Wladimir Klitschko now holds the record for the longest reign in HW boxing history

Being the premier fighter is thr most important thing for me when ranking a fighters worth.

A champion is a globally subjective term which has different meanings for different people. For you it's 1v2, for some it's unification for others it's merely to hold a belt. However I can always make my pick for the best fighter in the world at a given time. That's the one thing I can do regardless of era, politics or dodgey decisions.

I do respect your quest for clarity. I just can't respect an organisation referring to Briggs as a champ but not wlad. Each to their own eh?

 

Wlad would do Vitali dirty, and Vitali even privately agrees.

Vitali's style is predicated on three things, you understand: Range, containing his opponents, and his ability to angle any shot. He pokes and prods with his left as often as he throws a real jab, to disguise his right hand and the cover steps to his left, he leans straight back to dodge punches, because it incentivizes an opponent to keep coming, which allows him to respond with right hands or a left hook from the hip that they bear into, and he holds himself.

Wlad is faster of hand and foot, he has the far superior left jab, and he tees up with his right hand. Vitali wouldn't be able to lean out of the way; See the Wach fight, Wlad would land time and again. Vitali wouldn't be able to contain Wlad; His little brother is his physical match in the clinch, and while not as tough, is just as, if not more, dogged. We called him the octopus only half to rile him up, he's literally next to impossible to shake. Wlad's height and command of his own range would make Vitali's favored angles and his up and down way of accessing them utterly ineffective. Can't throw the hookercut, can't circle the right hand(Wlad would come over with a left hook, and used to do it in sparring so often when they were kids Vitali had a nickname for it), and wouldn't have a clear shot at the counter left hooks he loves.

So, basically, outboxing and overpowering Wlad is right out. He'd lose a stand-up scratch and peck boxing match just off of being the slower, inferior fundamentalist alone. His only approach left would be to "march forward" and fight Wlad; This romantic notion held by boxing fans that tough chinned, big hearted fighters can just decide to shrug off punishment and march forward, come hell or high water, to brawl on the inside or near mid-range, by God.

Thing is, Vitali has never been a fighter; He can be aggressive, but he's too awkward and his linear footwork sucks for a big man. In the Corrie Sanders fight, he eventually settled into doling out an ass beating because he realized his optimal range, he found a way to stay in it, and he just punched until the referee waved his arms. When he tried to come forward and attack, Sanders was drilling him very, very hard, wobbling him, and forcing him backwards. Vitali might be able to bring the action, but he can't brawl; His shoddy advances would be entirely neutralized by his brothers jab.

This is my estimation, honestly. I can't say much else, beyond giving credit where it is do and affirming that both brothers treated me very roughly. Two worst ass kickings of my life, I would estimate. Vitali is a badass, and one of the most underrated rubix cubes in all of boxing, that style is so awkward and their is no rhythm, and his timing is seriously otherwordly. Wlad is just the whole package, though. In that way, he is Lennox Lewis' true succesor, in my book.

Singing the praises of fighters who are a lot better than I am is hard, understand. Pride is involved. But the K Bros are class acts, just like Lennox Lewis was, and if they can treat me with honor, respect, and deference I'm not sure I earned from them in the ring, then by God, I'm gonna be honest about how badass I think they all are.

 

I'm sorry but I think you're plain wrong about Wlad, especially regarding his skills vs Bowe, who tends to get rather overrated based on his strong showing against Evander. Is his speed as great as a welterweight? Uh, no, but it's perfectly acceptable for a heavyweight, even compared to a relatively small heavyweight like Haye. Is he amateurish? Absolutely not.

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but the biggest problem I see with detractors of Wlad is that they think of him as first and foremost as a giant in the vein of Carnera, Willard and co, only with better boxing ability (if they even accept that much). Wlad isn't a giant who can box, he's a boxer who's naturally huge. That's a slight but very important difference.

 

Bowe couldn't throw a straight right hand to save his life. His overhand right? For a heavyweight that size, looping a big ol fastball like Bowe did 90% he wasn't throwing an uppercut from that hand is just straight ugly.

I agree with you to about the boxer thing, mate. I'm only a couple inches shorter than Wlad, I have a longer reach, and our boxing styles could not be more different. Being huge doesn't predicate a fighting style. It just doesn't. I'm just as big, if not bigger, and almost as tall, and I was taught to fight the same way the flyweights who stood up to me abs were.

 

Bowe was a tough and game fighter, with decent speed, good combination punching, and a great ability to absorb punishment without it drastically affecting his game.

But like you said, he was stylistically ugly, with a lack of sharpness and tightness in his punching, and a fundamental lack of understanding in how to make his size count against smaller fighters.

 

This is about my criticism.

I do believe that Bowe was a bit fortunate to be fighting Evander Holyfield for the title, a fighter who would always be very, very well matched with his strengths. I've never been convinced Riddick would have found his way to the title had Iron Mike or Lennox Lewis been champion instead.

 

I think Lennox would have beaten Bowe for the simple fact that he knew how to make his size count whereas Bowe didn't. I think Wlad would have beaten Bowe for the same reason. Tyson, who also had a very good sense of distance, though it was obviously different for him being shorter, would have had a reasonably good chance of beating Bowe as well, though he would maybe have had a bit of a rougher time of it on the inside.

Evander was a hell of a fighter, but against Bowe he simply faced a similar fighter who happened to be bigger and stronger than he was, a fighter who could match him strength for strength and fought in more or less the same way. That's why I believe he was beaten.

Against a skilled big man in Golota, Bowe came a cropper, and I don't believe for a second that it was due to his being past his prime. Golota simply had his number.

 

Golota was better than Bowe in every conceivable category, terrific boxer.

He was just an utter headcase, and had no business as a professional fighter.

 

I wouldn't say he had no business being a professional fighter, but he would have certainly been an atrocious excuse for a champion had he ever won a world title. The man had no consistency or ability to control his more street fighterish tendencies when things weren't going his way.

 

Yeah, I have noticed that but as someone said, he seems to have gone away from it.

I never meant to say Bowe wasn't skilled just that he wasn't a very smart operator, even when in shape. Folks drool over him trading inside and getting that crazy leverage on his punches... which was impressive. It just wasn't the smartest tendency to fall into every fight. And he was really unimpressive in a lot of fights... Tubbs, Coetzee, Golota... I think he is a bit overrated.

 

Wlad fights tall when he needs to fight tall, when he wants to bait an opponent in he does the crouching low hands thing. It's a matter of understanding an adapting to your opponent, something which Bowe was unable to do.

 

Million dollar body, 10 cent brain. And a natural born thug if tales from the old world are to be believed.

And remember, he did beat Ruiz. That decision was a sham.

I remember watching the first Bowe fight with some pretty bright friends. We were all amazed how he was beating Riddick to the jab.

 

When I first saw Andrew Golota working out in the gym, it was in the closing stages of his camp for the Bowe REMATCH.

I was in awe. He was the best heavyweight I've ever seen. I went home almost shaken; Convinced that his first performance against Bowe was that fight every hothead young prospect needed to eventually bloom. I thought he'd have Riddick in three, and go on to the heavyweight title.

Watching Bowe II, I realized that he was as good as he looked, but his mental shortcomings were a plague, not immaturity. I predicted Lewis would manhandle him. I didn't quite expect a 70 second annihilation, but I wasn't surprised.

 

Golota was a disgrace.
I understand that professional fighters bend the rules to get an edge over the opponent, but his low-blow fests on Riddick Bowe were beyond all reason and decency.

Obviously had a bully mentality too. And I don't care what brain you give him, I can't see him surviving Lennox Lewis.

 

very true, Golota had severe mental shortcomings, he was better in every way then Bowe but he had to blow it and 2X....I dont know if it was anxiety or the lack of self esteem but there were deep underlying issues.

Wasted talent