Lennox Lewis was going to retire after Tyson

[Someone88]

And I'm saying obviously he wouldn't because he didn't.

Yeh and Lewis barely won. He was gonna give a rematch to Vitali then didn't, he obviously felt considering his form that Vitali was too difficult an opponent.

The worrying thing for me in regards to

'Prime' Vitali vs 'Prime Lewis'

is that a close to Prime Vitali couldn't ko Lewis with multiple shots.


Also people have to realize Lewis cuts fighters.

Lennox Lewis have the highest cut ratio of any HW Champion in the history of the sport.

He also cuts people in the same places.

Morrison. Tyson. Vitali were all cut at the same place, it's just that Vitali suffered the biggest cut.

Lennox is a cutter. I think he will cut Vitali 10 out of 10 times tbh.

Lewis nearly went down, he couldn't put Vitali down either.

[Skittlez]

Yeh and Lewis barely won. He was gonna give a rematch to Vitali then didn't, he obviously felt considering his form that Vitali was too difficult an opponent.



Lewis nearly went down, he couldn't put Vitali down either.

He was wrong...

He should have and COULD HAVE beaten Vitali in a rematch.


It's not his fault....

He had NO IDEA klitschkos was gonna dominate an ENTIRE ERA.
If he had knew.. he would have attempted to chase Wlad in the early 2000's and give Vitali a rematch.

Keep in mind... he was part of that entire Andrew Golota hype train.

EVERYONE TOLD LENNOX.. Golota was gonna be an ATG.. and if he beat Golota he will have an 'ATG' Name on his resume.

Everyone.. EVEN Manny Steward told Lewis 'this kid is gonna be champ some day' pointing to Golota..

Golota was lennoxed and amounted to nothing..

He thought Vitali was Golota part 2....

I'm pretty sure if he knew Vitali would be the champ he is today, he would have pushed for rematch.

[yoz]

Yeh and Lewis barely won.

But he did win, didn't he?

There's no escaping that.

[Simurgh]

Problem with Vitali is that his original defense would never work that well against lennox.
Vitali has his left hand hanging down very low (likely this is the result of his early career in martial arts) and he's leaning back to dodge the punches.
That is all right most of the time when you have granite chin and when you are very tall, but experienced and big fighter like Lennox would likely find the way in that defense.
It's not by chance that all the cuts were on the left side.
Experienced Vitali would do much better (especially in rematch) IMO. That's why I am saying that wasn't prime Vitali. I think experience beat him in that fight.

Prime for prime it would be a though night (surely toughest) for Lennox in his career.

[yoz]

Problem with Vitali is that his original defense would never work that well against lennox.
Vitali has his left hand hanging down very low (likely this is the result of his early career in martial arts) and he's leaning back to dodge the punches.
That is all right most of the time when you have granite chin and when you are very tall, but experienced and big fighter like Lennox would likely find the way in that defense.
It's not by chance that all the cuts were on the left side.
Experienced Vitali would do much better (especially in rematch) IMO. That's why I am saying that wasn't prime Vitali. I think experience beat him in that fight.

Prime for prime it would be a though night (surely toughest) for Lennox in his career.

And he would prevail again

[Simurgh]

And he would prevail again

Most likely

I favor both Lennox and Wlad against Vitali prime for prime.

[P4P_No1]

Yeh right after the fight, recently he said when we were at our best.

Do you know what "Ringside Special" is?

It's not right after the fight. It was a couple years back.

And if he then said recently (as in after the Ringside Special interview) that he was at his best (despite weighing in at a career high?), how would you believe him if he's contradiciting himself?

Like I said, anyone is deluded if they think Lewis was prime or even near prime for that fight against Vitali.

It's as simple as that.

[Mikhnienko]

Lewis still wouldn't fight, so Klitschko half killed Kirk Johnson (Lewis's original opponent) in a round and a half,on Dec.10th. The WBC gave Lewis 90 days, or be stripped, and Lewis waited until the morning of the last day and then retired.....

Malice and jealousy were his main characteristics, and he personally telephoned every opponent either Klitschko was fighting, and gave them advice on how to beat them. He had no success.

I'd say that his Klitschko win-even if flawed- will be worth more historically, because of Klitschko's age, later longevity and dominance.

These......

[TysonBomb]

Prime Lennox vs. Prime Vitali would be an excellent fight.

Lewis usually liked to attack taller fighters aggressively but that isn't going to work against someone like Vitali who can take his power and control the distance. Lewis's jaw would also be in question as the fight progressed.

But I'd give it 60 - 40 to Lewis ... Vitali is prone to cuts and he would likely cut again, especially against a prime Lewis. Same kind of stoppage on cuts.

[IMDAZED]

Yeh and Lewis barely won. He was gonna give a rematch to Vitali then didn't, he obviously felt considering his form that Vitali was too difficult an opponent.



Lewis nearly went down, he couldn't put Vitali down either.

Lewis stopped Vitali in six, damn near shattering his face. If that's barely winning then run with that. Vitali barely kept both his eyes in place.