The deep cuts on Vitali Klitschko's face are stitched up and just beginning to heal. He won't be able to fight again until late this year, at the earliest.
That didn't stop Klitschko from beginning another fight on Tuesday -- to get Lennox Lewis back in the ring for a rematch both he and a lot of boxing fans believe he deserves.
"I want a rematch and the rematch would be much bigger [for Lewis] than Roy Jones," Klitschko said. "I hope the next fight will be against Lewis."
Klitschko, who may have won a lot more than he lost in Saturday night's fight, repeated his belief that the fight shouldn't have been stopped at the end of the sixth round because of a bad cut over his left eye.
The cut was an inch deep, all the way to the bone, and took 60 stitches to close.
But Klitschko said the ring doctor's decision took away from what might have been a spectacular ending to the heavyweight title fight.
"I could see well. That's why I'm disappointed in the decision," he said during a conference call on Tuesday. "I know it's my fight -- and I win the fight. This decision gives a big present to Lennox Lewis."
Klitschko was ahead on all three scorecards in a brutal if somewhat ungainly brawl at the Staples Center in Los Angeles when the fight was stopped because of the cut.
His lawyer, Ron DiNicola, said he is considering protesting the decision to the California Athletic Commission and asking the World Boxing Council to order a rematch.
Neither of those avenues are likely to get him a second fight with Lewis, who welcomed a rematch just after the fight but has another possibly lucrative fight with Jones that could get in the way.
Complicating the chances for a second fight is that Klitschko needs time to heal before beginning training again.
"Six months would be a good time," said Dr. Pearlman Hicks, who sewed the cuts up. "We want to make sure it's perfectly healed so he can get back in the ring and not worry about the problem."
Hicks said the cut over the fighter's eye took several layers of stitches to close. Another cut on his lip was cut to the muscle.
Though Klitschko lost, he won over a lot of boxing fans and legitimized his claim to be a top heavyweight contender.
He put himself in the mix among a handful of top heavyweights, with the possibilities of big fights other than Lewis.
"I don't want to fight everyone. I want to fight for a world championship," Klitschko said. "It is my dream to fight world champions."
Klitschko is from Ukraine, but he and his brother, Wladimir, both speak German and spent the last six years fighting and building up a big fan base in Germany.
The fight started at around 4:30am in Germany because of the time difference, but a whopping 4.6 million people in the countryb either stayed up or crawled out of bed to watch Klitchko.
The numbers were similar to what a popular prime time show in the country draws.
Some said it was the first time in 20 years it was worth sitting up all night to watch boxing -- since Muhammad Ali was fighting.
"We're staying awake again. The drama in Los Angeles wouldn't let us sleep, just like we once couldn't with the `Thrilla in Manila' and the `Rumble in the Jungle,' wrote the daily Berliner Morgenpost.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS