Following a response from Lennox Lewis to his views on the Vitali Klitschko fight in 2003, promoter Tom Loeffler doubled down on his view.
The 360 Promotions boss believes Lewis was in the most trouble of the two fighters when doctors pulled Klitschko over a cut after six rounds. Loeffler says Lewis was tired and looking for a way out and that Klitschko had the fight in the bag if allowed to continue.
Responding to Lewis stating he knew nothing about it, Loeffler said, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Nobody can say for sure what would have happened if the fight had been allowed to go on. The fact is Vitali was clearly winning the fight up four rounds to two on all three cards.
“The cut was bad, but Joe Souza had it under control after every round, meaning he was able to stop the bleeding after every round.”
Speaking to a fan who stated Lewis would have stopped Klitschko anyway, Loeffler added: “You must have missed the body language of each fighter after the sixth round. Take a closer look. The referee, Lou Moret, called in the doctor to look at the new cut inside the mouth from the uppercut in the sixth. It was not because of the eye, which is what he told me after the fight.
“The plastic surgeon that stitched the cut that night, Dr Pearlman Hicks, told me it was a bloody superficial cut, but no risk to the ocular nerve to cause damage to the eye. I was expressing my opinion on the facts of the night, which you didn’t get in the second row.”
In addition, Loeffler stated: “Either way, it was a tremendous fight, and great respect to both warriors for putting on such a great heavyweight fight, which many times can be boring. Most importantly, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko greatly respect Lennox Lewis.
“We just saw Lennox in Saudi for the Usyk vs Fury fight. Lennox looks great, and Wladimir looks in tremendous shape – like he can get back in the ring and win some more titles.”
As the record books will forever show, Lewis won the fight and retired having defeated every boxer who ever stepped in the ropes to face him. Lewis avenged his two losses, and before Oleksandr Usyk‘s victory in May, Lewis was the last man to become undisputed, holding four titles in the heavyweight division.
Vitali, to his great credit, went on to become a boxing legend, too, despite Lewis handing him a second loss.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
