By John F. McKenna (McJack): It is clear that former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KO’s) is now obsessing over his former rival World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO’s). Lewis recently has been talking to various members of the boxing media on almost a daily basis.

Lewis, in what may have been the best and most exciting fight of his career, defeated “Dr. Ironfist” by a 6th round TKO on June 21, 2003. Although the fight was stopped due to a horrific cut over Vtali’s left eye, Lewis was pushed to the limit by the 6’ 7 ½” Ukrainian. In fact at the time of the stoppage Klitschko was ahead on all three scorecards.

Ever since that fight, which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, there has been much controversy as to what would happened if Lennox had granted Vitali the rematch he promised him immediately after the fight. In all fairness to Lewis he was not 100% physically for the fight with Klitschko.

When contemplating whether or not to give Vitali the rematch as he had promised him, Lewis contacted various close friends he knew in boxing. He posed the question as to what would be the impact on his legacy if he gave Klitschko the rematch, as opposed to retiring. Apparently the answer he got was unsettling. It would be much more devastating to his legacy if he decided to fight Vitali and lost then if he simply retired. It could then be spun so that he retired because at nearly 38 years old he was wearing down. This despite his comments to the press at the time that like fine wine he was getting better with age.

Around the same time Lewis summoned Klitschko to a private meeting where it would be just the two of them present. Vitali flew in to meet with Lennox and his mother was present. Vitali said later that he felt as though Lewis’ Mum nixed the idea of a rematch.
In any case the promised rematch never came to pass and the word of the meeting between Lewis and Klitschko eventually leaked out.

As to the fight it was a great one and one that demanded a rematch. In that fight both Lewis and Klitschko showed what they were made of. While Lewis was not at his best it has always been this writers contention that w hen a heavyweight champion enters the ring he has no one to blame but himself if he comes into the ring not prepared. He cannot after the fact blame his unpreparedness as being the reason he lost. It does not work that way.

Klitschko became a better fighter after his TKO loss to Lewis. He greatly refined his technique. He does not get hit as frequently as he used to. That could be partially due to the cut he suffered in the fight with Lennox. He has also improved his offensive arsenal and as Emanuel Steward points out now lands punches from impossible angles.
It is always amusing when criticism is gleefully heaped on a fighter by either fans or boxing writers when it is obvious that those fans and writers never like said boxer in the first place. It has been happening to Vitali since his unanimous decision victory over Derrick Chisora (15-3, 9 KO’s). Some of the reviews of Klitschko’s performance border on the ridiculous. To Vitali’s credit he never used his injured left shoulder as an excuse in the Chisora fight, though it was obvious even to non boxing fans that there was some type of injury which was preventing him from using his left arm. And then to say he appeared to be out of gas after the twelve round fight. Did you ever try to fight an extremely strong 240 pound fighter for twelve rounds with one arm? It strikes me that it would be a tad bit tiring to say the least.

One more note about the Lewis – Klitschko fight. Vitali commented on the tremendous uppercut Lennox landed on his chin. He said that when the punch landed it felt as though his entire body was being lifted up. Klitschko said that he was determined not to be knocked out. His reaction when the referee intervened to stop the fight in the 6th round is a testament to the fact that Vitali most certainly wanted to continue.

Evidently Lennox still dreams of fighting again and settling the score once and for all with Vitali. It would be a huge mistake after nine years for Lewis to make a comeback.
Fighters are often blinded from reality by their own former greatness.