Vitali Klitschko Wants Lennox Lewis

Klitschko-Lewis II pipe dream/pie in the sky

Fresh off his loss of the mayoralty of his country’s capitol, Kiev (Ukraine), retired WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is having second thoughts about returning to the ring, but on one condition: his former rival Lennox Lewis has to be having second thoughts as well.

“If Lewis comes back, Klitschko told fans in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, reports the AP, I will fight by all means.”

Yuriy Nesterenko, Klitschko’s spokesman, who is not in the habit of dashing hopes, warned that the chance of Vitali returning to action was slim to none, but that “People love Vitali and want him to come back to sports.”

Ukrainian-born Klitschko retired in November after several cancellations of a bout with then-champion Hasim Rahman because of a knee injury.

Born in London to Jamaican parents, raised in Canada, for whom he won an Olympic gold medal, and now a citizen of the world, former world champ Lewis quit in February 2004 after beating Klitschko, or by forcing the referee to halt the contest because of cuts, in his final fight.

Klitschko stopped Corrie Sanders two months later to win the WBC belt.

According to Nesterenko, Lewis has done “everything that he could” in the sport. Klitschko, he added, whose accomplishments pale in comparison to Lennox’s, now needs to focus more on fighting injuries than fighting former rivals.