Comments Thread For: Klitschko Plan: Revisit Valuev Talks, Not Go After Haye

[Dave Rado]

Lennox wasn't shot.

He certainly wasn't shot but he certainly wasn't in his prime either. He was closer to his prime than his age would suggest, but to claim he was still in his prime is silly. It's similar to the situation with Vitali today. Vitali is still a great fighter, and he's probably better than he was 10 years ago because he's far more experienced and intelligent in the ring, but he's starting to gradually but noticeably slow down now. The Vitali of 10 years ago would probably lose to the Vitali of today, but the Vitali of one year ago would beat the Vitali of today, and that's very similar to the situation with Lewis when he retired.

And Lewis was seriously under-trained for that fight, because he'd been training for a much easier opponent, who pulled out at short notice. No hindsight about that, everyone was aware of it at the time.

[Gorilla Dogs]

that fight will never happen even tho i wanna see it. both have big egos and not enough money to go around

[Dave Rado]

Whats Valuev's medical condition????

Nicolai Valuev's career could be over after his doctor admitted the giant Russian is suffering from a bone problem.

The 37-year-old will undergo surgery on his left shoulder and right hand in September that will keep him sidelined for at least six months.

Valuev has not fought since being outpointed by David Haye last November, with the Russian clearly unable to exercise his re-match clause anytime soon.

"He can't train for half a year, Nikolai's joints and bones are already damaged," boxing doctor Walter Wagner told Sunday's edition of German daily Bild.

Valuev, who stands over 7ft tall, held the WBA heavyweight title before Haye inflicted only the third defeat of his career.

[ChopperRead]

He certainly wasn't shot but he certainly wasn't in his prime either. And he was under-trained, because he'd been training for a much easier opponent, who pulled out at short notice. No hindsight about that, everyone was aware of it at the time.

According to people in his camp, Lennox mostly worked with weights before the Vitali fight and didn't do a lot of sparring. He felt he would need the added power fighting a big guy like VK. But he did work hard for the fight.

Also, Lennox actually thought Kirk Johnson would be the tougher fight. Johnson had a big rep at the time. Lennox didn't rate Vitali at all. Which almost was a fatal error.

[Dave Rado]

According to people in his camp, Lennox mostly worked with weights before the Vitali fight and didn't do a lot of sparring. He felt he would need the added power fighting a big guy like VK. But he did work hard for the fight.

Johnson only pulled out two weeks before the fight, what are you talking about! The last two weeks of training camp is for fine tuning only - all the hard training should already have been done by then. And Lewis looked flabby and lethargic, similar to the Rahman fight. Everyone commented on that at the time.

Also, Lennox actually thought Kirk Johnson would be the tougher fight. Johnson had a big rep at the time. Lennox didn't rate Vitali at all. Which almost was a fatal error.

Where's your evidence of that? Here's what Steward said in an interview just before the fight:

Steward: There is a lot of credit due to Lennox Lewis, because it is very difficult to change up an opponent at the last moment. In this case, changing up means fighting a guy three inches taller as opposed to three inches shorter. If Lewis was fighting a normal guy, this would be a difficult change, but fighting Klitschko is a major change. We have to adjust to punching up, instead of punching down. It is very difficult to get him to adjust and difficult to get proper sparring partners, but Lewis’ natural talent and experience will take him through. This is the biggest fight in the heavyweight division. To me as a trainer, I am more excited about this fight than the Kirk Johnson fight.

Plus the Johnson fight was originally supposed to be a tune-up for a fight against Vitali in November. And the independent rankings organisations all ranked Vitali higher than Johnson at the time.

[ChopperRead]

Johnson only pulled out two weeks before the fight, what are you talking about! The last two weeks of training camp is for fine tuning only - all the hard training should already have been done by then. And Lewis looked flabby and lethargic, similar to the Rahman fight. Everyone commented on that at the time.

I think Lewis looked lethargic after he got hit in the head by a number of hard shots he wasn't expecting. He did clear up a bit as the fight progressed.

Where's your evidence of that? Here's what Steward said in an interview just before the fight:

Steward: There is a lot of credit due to Lennox Lewis, because it is very difficult to change up an opponent at the last moment. In this case, changing up means fighting a guy three inches taller as opposed to three inches shorter. If Lewis was fighting a normal guy, this would be a difficult change, but fighting Klitschko is a major change. We have to adjust to punching up, instead of punching down. It is very difficult to get him to adjust and difficult to get proper sparring partners, but Lewis’ natural talent and experience will take him through. This is the biggest fight in the heavyweight division. To me as a trainer, I am more excited about this fight than the Kirk Johnson fight.

Lennox said he thought Vitali had "no skill level at all," according to the HBO team calling the fight. What Manny says and what Lennox said can be two different things. Manny says a lot of contradictory things. Maybe Manny was excited about Vitali, but Kirk Johnson was seen as a bigger danger at the time. It wasn't until he showed up looking like a blimp and got pounded by Vitali that Johnson went from dangerous rising star to tomato can.