Hatton and Klitschko

We all saw how hard it was for hatton to come back and make a mark in boxing after 3 1/2 years out of the sport. Vitali Klitschko had a 4 year retirement and came back in his first fight and beat the world champion Samuel Peter.

Does last nights event show that what klitschko did was even more impressive than most people originally thought?

Hatton's fighting style isn't conducive to fighting in his mid 30's regardless of the layoff. Vitali on the other hands straight up one two style is much more favourable for longevity.

Good point, but Klitschko always kept himself in shape and didn't have the depression/binge drinking etc etc to overcome.

Also, his fighting style meant he never took as much punishment in his first boxing career, and so was a lot fresher in general.

Still impressive.

NathanDB10 wrote:Good point, but Klitschko always kept himself in shape and didn't have the depression/binge drinking etc etc to overcome.

Also, his fighting style meant he never took as much punishment in his first boxing career, and so was a lot fresher in general.

Still impressive.

Very true Hatton's fighting style meant he took a lot of punishment in his career. But Klitschko did have a longer retirement and he came back at 36 which is 2 years older than hatton.

I still think it's impressive that in klitschko's first fight back after 4 years out he demolishes the WBC champion Samuel Peter.

Theres also the fact that Vitali more or less kept sparring and in decent shape. His knee was busted but he gradually built it up until he was able to fight the distance. Hatton - apart from drugs and alcohol wasnt really in any figting condition except a couple of weeks before his fights. Vitali is usually there or thereabouts early on in his camp.

Its also easier for a heavy to come back than the lighter weighst - he doesnt need to be so sharp - his punch usually stays with him - he doesnt have to lose more weight than he's comfortable with losing and as long as he's a moderately intelligent fighter - he can step back into the fringes of world level fighting.

Also, if Hatton had a 10lb weight and 6 inch height advantage over his comeback opponent maybe he'd have won too.

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:Also, if Hatton had a 10lb weight and 6 inch height advantage over his comeback opponent maybe he'd have won too.

hatton supposedly hand picked this opponent as it suited his style. Also shenchenko had just come off of a loss. Klitschko fought the reigning WBC champion.

There's also the obvious differences in that Hatton was coming off the back of a bad defeat which Klitshko wasn't. Hatton was already finished whereas Klitschko wasn't. Major differences.

Also the fact Klitshko was older than Hatton makes no difference, heavyweights tend to be able to go on longer than the lighter weights.

Shows that Klit is a great athlete, but also how bad the HW's were. Also, Vitali didn't have to make a weight class. A lot different when you are cutting down to a weight class.

Another problem was that heavyweights don't have to rehydrate

Hatton for most of his career weighed in 10+lbs more than the lightwelter limit an had to boil down to make the weigh in. Rehydrating has a long term effect on the body and can help shorten a fighters career. A Heavyweight doesn't have to so dont have to starve themselves before a fight as there is no limit

"Hatton and Klitscho............."

well If a washed up 40 year old ex-Cruiser champ can have a shot.....

Then why not.............

some people on here just cannot give klitschko any praise. 4 years out of the sport comes back at the age of 36 and in his first fight beats the wbc champ

I hand it to the Klits for their longevity.......

But the fact that the one handed Sanders dominated brother 1.....and a tired old Lennox couldn't miss with his jab against brother 2.....

Makes me think timing is everything....

If Chuvalo was 6ft 7 and 260 fighting now......He'd probably have reigned just as long..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:I hand it to the Klits for their longevity.......

But the fact that the one handed Sanders dominated brother 1.....and a tired old Lennox couldn't miss with his jab against brother 2.....

Makes me think timing is everything....

If Chuvalo was 6ft 7 and 260 fighting now......He'd probably have reigned just as long..

you do know that klitschko was ahead on all 3 judges scoring cards against lewis and in every single round klitschko landed more jabs and power punches than lewis.

And the loss to sanders was nearly 10 years ago and was wladamir not vitali.

It was a close fight against a heavy and tired Lewis......and Lewis did win...

As for the ten year carp...........A scared Haye apart he hasn't fought anybody as good as sanders apart from maybe brewster..

The WBC champion you talk of was Samuel Peter, hardly a measuring stick for greatness.

Forrest was a useless slob................

Tell you what ghost...They called Witherspoon, Page and Tubbs slobs.......They'd be stellar athletes these days!!

3 and half years is a long time for a boxer to be out of the ring. Not too many can come back from that especially if they are abusing drink and drugs.

Hatton was doing ok all things considered until he couldn't take the liver shot. I was surprised he got himself in condition to fight again never mind being able to mix it with a decent opponent.


Vitali's comeback is also very impressive but his opponent wasn't as good as Hatton's.

Hatton didn't do enough Machine-squats I reckon....

Sorry but Klitschko is in the worst ever time for heavyweights but Hatton fought guys like Mayweather so there is no comparison. Hatton is a far better fighter than Klitschko but he dd not come back fit enough and he fought a guy that has only lost once.

Gordy wrote:Sorry but Klitschko is in the worst ever time for heavyweights but Hatton fought guys like Mayweather so there is no comparison. Hatton is a far better fighter than Klitschko but he dd not come back fit enough and he fought a guy that has only lost once.

Samuel Peter had only lost once to wladamir klitschko when vitali destroyed him.

You say Hatton lost cos he never came back fit enough so it shows that being out of the ring for 3 years can make you have rig rust and your fitness levels will never be the same. So even more credit should go to vitali for coming back so fit and in such good shape especially as he was the wrong side of 35.

Strongback wrote:


Vitali's comeback is also very impressive but his opponent wasn't as good as Hatton's.

You are making senchenko out to be this great fighter. the guy was very average and was hand picked for hatton. I rate samuel peter at the time vitali fought him to be better than senchenko at the time hatton fought him.

Senchenko was coming off of a loss and had just lost his belt after being tko'd.

Peter was the reiging world champion coming off of 6 straight wins with a record of 23 ko's in 25 fights. pretty dangerous person to be fighting in your 1st fight after being retired for four years and a lot more dangerous than senchenko

My point is that I dont think Klitschko came back and was impressive it was down to the heavyweight era being the worst ever! He is one of the worst champions that is lucky because there are no good heavyweights nowadays. Foreman came back and won the heavyweight title after 10 years of being retirement and he won it in a far harder era of heavyweights!

Gordy wrote:My point is that I dont think Klitschko came back and was impressive it was down to the heavyweight era being the worst ever! He is one of the worst champions that is lucky because there are no good heavyweights nowadays. Foreman came back and won the heavyweight title after 10 years of being retirement and he won it in a far harder era of heavyweights!

Klitschko has been a heavyweight champ in 3 different decades the 90's the 00's and the 10's.

Lennox Lewis was the last proper heavyweight champ. Nowadays the heavyweights are rubbish.

Gordy wrote:Lennox Lewis was the last proper heavyweight champ. Nowadays the heavyweights are rubbish.

Klitschko won the wbo belt when lewis was still active in the 90's

Still lost to Lewis when he faced him though, truth be told the WBO belt meant nothing in the heavyweight division until the retirement of Lewis before that the big boys were a bit more interested in the WBC, WBA and IBF.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Still lost to Lewis when he faced him though, truth be told the WBO belt meant nothing in the heavyweight division until the retirement of Lewis before that the big boys were a bit more interested in the WBC, WBA and IBF.

I remember watching a game of cricket before and England were ahead and then there was bad weather so the other team couldn't bat which meant that England won the game. Everyone was so happy that England won and celebrating and boasting (even though it was on a technicality due to the weather stopping the other team from batting). It always reminds me of people who boast about lewis beating klitschko. Klitschko lost on a cut (his eyebrow was cut). Klitschko was winning on all 3 judges scorecards by 2 rounds and landed more jabs and more power punches in EVERY round. But yes you can celebrate klitschko losing due to a cut if it helps you sleep at night.

Very poor analogy, it was Lewis' punches that caused the cuts, it's a very legitimate way of winning, he rendered Vitali unable to continue hardly a technicality.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Very poor analogy, it was Lewis' punches that caused the cuts, it's a very legitimate way of winning, he rendered Vitali unable to continue hardly a technicality.

Sorry I forgot that he was aiming to cut Klitschko, silly me.

Maybe Vitali should have improved his defence and avoided putting himself in a position where a few bad cuts were a possibility, a fully legitimate win for Lewis that one.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Maybe Vitali should have improved his defence and avoided putting himself in a position where a few bad cuts were a possibility, a fully legitimate win for Lewis that one.

maybe you should rewatch the fight because Lewis got dominated. losing on all judges scorecards and klitschko landed more punches in EVERY round.

But I suppose because lewis opened a cut above the eye and targeted the eye when lewis and klitschko were clinching (with his head as well) that that makes it a morale boosting victory in your eyes. Well done.

Lewis is the second best heavyweight of all time. Only Ali is better. Silly comparing him to Klitschko who is just lucky that the heavyweights are so rubbish these days otherwise he would not be champion. You need to do your research on boxing, Lewis is the last great heavyweight champion.

Gordy wrote:Lewis is the second best heavyweight of all time. Only Ali is better. Silly comparing him to Klitschko who is just lucky that the heavyweights are so rubbish these days otherwise he would not be champion. You need to do your research on boxing, Lewis is the last great heavyweight champion.

I need to do some research lol coming from the guy who still thinks hatton would knock out khan if they face haha

So you don't think winning by a cut opened by a punch is a legitimate win?

Vitali's face looked like it had been through a blender. Legitimate win for Lewis.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:So you don't think winning by a cut opened by a punch is a legitimate win?

I think it is half the stroy. Klitschko could have continued and pleaded to the ref to continue. The cut looked bad because lots of blood was pouring out but in truth it was just a gash on his eyebrow. The doctor said he could lose his eye if he continued but I fail to see how that is possible due to the cut being above the eye brow (no relation to the eye). Klitschko saying in many interviews after that he could have continued.

Also the way lewis worked on the cut was not fair. He kept on bashing his head against it when they were in clinches which is against the rules.

Theres no way I think Vitali should have been allowed continue in that fight. His face was a mess and the cut was horrific.

victorgarco wrote:

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Still lost to Lewis when he faced him though, truth be told the WBO belt meant nothing in the heavyweight division until the retirement of Lewis before that the big boys were a bit more interested in the WBC, WBA and IBF.

I remember watching a game of cricket before and England were ahead and then there was bad weather so the other team couldn't bat which meant that England won the game. Everyone was so happy that England won and celebrating and boasting (even though it was on a technicality due to the weather stopping the other team from batting). It always reminds me of people who boast about lewis beating klitschko. Klitschko lost on a cut (his eyebrow was cut). Klitschko was winning on all 3 judges scorecards by 2 rounds and landed more jabs and more power punches in EVERY round. But yes you can celebrate klitschko losing due to a cut if it helps you sleep at night.

That's because cricket is a ridiculous posh tw*ts game that is as boring as sin and can barely be classed as a sport when players spend half their time having tea & sandwiches and where the bloody result can be decided by the weather forecast - ridiculous.

Lewis caused the cut to vitalis eye with a legitimate one-two combination. He then targeted the cut with his punches and made it worse. That's what you do in boxing - there's more than one way to skin a cat. Vitali needed 70 odd stitches & plastic surgery after that, he's lucky the Dr stopped it when he did or it could've turned into a career ending injury. Nevermind saying people are wrong to celebrate Lewis' win, it's those that try to claim it as some sort of moral victory for Vitali that are wrong - sour grapes.

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

victorgarco wrote:

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Still lost to Lewis when he faced him though, truth be told the WBO belt meant nothing in the heavyweight division until the retirement of Lewis before that the big boys were a bit more interested in the WBC, WBA and IBF.

I remember watching a game of cricket before and England were ahead and then there was bad weather so the other team couldn't bat which meant that England won the game. Everyone was so happy that England won and celebrating and boasting (even though it was on a technicality due to the weather stopping the other team from batting). It always reminds me of people who boast about lewis beating klitschko. Klitschko lost on a cut (his eyebrow was cut). Klitschko was winning on all 3 judges scorecards by 2 rounds and landed more jabs and more power punches in EVERY round. But yes you can celebrate klitschko losing due to a cut if it helps you sleep at night.

That's because cricket is a ridiculous posh tw*ts game that is as boring as sin and can barely be classed as a sport when players spend half their time having tea & sandwiches and where the bloody result can be decided by the weather forecast - ridiculous.

Lewis caused the cut to vitalis eye with a legitimate one-two combination. He then targeted the cut with his punches and made it worse. That's what you do in boxing - there's more than one way to skin a cat. Vitali needed 70 odd stitches & plastic surgery after that, he's lucky the Dr stopped it when he did or it could've turned into a career ending injury. Nevermind saying people are wrong to celebrate Lewis' win, it's those that try to claim it as some sort of moral victory for Vitali that are wrong - sour grapes.

Lewis worked on the cut with his forehead.

Lewis knew he would lose which is why vitali retired him.

At the end of the day it's Lewis who has the win on his resume not Vitali.

Lewis was 38 and fat. If its ok for Hatton to say he's lost it, why do we begrudge Lewis making the decision to quit at the top? He had a hard time with the 2nd best fighter in his division but scraped home. If he knew he was past his best and was gonna struggle to get in shape why should he put himself on offer when he'd already achieved everything he wanted to? His decision and a very good one - tough sh*t for Vitali but he's not done too bad since.

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:Lewis was 38 and fat. If its ok for Hatton to say he's lost it, why do we begrudge Lewis making the decision to quit at the top? He had a hard time with the 2nd best fighter in his division but scraped home. If he knew he was past his best and was gonna struggle to get in shape why should he put himself on offer when he'd already achieved everything he wanted to? His decision and a very good one - tough sh*t for Vitali but he's not done too bad since.

End of the day you are not Lewis you are a boxing fan and as a boxing fan I want to see the biggest fights. Lewis was offered 30 million to fight a rematch with klitschko which he turned down. It would have been the biggest hw fight in years and lewis turned it down. As a boxing fan you should want to see these big fights. Lewis retired because he knew he would lose.

victorgarco wrote:

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:Lewis was 38 and fat. If its ok for Hatton to say he's lost it, why do we begrudge Lewis making the decision to quit at the top? He had a hard time with the 2nd best fighter in his division but scraped home. If he knew he was past his best and was gonna struggle to get in shape why should he put himself on offer when he'd already achieved everything he wanted to? His decision and a very good one - tough sh*t for Vitali but he's not done too bad since.

End of the day you are not Lewis you are a boxing fan and as a boxing fan I want to see the biggest fights. Lewis was offered 30 million to fight a rematch with klitschko which he turned down. It would have been the biggest hw fight in years and lewis turned it down. As a boxing fan you should want to see these big fights. Lewis retired because he knew he would lose.

30 million? Where have you got that from?

Lewis either thought he would lose or knew from the first fight he'd have to train very hard for a long nights work to win and decided he wasn't up for it anymore. Either way it's his decision - as a boxing fan I want to see good fights but also want to see fighters make the right choices about retirement instead if seeing good fighters fight too long and end up with tarnished records. If a flabby, under motivated Lewis turned up for the rematch as he did for the first fight and got beat then where's the satisfaction anyway? Unless its the best Lewis at the time vs the best Vitali it's pointless, and if Lewis felt he was no longer up for the job then that's that. Vitali started the first fight well but was getting caught more and more as it went on against an over the hill Lennox and ultimately he lost.

I have serious doubts that Lewis would have scooped up anywhere near that amount for a rematch with Vitali, Victor. Vitali, in 2003, was not a particularly big name, especially across the pond in America. Wladimir was generally seen as the better fighter of the pair up until 2003 and Vitali's valiant display against Lewis and, while the first fight in question left some viewers unhappy, there's no way there was enough uproar about it to elevate a potential rematch in to the 'mega fight' stratosphere.

Yes, we want to see big fights, but at the end of the day a boxer has to put himself first, not his fans. If Lewis felt that his best days were behind him and that he'd lost the motivation, then he was perfectly right to hang the gloves up. We'd have liked to see a rematch, of course, but Lennox most certainly didn't owe Vitali one as a matter of due course.

Lewis was a fighter of unshakable self-belief who always wanted to test himself against the best the Heavyweight division had to offer. He didn't fancy a rematch with Vitali, but he had perfectly legitimate and understandable reasons for that outside of your claim that he was simply terrified of Vitali and the thought of defeat. That theory of yours is fanciful, at best.

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

victorgarco wrote:

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:Lewis was 38 and fat. If its ok for Hatton to say he's lost it, why do we begrudge Lewis making the decision to quit at the top? He had a hard time with the 2nd best fighter in his division but scraped home. If he knew he was past his best and was gonna struggle to get in shape why should he put himself on offer when he'd already achieved everything he wanted to? His decision and a very good one - tough sh*t for Vitali but he's not done too bad since.

End of the day you are not Lewis you are a boxing fan and as a boxing fan I want to see the biggest fights. Lewis was offered 30 million to fight a rematch with klitschko which he turned down. It would have been the biggest hw fight in years and lewis turned it down. As a boxing fan you should want to see these big fights. Lewis retired because he knew he would lose.

30 million? Where have you got that from?

Lewis either thought he would lose or knew from the first fight he'd have to train very hard for a long nights work to win and decided he wasn't up for it anymore. Either way it's his decision - as a boxing fan I want to see good fights but also want to see fighters make the right choices about retirement instead if seeing good fighters fight too long and end up with tarnished records. If a flabby, under motivated Lewis turned up for the rematch as he did for the first fight and got beat then where's the satisfaction anyway? Unless its the best Lewis at the time vs the best Vitali it's pointless, and if Lewis felt he was no longer up for the job then that's that. Vitali started the first fight well but was getting caught more and more as it went on against an over the hill Lennox and ultimately he lost.

what made lewis over the hill? He had lost 1 fight in 18 leading up to vitali and he avenged that loss. Yes he was 37 and yes he was at his heaviest but that does not mean he was past it. Before the fight no one said he was past it and he was the 4-1 favourite. Only after the fight do people say he was past it cos vitali made him look like he was past it.

what made lewis over the hill? He had lost 1 fight in 18 leading up to vitali and he avenged that loss. Yes he was 37 and yes he was at his heaviest but that does not mean he was past it. Before the fight no one said he was past it and he was the 4-1 favourite. Only after the fight do people say he was past it cos vitali made him look like he was past it.
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Lewis was not in great shape for the fight anyone can see that, and at 38 after a long career he was past his peak which was probably around the very late '90's. nobody's saying he was shot, but if you think Vitali fought the best version of Lewis you're way off the mark. Also I think you're going over the top with the 'vitali made Lewis look past it' comments - Vitali dominated the first two rounds before Lewis started upping his game a bit, at the time of the stoppage it was probably 4-2 to Vitali with Lewis having the more success, Vitali looking like he'd done his best work with half the fight still to go. A good performance from VK, but you only need look at his face to see it wasn't a one sided beat down spared only by a cut that this revisionism suggests.

So where'd you get the idea LL turned down 30 mil for a rematch anyway?

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:what made lewis over the hill? He had lost 1 fight in 18 leading up to vitali and he avenged that loss. Yes he was 37 and yes he was at his heaviest but that does not mean he was past it. Before the fight no one said he was past it and he was the 4-1 favourite. Only after the fight do people say he was past it cos vitali made him look like he was past it.
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Lewis was not in great shape for the fight anyone can see that, and at 38 after a long career he was past his peak which was probably around the very late '90's. nobody's saying he was shot, but if you think Vitali fought the best version of Lewis you're way off the mark. Also I think you're going over the top with the 'vitali made Lewis look past it' comments - Vitali dominated the first two rounds before Lewis started upping his game a bit, at the time of the stoppage it was probably 4-2 to Vitali with Lewis having the more success, Vitali looking like he'd done his best work with half the fight still to go. A good performance from VK, but you only need look at his face to see it wasn't a one sided beat down spared only by a cut that this revisionism suggests.

So where'd you get the idea LL turned down 30 mil for a rematch anyway?

Read it somewhere will try and find the link.

Age alone does not make someone past it. Neither does coming in 6 pounds heavier than his average weight suggest he was past it. People always say lewis was past it and use his weight and age as the sole reason. Lewis was in fantastic form having won 17 of his last 18 fights and avenging the only loss and Knocking out 5 out of his last 6 opponents before facing klitschko. The evidence does not suggest he was past it or over the hill as some people have posted.

It was fairly evident Lewis was not in good shape, he had not trained for an opponent as good and as hungry as Vitali. He was neither shot nor in his prime, still a quality fighter but past his peak. I'm not making excuses for Lewis, Vitali fought manfully and gave him hell, when Lennox got his act together he started landing good punches and it turned into a good fight which he won legitimately, if not in a totally satisfying way. I don't blame Lewis for not taking the rematch, he snatched the win, Vitali was younger & hungrier, Lennox was not motivated and at that level that can be very dangerous. He knew it was time to pass the torch and quit at the top, something even the Greatest couldn't do.

I'd be interested to see the link, this fight has been done to death on here and I'd thought I'd read everything there was to read on it, but I've never heard that before - I'd be flabbergasted if it were true bearing in mind Vitali was a fairly unknown east European fighter at the time, seems too fanciful.

Vitali's was a great comeback but he did keep himself in very good shape compared to Hatton who also had no punch resistance left. In sayng that i can't believe Senchenko is said to be better than Peter, Peter though hardly a great heavyweight was a legitimate champion with a lot of power who had given his brother a tough fight only 3 years before. Bearing in mind Vitali was now 37? coming back and winning every round forcing the champion to quit after 8 rounds is as good as you can do on a comeback imo. Senchenko is basically a contender at best, he was stopped by Malignaggi for goodness sake, add to that Vitali is a considerably better fighter than Hatton ever was its a pointless comparison.