Lennox Lewis's mum stopped rematch, says Vitali Klitschko

Vitali Klitschko has revealed how Lennox Lewis' mum stopped him getting a rematch with the former world heavyweight champion.

Lewis beat Klitschko in June 2003 in controversial circumstances, retaining his WBC title when the fight was stopped after the sixth round in Los Angeles.

The Ukrainian had a deep cut above his left eye but led on the judges' scorecards when officials ruled he could not continue.

In the referee's opinion the cut had been caused by a punch, which meant that Lewis was automatically declared the winner.

If it had been ruled that the cut had been caused by a headbutt, Klitschko would have won the title as he was ahead on the scorecards.

Plans for an eagerly-anticipated rematch never materialised, with Klitschko yesterday offering an interesting explanation for why that was the case.

"Lennox promised me but his mum decided he wasn't going to fight," said the 38-year-old ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards in Abu Dhabi.

"He invited me to London, without managers, he said he wanted to talk just together. I came to the room and his mum is there. We talked for two hours and his mum was looking at me and scanning me.

"After that I went away and he called me a couple of hours later and said 'Sorry, but no'. I felt it wasn't his decision, his mum decided. I tried to change his decision, but it's difficult.

"But I was appreciative to Lennox Lewis that I got the chance to prove my skills against the toughest fighter in the world.

"But he was lucky, because I was ahead but the doctor stopped the fight with the cut."