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Lewis' output in this fight was fairly consistent, although low. He was plodding along in all rounds, putting a half-hearted jab out there followed by an occassional straight/cross right and some decent closer uppercuts. Lewis was looking tired and slightly fat and disinetersted, you know, the version of Lewis that makes alot of diehard fight fans hate the guy. Back to the fight though, Lewis was throwing at about the same rate in the sixth as he was in the first, so he wasn't exactly being beat-down by Vitali's big shots (which he took a couple).
Then's there's Vitali. He caught Lewis with some good stuff and was competitive up to the stoppage. Difference between the two fighters at the stoppage was quite obvious ..... Lewis was looking the sharper of the two, by a slight margin. Sure Vit took that monster uppercut pretty well, but he was looking like ****. Not just his face, but his legs were not under him and that's a fact. Watch round six and you'll see a man that borrowed his brother's legs from the Brewster fight.
I'll make no excuses for Lewis, 'cause he once again disrespected the fight game and all fight fans for showing-up in less-than-top shape and also looking disinterested. This is the version of Lewis that was ripped by Rahman and McCall, but Vitali just couldn't do the same (at least not inside six rounds). Contrary to this, the ****ty version of Lewis actually busted-up Vitali's face pretty good and had the big man's legs looking absent in the sixth.
Vitali showed he had top-tier heart in that fight, you can't deny that. He also showed-up in shape, which is great seeing how short the fight notice was. But, as the "Next Big Thing" he really should have been able to destroy the Lewis that stood in front of him, full stop.
We might be able to effectively argue that Vitali actually "retired" Lewis. But we can never say that he actually beat him, which he should have.
Then's there's Vitali. He caught Lewis with some good stuff and was competitive up to the stoppage. Difference between the two fighters at the stoppage was quite obvious ..... Lewis was looking the sharper of the two, by a slight margin. Sure Vit took that monster uppercut pretty well, but he was looking like ****. Not just his face, but his legs were not under him and that's a fact. Watch round six and you'll see a man that borrowed his brother's legs from the Brewster fight.
I'll make no excuses for Lewis, 'cause he once again disrespected the fight game and all fight fans for showing-up in less-than-top shape and also looking disinterested. This is the version of Lewis that was ripped by Rahman and McCall, but Vitali just couldn't do the same (at least not inside six rounds). Contrary to this, the ****ty version of Lewis actually busted-up Vitali's face pretty good and had the big man's legs looking absent in the sixth.
Vitali showed he had top-tier heart in that fight, you can't deny that. He also showed-up in shape, which is great seeing how short the fight notice was. But, as the "Next Big Thing" he really should have been able to destroy the Lewis that stood in front of him, full stop.
We might be able to effectively argue that Vitali actually "retired" Lewis. But we can never say that he actually beat him, which he should have.
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