Vitali Klitschko Wants Lennox Lewis
By Robert Ecksel August 30th, 2006Klitschko-Lewis II pipe dream/pie in the sky
Fresh off his loss of the mayoralty of his country’s capitol, Kiev (Ukraine), retired WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is having second thoughts about returning to the ring, but on one condition: his former rival Lennox Lewis has to be having second thoughts as well.
“If Lewis comes back,â€? Klitschko told fans in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, reports the AP, “I will fight by all means.”
Yuriy Nesterenko, Klitschko’s spokesman, who is not in the habit of dashing hopes, warned that the chance of Vitali returning to action was slim to none, but that “People love Vitali and want him to come back to sports.”
Ukrainian-born Klitschko retired in November after several cancellations of a bout with then-champion Hasim Rahman because of a knee injury.
Born in London to Jamaican parents, raised in Canada, for whom he won an Olympic gold medal, and now a citizen of the world, former world champ Lewis quit in February 2004 after beating Klitschko, or by forcing the referee to halt the contest because of cuts, in his final fight.
Klitschko stopped Corrie Sanders two months later to win the WBC belt.
According to Nesterenko, Lewis has done “everything that he could” in the sport. Klitschko, he added, whose accomplishments pale in comparison to Lennox’s, now needs to focus more on fighting injuries than fighting former rivals.
August 30th, 2006 at 10:32 am
no point even talkin about lewis hes gone and aint neva cumin bak. he thinks he’s one of the greatest off all time-thats why, he belives his place in boxing history is atg the top but i strongly disagree. give the man his props he challenged and faced the best of his era and won but the competition just wasnt good enough. good boxer just not legendary stus.
August 30th, 2006 at 10:36 am
This is getting pretty boring. Vitali just needs to let go, Lewis is retired annd he has the right to be that.
This guy should worry about contradicting himself- if he quit the game beacuse of his injuries why does he keep asking to fight Lewis? I thought they both were retired (Kitschko through injury)?
One minor thing though, Lewis wasn’t born in Jamaica but in London, England. His parents were Jamaican however.
August 30th, 2006 at 2:57 pm
Get over it…. LL is never coming back. He’s rich enough and doesn’t need this bout to cement his legacy.
August 30th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Yeah, I don’t get Vitali. He retired because of injuries but then says he’ll come back to fight Lewis. Either he can fight or he can’t. I was a Vitali fan more than I was a Lewis fan but I think they should both stay retired. Lewis achieved everything in his career and is nearly 41. I would have liked Vitali to have stayed longer at the top, but he retired himself.
August 30th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Christian,
what legacy?
August 30th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
I agree with Scott. Lennox Lewis was a good fighter, but by no means a legendary fighter. His best win is only against Holyfield. I couldn’t see him defeating a young Mike Tyson or even a younger Holyfield. He should stay retired, and so should V. Klitschko.
August 30th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
Mr. G. I was talking about LL! LOL- not Vitali!
August 30th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
Good shout Christian!!
Lewis was by far the best of his era which included Holyfield and Tyson, and to any fan outside the states he secured his legacy,,those boxing fans however in the states who couldnt recognise the mans true skill are bound to disagree, yeah he didnt generate as much excitment when fighting as Tyson or a young Holyfield, neither of whom looked possible of stopping Lewis even with his guard down.When all is said and done, every champ that has been can have their careers sumised by amateur boxing historians, and every fighter at some point as looked a bum, including Ali.
The only true legend that will remain was Marciano, every other boxer after will always have debatable status.
Vitali,,stay retired,,Lennox will.
August 31st, 2006 at 12:59 am
Dan Rhodes:
Lewis would not have beaten 1987-1988 Mike Tyson. Or a younger Holyfield. Or Larry Holmes, Ali, Marciano, Frazier, Foreman…you get my point. In addition, he was a boring fighter. Where he belongs in terms of legacy, is a notch above the Greg Pages, Quick Tillises, and Bonecrusher Smiths of the world. Let’s remember, he got knocked out off of one punch, not once but twice, by No-Names. Come on!!!
A legend is defined as, someone whose prime is truly insurmountable. We can say that, unequivocably, about Mike Tyson, even though his prime was only for 5 years.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:51 am
First off,Lennox beat an out-of-his-prime Holyfield, then beat Tyson and that’s about as exciting as Lewis’ career gets. That one fight to Vatali was the fight that I think he would have lost. If anything Vatali was robbed and I can see how he would want to come back and fight Lewis.
August 31st, 2006 at 2:50 pm
MadMan, I’ll have to disagree. These are some of the credible fighters LL beat in his prime. I feel like hes’ never back down from a challenge and has beaten every man to ever step in the ring with him.
Razor Ruddock
Tony Tucker
Oliver McCall
Tommy Morrison
Henry Akinwande (undefeated)
Andrew Golota
Shannon Briggs
Holyfield (2)
Grant (undefeated)
Botha
Tua
Rahman (twice)
Tyson
Klitchko
Say what you want, hindsight is always 20/20 but at the time most of these guys were considered top heavyweight contenders.Plus he killed Bowe in the olympics. Bowe was scared to fight LL. Look at all of the records of these fighters and LL was never afraid to throw down.
August 31st, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Sorry Chris….but I will have to disagree. When Bowe and Holyfield were in thier prime they asked and had twice two contracts signed with Lewis. Both times he backed for undisclosed reasons (he knew what he was getting into after he saw Bowe and Holly fight each other). That is how Bowe and Holly III came about.
Of all the fighters on your list I will give you Razor and Klitchko. Of the rest TT, McCall, Tommy Gun, AK, Golota (a bum). Briggs, Grant (what a waste), Botha (please), Tua (fat middle weight), Rahman (come on) and Tyson (past his prime).
It is all about who you fight and when. If he had taken Tyson, Bowe and Holly in thier prime you know what would have happened. The guy did not move, had no defense, just a nice jab and strength as an ox.
September 1st, 2006 at 9:06 am
Mr G, you make good points and I respect your opinions. At the end of the day, I do wish LL would have fought Tyson, Bowe and Holly in their prime. I will still give LL credit for being one of the top heavyweights of his era.
IMO, and I’m only 32 I’ll have to go with the “Real Deal” as the man of the era, despite him fighting way past his prime.
September 6th, 2006 at 8:30 am
Lennox has nothing to prove. He beat Holyfield and Tyson in professional bouts, and knocked out Riddick Bowe in the Olympics. Truth be told …. all of these guys ducked him in their prime. As for the comment regarding Rocky Marciano being the best fighter of all time…. it should be remembered that Rocky was a small heavyweight and while he beat great fighters like Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, and Jersey Joe Walcott….they were all past their prime. Ali vs. Lewis would have been a great match. Vitali was never in Lennox class. The only thing left for Lennox….is to be knighted by the Queen of England….lets hope that happens….he deserves it!
October 29th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Lennox was the last true champ of this wasteland division. However, I have enormous respect for The Ring’s championship policy, so I accepted when the editors crowned Vitali Klitschko the new champion on the strength of beating a guy who was ranked number 3 (not number 2). Klitschko retired before any big fight could be arranged to erase his asterisk. Lewis has no reason to come out of retirement for this guy. Lewis beat everyone and proved his worth over 2 title reins. Klitschko beat no one, really, and in his one shot at the top failed valiantly in a fight against an out-of-shape Lewis.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
lennox was nothing he wouldnt fight larry holmes because holmes would of destroyed him even in his 50s easy
July 21st, 2008 at 8:20 am
Mr G you are wrong about Lewis backing out…like you said…they were for undisclosed reasons..but what that really means is that folks were going where the money was. Lennox wanted everyone who was supposed to be the best…inlcuding Tyson in his prime….and if Tyson..in his prime, could lose so badly to Buster Douglas… What make you think he could have dealt with Lennox?
Lennox is older than Tyson and just so happened to choose the Olympic route will Tyson turned decided to go pro. It’s no secret that Don King paid Lewis off to step aside from his contract to fight Tyson…in his so called prime…because he wanted Tyson to earn more money before Tyson got that spanking he had coming to him…which he eventually did get. As for Marciano…he has to be respected for being the only heavyweight champ to retire undefeated…but he was a small guy…very small by todays standards. Lewis is basically a super heavyweight….Fighting at at around 245 pounds…Ali was only 215 or so in his prime… What makes Lewis so special is that there has never been a super heavy with his skills and ringmanship. Before Ali, no heavyweight had ever fought like someone from a lighter division….speed, skill…power… That’s what made Ali’s so special and so dominant. Lewis has done for the real big guys what Ali did for the heavies….So his case can always be made among the best to ever do it.