Let me put all this talk to rest right now. Vitali Klitschko’s best chance to win the world heavyweight title came in the middle of June when he pounded and blitzed Lennox Lewis for six rounds of bloody action. Despite
Let me put all this talk to rest right now. Vitali Klitschko’s best chance to win the world heavyweight title came in the middle of June when he pounded and blitzed Lennox Lewis for six rounds of bloody action.
Despite “leading on all three scoring cards” when the bout was called, Klitschko didn’t capture the title.
However, in defeat, many said that Klitschko won the war and deserved a rematch once his battered left eye healed.
Even if the eye fully recovers, does Klitschko have a real chance in a rematch against Lewis?
The real fight that people want to see is Lewis vs. Roy Jones Jr.
That bout seems like a dream fight.
The greatest heavyweight since Ali vs. the guy deemed as the best “pound for pound” fighter today.
There seems to be two reasons that the Lewis and Klitschko rematch will probably be a reality in the not-to-distant future.
The biggest seems to be that people deem Klitschko as a contender and not pretender to Lewis.
This is based on a career performance in their only meeting last month.
People believe Klitschko’s unorthodox style, punching power and the ability to take a shot and keep attacking is a challenge for Lewis.
What people forget is that Lewis is arguably the best rematch fighter that we have seen in many years.
In losses to Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall as well as a questionable draw to Evander Holyfield, Lewis seemed unprepared to fight.
He was lethargic and didn’t take his opponents seriously.
In rematches with those same guys, he was dominant in earning two knockouts and a majority decision over Holyfield.
He will have plenty of time to prepare for Klitschko this time around and has seen all that the big Ukrainian has to offer.
Lewis isn’t getting any younger and, at 37, his skills are diminishing.
However, his skills are still superior to Klitschko’s.
If there is a rematch, it would probably take place on pay-per-view.
Why would people shell out $50 for this fight?
If this was the first meeting between the two, then there would be a mystery factor about Klitschko and if Lewis is ready for the fight mentally and physically.
There are two versions of Lewis.
In rematches, version two of Lewis looks like a focused monster ready to pounce.
That’s the version Klitschko would see and I don’t think he can handle it.
The other major factor for this possible rematch is that there just aren’t many interesting heavyweight fights out there.
Are Chris Byrd, Kirk Johnson and Corrie Sanders viable contenders?
Many think that Byrd is the next big up and comer.
Some have even suggested that Lewis is ducking Byrd, the IBF champion, who has wins over Klitschko and Holyfield on his resume.
Sanders recently upset Vitali’s brother Wladimir in March in a stunning second-round knockout.
One of Byrd’s two professional losses came against Wladimir.
Look at the other options.
Does anyone really want to see Holyfield, George Foreman or even Mike Tyson in the ring again?
Foreman and Tyson are novelty acts right now and Holyfield lacks the skills to win a major fight.
It seems for now that the only fights with any interest is the Vitali Klitschko/Lewis rematch or the Jones Jr. vs. Lewis title bout.
But really, the only fight on the horizon that is intriguing is Jones Jr. against Lewis.
What a matchup that would be.
We can only hope that Lewis doesn’t retire before that bout or Jones Jr. decides to drop back down in weight class.
