SPORTSCLOPEDIA 57: LENNOX LEWIS DEFEATS VITALI KLITSCHKO TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 21 Jun 2023
Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko was called Battle of the Titans on June 21, 2003 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. WBC, IBO, and The Ring champion Lennox Lewis fought former WBO champion Vitali Klitschko. Lewis defeated Klitschko by a sixth-round technical knockout (TKO) when the fight was stopped due to a nasty cut above Klitschko's left eye. It was Lewis' last fight since he retired and refused to do a rematch.
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Klitschko was the underdog, but had a tremendous start and aggressively landed many hard shots to the head of Lewis, taking the first two rounds on all three judge's scorecards. In the second round, Klitschko rocked Lewis with two staggering right hands that opened a cut under Lewis' left eye.
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In the third round, Lewis connected and landed a thundering right hand that caused a deep cut above Klitschko's left eye. Despite the disturbing injury, Klitschko fought a tight round as they exchanged jabs and hard punches through the whole round even if Lewis was able to win the round on the judges' scorecards.
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Klitschko was able to retaliate and took round four as both appeared to be running out of gas. At the end of round five, Klitschko's eye cut seemed to have worsened, but was allowed to continue into the sixth round. Lewis had the upperhand caused by Klitschko's blurred eyesight and landed a battering uppercut in the sixth round.
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Between the start of the seventh, the ringside physician determined that Klitschko's eye had become too impaired and the fight was stopped. It was decided that since Klitschko's injury was caused by the punches, Lewis was declared 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.
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Lewis is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. Being a recipient of dual British and Canadian citizenships, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division in Beijing.
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Klitschko won the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title from 1999 to 2000, the Ring magazine title from 2004 to 2005, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) title twice between 2004 and 2013. Overall, he defeated 15 opponents in world heavyweight title fights, and made 12 successful title defenses.
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In 2011, Vitali and his younger brother Wladimir Klitschko entered the Guinness World Records as the pair of brothers with most world heavyweight title fight wins with 30 at the time and 40 as of 2020. From 2006 until 2015, Vitali and Wladimir, also a multiple world champion, dominated heavyweight boxing, a period widely known as the "Klitschko Era" of the heaviest division.
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Klitschko's last fight was against German Manuel Charr winning by fourth round TKO on September 8, 2012 at the age of 41 years, but he remained the WBC heavyweight champion at age 42 until he announced his retirement in December 2013.
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Klitschko served as mayor of Kyiv in Ukraine since June 2014 and is also a former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament.
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