain. It is my belief that champions should fight through physical pain, and Vitali didn't.

The evidence we have is the immediate surgery he had.... But OBVIOUSLY TO everyone questioning him... that's NOT enough of a good reason.... so I delved a little bit deeper into what his mindset could've been.. when Roberto Duran quit.. he couldn't stand the thought of Sugar Ray Leonard embarassing him like that in front of the entire world... but the difference being he couldn't stop Leonard from toying with him & he was 100% physically fit.

This mindset is at the heart of most quit jobs... the fact that Vitali QUIT not so much because of what his opponent was doing but because of intense physical pain means he would be more embarassed that Byrd could possibly take advantage of him after completely shutting him out for the majority of the fight.


There's pride at work here as well as worrying about a career threatening injury... to him the stakes were too high to continue... you guys see how much he treasures his WBC belt.. talking about it with glee as if it's gold he's holding onto... not sure if he felt the same way about the WBO belt but going on his pride as a champion.. not just in boxing but in kickboxing as well.. he pretty much knew what it meant to be a champion & the circumstances that came up in the Byrd fight had to be drastic enough for him to give it up so easily..

he Not only gave up the belt on a platter to BYRD... he gave up his RECORD 27 KO streak.. he had 3 rds more to try to put Byrd away & he LOST for the first time... so to throw all that away...the physical pain had to be unbearable... the fact that to this day no one understands his motives is pathetic to say the least... i'm not making assumptions.. i'm going on the mentality of this particular fighter & from what i've seen of him through the years.


Vitali Klitschko is VERY proud of his accomplishments.. is proud about his knockout record & trust me Vitali knows in his heart there is no one that would EVER HAVE beaten him in a fight with his physical health intact.. He fights like he KNOWS he's the baddest fighter that ever lived.. standing in the pocket with his 6ft 8 lean & mean 245-250 lb frame pitching shutouts.. no hitters & perfect games every time he steps into the ring.... & that is something to be prideful about.. he just stands there right in front of you with his left by his waist.. daring you to make a move like a ****ing gunslinger with his hand on the holster ready to shoot you or pull the trigger whenever he wants to.

You have this fighter with EVERY POSSIBLE ADVANTAGE OVER EVERY OTHER FIGHTER THAT EVER LIVED FROM SIZE.. STRENGTH.. SKILLS. MENTALITY OF A CHAMPION.. just destroying his peers.. winning 96% of all the rds he's ever fought & nearly stopping 90 % of all his opponents.... These 2 numbers are the best EVER FOR SOMEONE in the heavyweight division.. THERE'S NO WAY TO BE MORE DOMINANT THAN HE HAS & YET WE HAVE haters questioning whther he belongs in the top 20 greatest heavies... dude is #1 BY far & it's not even close for the runnerup.... kapish!

[Trapped Bird]

Speaking of fighting with 1 arm:

I'm telling you, only the limeys could produce a bum that is capable of getting knocked out vs. a man fighting with one arm.

[adamk1304]

I never knew until this morning that a torn rotator cuff and a dislocated shoulder are exactly the same thing. Not only are boxing scene posters extremely knowledgable about the sport, they are also medical experts. You learn something knew everyday on here.