So Vitali Klitschko has retired. First thoughts on his historical ranking and legacy?

I have Tunney at 10 in my list, little unconventional maybe but I have Vitali is ranked below him no doubt. I think his shortfalls are resume, and the only ATG he faced he lost to (Lewis, despite the TKO6 contraversy). H2H he is top 10 imo but I don't place much value on H2H for my lists. I have Vitali in the 16-22 region.

 

And Ali also took PED's. What does that do to his legacy?

 

Were they illegal PEDs Seamus?

 

History will tell the whole story, but if there's one thing I've learned from the past, it is that a good story is the most important element when rating a fighter. A small overachieving boxer will always be rated above the big ones. In 50 years, people will probably see Vitali as an H2H monster but in ATG or top HW rankings, his name will slowly drop a few notches.

People will boxrec his name and see he lost to Lewis and Byrd in his prime and he doesn't have a signature win that people will remember like Frazier vs Ali, Johnson vs Jeffries, Louis vs Schmelling. It may be not fair, but if I put myself in the skin of a sport writer it would not be an easy task trying to find a good story that would be the highlight of his career. Take Louis vs Schmelling : Max is an ATG and he was a damn good boxer but his career (and thus the meaning of the fight) wouldn't have been the same without the WWII context. Ali had the draft and was pretty much a story by himself. Johnson vs Jeffries had the black vs white drama going on.

At least, if he'd lost his last fight against a good up and coming boxer, his ranking could've went higher. Take Liston for exemple, he lost to the (arguably) greatest of all time and it's in Ali's fans interest to boost his ranking. None of that for Klitschko.

I don't think history will do him much justice, but a lot of real boxing fans will know he's been one of the best. Maybe I'm a bit too harsh and the fact that these 2 brothers ruled the HW division will be a good story.

 

Not if you had Ali's doctors with the loose script hands... thyroid pills, my ass.

It's just like every track sprinter is suddenly a narcoleptic so they can get speed legally.

 

Ring Magazine Champion, WBC Champion, WBO Champion. Wall space has been reserved at the Hall of Fame.


Consider the following accomplishments:

1 ) A KO% of 87.23, higher than Lewis, Foreman, Liston, Dempsey, and Tyson. Only Marciano rates slightly higher, but Rocky retired at age 32 and mostly KO’d smaller and older men. Had Marciano pressed on, as Vitali did to age 41, his KO% would have dropped like a rock. At age 32, Vitali’s KO% was the highest of all time among Ring Magazine champions.

2 ) The best rounds won to rounds lost ratio in the history of boxing champions. Vitali never lost more than 2 consensus rounds in the eyes of all three judges. He was never behind in a match after round 3, in his entire career. This is simply amazing. To put this in perspective, outstanding boxers such as Ali, Holmes, and Louis each lost more than 12 rounds to one man! Ali – To Norton, Holmes to Spinks, and Louis to Walcott.

3 ) Vitali was the winner in 16 world title matches. Off the top of my head, only Louis, Wlad, Holmes, Ali, and Lewis can claim more.

4 ) Vitali was never floored by a punch. Only one other heavyweight champion can claim this ( McCall ).

5 ) Vitali’s record has the least amount of fighters under .500 on it in the history of Ring Magazine heavyweight champions.

6 ) Vitali owns perhaps the most impressive comeback in heavyweight boxing history. Being out the game for 4+ years, then coming back in his late 30's without a warm up to not only reclaim his belt, but defend it several times beating several top 10 Ring Magazine ranked opponents along the way. Vitali is likely the best over 40 heavyweight of all time. Some say Foreman's comeback was better. Foreman lost to Morrison and Holyfield before cashing in on his punchers chance vs a chinny, and rather foolish Moorer. For Foreman, he needed 3 chances to win a world title.

Head to head, Vitali should rate in the top 10, and legacy wise, you could argue the top 10 as well.

**It should be noted that Vitali wanted to re-match Lewis and Byrd.
Byrd was controled by Don King, so that was not an easy re-match while Byrd had a belt. Lewis had his chance to re-match and opted to retire.
Many wanted to see Haye vs Vitali. Haye backed out of that fight! Had Vitali re-matched Byrd, he's a likely winner. I think he would have defeated Lewis in the re-match as well, but we'll never know for sure.

 

Couple of points there mendoza.

You criticise Rocky for knocking out smaller men, yet praise Vitali for doing the same?

The rounds issue is a bit autistic as rounds should really be scored personally.

He ran from a Byrd rematch though, chris wanted to fight him ahead of Wlad and Vitali said no.

His comeback, I think I might agree with, the more I think about it, the better it is.

 

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Rocky was about that size himself. Vitali was much bigger.

Well using my eyes he lost 4 rounds in total to Byrd before being stopped. I'm saying it's not a very prevalent stat. The greats mentioned would likely lose less rounds fighting his schedule.

 

How did I demote him? And yes I do.

 

He does not exhibit all time great...or even good skills.

 

I think that history must ultimately view him as something of a what if. He is a fighter who had the talent and opportunity to pull the division together after Lewis retired, but did not end up doing it for various reasons e.g. injuries.

I don't regard his resume as highly as some, and I think that he is very much in the shadow of his younger brother. I do however think that his claim to the lineal title is stronger than many credit it as being. Overal a remarkable career and a remarkable fighter.

 

I agree regarding what if.

The lineage ended with Lewis. True undisputed champions are almost impossible in the fractured state of boxing as the claimants are usually reluctant to face each other. Vital was quite clearly number 1 after knocking out Johnson and Sanders whilst Byrd was declining in my opinion. Wlad underlined his number 1 position much more emphatically however.

 

I rank him right between by ball sack and my taint!....**** em and SO LONG *******.

 

Its too early for me to rate him, I'll wait awhile.
I certainly won't miss him, his last few opponents have been abysmal.
Give him credit for always turning up in shape, and acting as a dignified champion should, but his competition has been ****.
Plus he's bored the **** out of me for a decade, and so has his brother. Let's hope we have now been spared any more" events" like the Charr episode.