Did Lewis retire out of fear?

**BLOODSHED** · 12-01-2005, 09:39 PM

I think he retired out of not wanting to motivate himself again, Im sure he didnt think he could get motivated at his advanced age for a rematch.

Difference is, Lewis proved himself by the time he retired. Vitali hasn't. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Also, Lewis wasn't calling out Tyson or other retired boxers, while fighting cupcakes.

**Easy-E** · 12-01-2005, 09:40 PM

Originally posted by Enayze

This topic was done to death, but what was reasoning behind Lewises decision not to fight Vitali again, he had a 25-30 million pay day staring at him, one last fight, and a year to get ready for it. Prior to Vitali he claimed he wanted a rematch with Tyson, and one Klitschko for lunch while the other for dinner. After his fight with Klitschko he stated once again, that he would have one for lunch and the other for dinner, than he got his doctors to examine Vitali's eye to see if Vitali would be confirmed to fight Lewis in December. Lewises doctor confirmed Vitali, but Lewis decided not to fight that year, thus Kirk Johnson stepped in. After waiting a year, he finally made the decision to retire, so the question is was he afraid?

On the other hand you have Vitali not fighting Rahman, due to injuries, how do the situations differ.

Lennox was very old, and an accomplished champion. I think he realized that he was done and didnt want to put his legacy at risk by fighting again

vitali was a champion who still had alot to prove and was bogged down with injuries, yes, but i dont think he wanted to fight rahman either (why, i dont know)
vitali will be back i think

**BLOODSHED** · 12-01-2005, 09:42 PM

The thing is, Lewis took him on TWO WEEKS NOTICED. Thats how much of a threat he saw Vitali.

**LondonRingRules** · 12-01-2005, 09:53 PM

Originally posted by Bloodshed

The thing is, Lewis took him on TWO WEEKS NOTICED. Thats how much of a threat he saw Vitali.

Clueless. They were scheduled to meet that spring but Lewis pulled out. Vitali was number one contender. Lewis wanted the easy Johnson fight followed by Tyson. Tyson pulled out of the undercard that was meant to be part of the rematch promotion and Vitali replaced him on 3 weeks notice. A week later Johnson pulled out citing injury. Vitali accepted the Lewis offer on 2 weeks notice to replace Johnson knowing that he would only have 3 wks of total training to the 8 weeks Lewis had been training.

The thread is a flamer. Lewis is gone, done, retired. Only he knows the reasons. He was 38 on shaky legs with lousy timing. Sounds like a good time to get out the game with something of a legacy unlike Tyson, Bowe, and Holy.

**Enayze** · 12-01-2005, 09:58 PM

Originally posted by Bloodshed

I think he retired out of not wanting to motivate himself again, Im sure he didnt think he could get motivated at his advanced age for a rematch.

Difference is, Lewis proved himself by the time he retired. Vitali hasn't. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Also, Lewis wasn't calling out Tyson or other retired boxers, while fighting cupcakes.

Good points, except only person Vitali ever called out who was retired was Lewis, because of a promised rematch.

On the other hand Lewis was calling out Tyson, and was trying to take Tyson to court to give him a rematch, claiming that Tyson was causing him to miss out on huge pay days.

**AintGottaClue** · 12-01-2005, 09:58 PM

he sure did what a punk with no balls

**FrankJack** · 12-01-2005, 10:20 PM

Me, I think it's possible that Lewis didn't want to go through the training of fighting anymore. I mean, if it was me personally, and I was afraid to fight Vitali, I would just opt to fight someone else like Vitali has done against Rahman. It was obvious Lewis was really out of shape against Vitali, but he still managed to stop him, out of shape, so it's kinda hard for me to find fear as an answer.

With Vitali, I mean, we're all seeing the same thing but everyone is coming up with different answers. Vitali has gotten himself out of fighting Rahman three times now. On one occasion didn't he say he was injured, but as soon as Hasim signed another fight, he decided he would fight Danny Williams? Danny Williams, c'mon man, are you serious? This guy's not even on the radar. And now he says that he's injured himself again so close to fight night and then retires. It couldn't be motivation, cus this dude got up to fight Williams, why couldn't he get up to fight someone who lost someone like John Ruiz?

**Manny_P** · 12-01-2005, 10:24 PM

Lewis retired becuz it was due.

Vitakli retired cuz he wanted none of Rahman!

**CHICO_4LIFE** · 12-01-2005, 10:27 PM

y the hell would he be scared of that big ***** Vitali??

Did Lewis retire out of fear?