Decision to Stop Fight Leaves an Empty Feeling

Lemme see if I got this right.

A championship fight was stopped because of a cut?

A heavyweight brawl was stopped because a bloody eye?

Lennox Lewis, exhausted and reeling and losing on all cards, is still a champion?

None of it made sense Saturday night except, strangely, the eerie strains of “Hotel California� that accompanied Vitali Klitschko into the Staples Center ring.

Lewis can check out of his debacle anytime he likes, but he can never leave.

He was beaten here. He was the loser here. He was out of shape and out of sorts and should be out of his belt.

Klitschko was the tougher fighter, the stronger fighter, the better fighter.

But he was mistaken for a wilting fighter by Dr. Paul Wallace, who stopped the fight after six rounds after claiming Klitschko’s left eyelid -- sliced during the third round -- had drooped over his field of vision.

The cut was so deep, fans gasped while watching video of veteran cut man Joe Souza stick his fingers through the gash between rounds.

The cut was so nasty, it splattered blood like red finger paints down the left side of Klitschko’s face.

But this is championship boxing. These were two heavyweights. This is how it looks. This is what the fighters expect. This is what the great ones overcome.

And this was not stopping Klitschko.

The cut bothered him so much, he won two of the next three rounds after it was opened.

The cut blocked his vision so much, he was able to navigate a crowded ring to give Lewis a shove and continue challenging him after the decision was announced.

The cut left him so impaired, he swiftly climbed on the ropes in the corners to raise his hands like a champion and embrace the cheers from 15,939 who believed him.

A crowd, incidentally, that is owed a refund for precisely half of the ticket price.

They had just seen a wonderful World Series Game 7 called in the sixth inning because of rain.

They had just watched a splendid Super Bowl ended at halftime because of snow.

“When I went into the ring a second time, I asked him to look at me,� said Wallace of his trip into Klitschko’s corner after the sixth round. “When he did, his upper lid covered his field of vision. He had to move his head to see me.

“If he had to move his head to see me, there was no way he would be able to defend himself.... “

It’s a well-reasoned explanation, with a couple of rebuttals.

First, Klitschko’s folks say he didn’t get close enough to their fighter.

“The doctor was never in front of Vitali,� said Klaus-Peter Kohl, Klitschko’s promoter. “He never took a close look at Vitali.�

Second, Klitschko said he had no trouble seeing.

“I was destroyed by this decision,� he said. “I don’t know why the doctor stopped the fight. I see everything.�

Lewis, of course, claimed he was only one round from knocking Klitschko out anyway, so what’s the big deal.

“I was getting to him, just look at his face,� said Lewis. “Look at the state of his face. It was only a matter of time. He was deteriorating. The ref saved his face.�

If so, then the referee also saved Lewis’ belt.

Because Lewis was overmatched from the moment he shrugged off his robe to reveal a body that had clearly not been tightened and sharpened.

“He should retire right now,� said Chris Byrd, the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion. “Did you see him out there? Really, he should.�

Byrd later engaged in some trash talking with Lewis during the post-fight news conference, but he does have a point.

Lewis is only getting older, and if a guaranteed $7 million purse doesn’t motivate him anymore, what will?

In the first round, Klitschko was clearly the aggressor, and understood immediately that he had a chance.

“I knew Lennox Lewis was not in good condition in this fight,� he said.

In the second round, Klitschko staggered Lewis with two rights, and the title belt was suddenly within reach.

Then Lewis stormed out in the third round and immediately walloped Klitschko above the left eye, opening the cut that would doom the fighter.

The only question was, did he hit him with his glove or his head? Replays indicate that he hit him with the glove, but Lewis’ head was around Klitschko’s head all night.

And Klitschko’s corner claimed it was a head butt.

“Head butt? He’s crazy,� Lewis said.

The blow stunned Klitschko, and the blood shocked the crowd, but it did not change the fight. If anything, Klitschko grew even stronger.

“My strategy was to get him in the last (12th) round,� Klitschko said.

It was a round that never happened, of course, much to the dismay of a booing crowd and certainly disappointed HBO viewers.

Up next? Gee, that wouldn’t be a rich pay-per-view rematch, would it?

“If he wants a rematch, fine, I’ll be happy to give him a rematch,� Lewis said defiantly. “Because I’ll bust up the other half of his face.�

He should have used that energy for the ring.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]

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Heavyweight Rankings

Champions and the top 10 contenders in the heavyweight division before Saturday’s bout. Lennox Lewis also holds the IBO belt:

*--* WBC WBA IBF WBO C. Lennox C: Roy Jones Jr C: Chris Byrd C: Corrie Sanders Lewis 1. Vitali Vitali Klitschko Vacant David Tua Klitschko 2. Hasim David Tua Fres Oquendo Lamon Brewster Rahman 3. Mike Hasim Rahman David Tua Wladimir Klitschko Tyson 4. Evander John Ruiz Hasim Rahman Kirk Johnson Holyfield 5. David Mike Tyson Vitali Klitschko Sinan Samil San Tua 6. Lamon Evander Holyfield John Ruiz Francois Botha Brewster 7. John Fres Oquendo Evander Holyfield Jameel Ben McCline Ruiz 8. Kirk Kirk Johnson Kirk Johnson Fres Oquendo Johnson 9. Sinan Faruq Saleem Mike Tyson Hasim Rahman Samil Sam 10. Fres Lamon Brewster Wladimir Klitschko Evander Holyfield Oquendo

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