Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko
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Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko, billed as ''Battle of the Titans'', was a heavyweight
professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...
match contested between WBC, IBO, and ''The Ring'' champion
Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold ...
and former
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...
champion
Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of KyivStaples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
in
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,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Lewis defeated Klitschko via sixth-round
technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
(TKO) after the fight was stopped due to a severe cut above Klitschko's left eye. It was the last fight of Lewis' career, having decided to retire after eventually rejecting a rematch.


Background

A year earlier, Lennox Lewis had finally met
Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
in the ring and achieved a landmark victory by knocking Tyson out in the eighth round of their record-breaking
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fight. Following his victory, Lewis would take a year-long break from the ring, eventually vacating his
IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
title after passing on the chance to face the IBF's number one contender
Chris Byrd Christopher Cornelius Byrd (born August 15, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2009. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having first won the WBO title in 2000 after an upset corner stoppage over th ...
. Instead, Lewis turned his sights on a possible match with
Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of KyivLarry Donald Larry Ali Donald (born January 6, 1967) is an American former professional boxer. As an amateur boxing, amateur he won a bronze medal in the super heavyweight division at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships, 1991 World Championships and ...
by tenth-round
technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
. In early 2003, however, negotiations for the fight fell through and Lewis began looking into a lucrative rematch with Tyson. The WBC ruled that a rematch with Tyson would be allowed on the basis that the winner would next defend their title against Klitschko. Tyson passed on the rematch, forcing Lewis to accept a less marketable fight against
Kirk Johnson Kirk Cyron Johnson (born June 29, 1972) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2010, and challenged once for the World Boxing Association, WBA heavyweight title in 2002. Amateur career Johnson represented Canada at ...
in which only Lewis' IBO title would be on the line. Klitschko was to fight on the undercard and take on Lewis in December. Before the Lewis–Johnson fight could take place, Johnson was forced to pull out with a chest injury. As such, Lewis and Klitschko agreed to face one another on June 21, rather than later in the year as originally planned.


The fight

Though Klitschko came into the fight as the underdog, he was able to get off to a great start in the fight. Klitschko was the aggressor through the first two rounds and landed many hard shots to the head of Lewis, winning both rounds on all three judge's scorecards. In the second round, Klitschko was able to stagger Lewis with two hard right hands that opened a cut under Lewis' left eye. In the third round, Lewis came out aggressively and landed a strong right hand within the first 10 seconds that opened up a deep cut above Klitschko's left eye. Despite his injury, Klitschko fought a close round with Lewis as the two fighters traded jabs and power punches throughout the round though Lewis was able to win the round on the scorecards. Klitschko rebounded to take round four in which both fighters appeared to be fatigued. In round five, Lewis landed several consecutive hard punches to Klitschko's ribs with his right hand while in a clinch with Klitschko, with
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commentators disagreeing on the legality of the punches. By the time round five had ended, the condition of Klitschko's eye had grown worse, with the corner camera broadcasting the severe open wound, but he was nevertheless allowed to continue into round six. Lewis took advantage of Klitschko's impaired vision to land a monstrous uppercut in the sixth round. By now both fighters looked exhausted, often staggering after coming together. Between rounds six and seven, it was determined by the ringside doctor that the damage to Klitschko's eye had become too severe and the fight was stopped. Because Klitschko's injury was a result of punches from Lewis, Lewis was named the winner of the fight by technical knockout. Klitschko was ahead 58–56 on the scorecards with two judges giving Lewis only rounds three and six and the other rounds five and six.


Aftermath

Due to the controversial ending, there was much demand for a rematch between the two. Lewis initially welcomed the idea, stating after his victory that he hoped to face Klitschko once more in either November or December 2003. Klitschko's eye injury had healed to the point that he had been cleared to face Lewis and a tentative date of December 6 was set for the rematch. In August, however, Lewis changed his mind and pulled out of the bout, stating his intentions to not fight at all for the remainder of 2003. Instead, Klitschko boxed Kirk Johnson in a WBC title eliminator on December 6, 2003 to determine who would face Lewis next. Klitschko easily dispatched Johnson, winning by second-round technical knockout, to set up a rematch with Lewis. However, Lewis announced his retirement two months later on February 7, 2004, vacating his titles in the process.; Lewis Decides to Retire While Still Reigning Champ
N.Y. Times article, 2004-02-07, Retrieved on 2013-07-22 Two months later, Klitschko met the WBC's number two ranked contender and then-reigning
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...
champion
Corrie Sanders Cornelius Johannes "Corrie" Sanders (7 January 1966 – 23 September 2012) was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2008. He won the WBO heavyweight title in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, wh ...
, who had defeated Klitschko's brother
Wladimir Wladimir is a masculine given name. It is an alternative spelling of the name Vladimir. Notable people with the name include: * Wladimir Brunet de Presle (1809–1875), French historian * Wladimir de Schoenefeld (1816–1875), German-French botanis ...
earlier in 2003, for the vacant WBC and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles. Klitschko defeated Sanders, who relinquished his WBO title to fight Klitschko, by eighth-round technical knockout to capture the crown. The lineal title would not be contested again for five years until
Wladimir Wladimir is a masculine given name. It is an alternative spelling of the name Vladimir. Notable people with the name include: * Wladimir Brunet de Presle (1809–1875), French historian * Wladimir de Schoenefeld (1816–1875), German-French botanis ...
beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...
Ruslan Chagaev Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev ( tt-Cyrl, Руслан Шамил улы Чагаев; uz, Ruslan Shamilovich Chagayev; russian: Руслан Шамилович Чагаев); born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbekistani former professional boxer who c ...
in June 2009.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Klitschko
Klitschko Vitali Klitschko (born 19 July 1971) and Wladimir Klitschko (born 25 March 1976), known as the Klitschko Brothers, are Ukrainian former professional boxers. During their peak years between 2004 and 2015, they were considered the dominant world he ...
World Boxing Council heavyweight championship matches 2003 in boxing Boxing in Los Angeles 2003 in sports in California Klitschko brothers June 2003 sports events in the United States Nicknamed sporting events