I don't really rate it that high, when was the last time he sparked someone inside 2 rounds?? His accuracy and ability to wear his opponents down is credible more so!
Nothing great,heavy handed but hardly an all time great puncher,never sparks people out,usually just beats them up for a good few rounds and the ref jumps in or the corner's pull the fighter out,the following heavyweights are or were bigger punchers than Vitali.. Jack Dempsey Max Baer Joe Louis Sonny Liston Earnie Shavers George Foreman Ron Lyle Gerry Cooney Mike Tyson Razor Ruddock Frank Bruno Lennox Lewis David Tua Wlad Klit there are more but there's a few anyway..
Well put. He sort of clubs you to death over time rather than just put you to sleep. He's not a one punch ko guy, but I wouldn't want to be bludgeoned by him over 10 rounds. Keith
he's heavy handed but not a great puncher. His ko ratio is due to wearing opponents down rather than separating them from their senses. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd pronounced give him a 7. Thats good, but certainly not amongst the real knockout punchers in history.
Even in his prime it was overrated. He couldn't put Lewis or Sanders down, Rahman had them both crawling on the canvas. Imagine someone like Tyson, Foreman, Liston, Shavers hitting Lewis or Sanders as often and as cleanly as Vitali did. They'd be dead.
He doesn't rotate in to his punches, hasn't for a long time. All arm punches, clearly heavy handed though.
Right now his power is probably only above average, he was a pretty heavy hitter in his prime, but has never had "big" one shot.. But due to his unorthodox style he is not putting everything behind his punches either.. All in all: a good puncher in his prime, but never a top P4P hitter..