Here mate your a good and respectable poster but your wrong in saying that you can't define fighters by their losses. No matter how long ago. It is the manner of Wlad's defeats that wrangles with a lot of his critics. The fact he sought the safety of the canvas rather than try and get through his nightmare moments, or because he was scared of being made unconscious. This is really hard to comprehend when you are talking about a HW champion. No matter how much he has improved the fact remains he has shown a distinct lack of heart when it has been put into question. He is now being talked of as an ATG, fair enough. But if that is the case, then he is going to be scrutinised more than he ever has, which means the manner of his losses are not going to be glossed over no matter how long ago they happened. The bottom line to a lot of people is that if his heart is called into question again, would he come through it. The likelihood is no. When pitting him against Ali you can guarantee his heart is going to be questioned.
I love Klitschko fans, Theyre good for a laugh. Wlad would have murdered Ali Just like he murdered David Haye....a former Cruiserweight and very small heavyweight who couldnt hold shine Alis boots. What happened to Wlads so called size advantage against Purrity, Sanders And Brewster?
"Light punching" Ali KOd 2 of the most intimidating heavyweights in history :good Wlad got Kod by 3 nobodies
I like WLad, but he couldn't even hurt David Haye. How is he going to murder a better mover with a better chin, who is a faster and much smarter, more versatile boxer?
The major issue with this line of thought is that if you correlate bad performances early in the career of a boxer and take that as indication of their entire career you're then expelling... 1. Lennox Lewis, being KO'ed in the 2nd against McCall who never really dominated boxing and got his name based on that performance against Lewis. A few years later, Lewis rematched and defeated him - he was a different boxer by that time and started to establish himself as a dominant champion in the years following - Manny Steward architected that 2. Manny Pacquaio, being KO'ed early in his career and out hustled by guys who don't even deserve to be mentioned, Freddie Roach gets him, rearchitects him and now you've got a guy people want to consider an ATG 3. Bernard Hopkins, nuff said 4. Duran, quitting on his stool against a fighter he had already defeated.. Eight years is a lifetime in boxing as you well know, in that lifetime, Wladimir has gone from being a very tense fighter who threw all manner of punches to a much more relaxed, precise and technically correct boxer - being hit by a few of Haye's punches didn't phase him in the slightest, he's just a different proposition than he was now. Ali gives away too much height, doesn't have enough power and due to the conditioning of Klitschko, will not out last him fighting the fight he needs to fight to win. Someone else said it best - how does he win? He was never great on the inside. He's not exactly going to out jab Klitschko from the outside as Klitschko isn't slow with the jab and has a great right hand to back it up. What are his options? Foreman is the only guy from that era who may trouble Wladimir because he's a big, nasty ******* who can get on the inside and rough you up... even then, he's probably too slow to do it.
Foreman had balls and intensity to go with that power. Foreman KTFO Wlad in short order. Hell, Jerry Quarry could probably give Wlad a run for his money and Earnie Shavers is better than anybody Wlad has beaten (also could give Wlad major problems). Vitali has enough balls to compete in that era; he's taken on all of fighters who could possibly trouble Wlad for the last several years. Wlad is a limited, protected fighter. Physical advantages only go so far.
Liston and Foreman? Modern critics would say: Foreman= Hypejob of the decade, gassed after 8 rounds, didnt bring any gameplan, just threw bombs and hoped for the best.. Disgraceful stamina, he cant go 15 rounds like Joe Louis could Liston: Lol, what needs to be said? glass hearted quitter, he doesnt have iron will like Marciano had.
Foreman is far too slow and crude to endanger Wlad. Terrible footwork, below-average technicals. 2011 Wlad would destroy Foreman without breaking a sweat from the outside and make it look easy. Ali was a different animal. Far faster, excellent footwork and balance than Foreman. Wlad would have a hard time landing consistently on Ali. Then again so would Ali thanks to the disadvantage in reach and height. Much tougher to call this one.