can Wlad Klitchko be a top ten ATG heavy

probably not he needs some big wins and so far during his tittle reign the talent pool of challengers has been poor and his negative safety first style also is not helpful. what might change it is if he continues to be champ for a good time longer and one of his future possible victims turns out to be good champion themself when wlad does retire

 

i feel wlad(version 2) just never got, and wont get, the opportunity to fight opponents that anyone cares if he wins, they basically don't have odds on him winning anymore(i always put something against him because the odds are lower than the chance of him geting injured/dq'd). although wlad cant be accused of not facing anyone like i see for holmes(except vitali but they were never gonna fight).

 

Unless he sticks around for David Price or some other American Heavyweight, it's highly unlikely. I agree with the sentiments he is just missing like Holmes a career defining fight. Look how much HBO respects him:

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True considering the circumstances around his reign, whoever came after Muhammad was never going to be able to fill that void. Larry was stuck in a no win situation. I have started to watch some of his fights, his Jab against Shavers is damn good man, any other fights that Larry has demonstrated that good jab.

 

wlads style is a major draw back he is way to safety first and that makes me think that he himself has no confidence in his own chin which will not exactly make his status rise amongst the ATG's of the division. say what you want about holmes but he had a nasty streak and was not afraid to show it

 

it will depend on how he looks beating price and others and how their careers go after wlad retires

 

Agreed I talked about this in another thread. I don't think he's also dealt sufficiently with his inability to handle aggression and excessive pressure. When he's push beyond his comfort zone it's very obvious he doesn't cope well and against someone like Holmes, Holmes would see this and exploit it as best he can.

As for the thread in question...in all seriousness probably not.

 

Holmes had Norton plus a pretty good comeback.

 

Already is.

 

I'd rate him around #35 on heavyweight list, just behind Lennox Lewis.

 

:deal

 

What reputable source is going to rank him as one of the top 10 greatest HW's of all time?

People think because Lewis became an ATG on retirment that Wladimir is on the same path. Not true. There is a massive difference between Lewis and Wlad.

Lewis rematched and beat everybody he ever faced.
Fought a harder level of competition , including elite level and ATG fighters.
Retired on a win against Vitali in his prime who went on to dominate the division for the next 10 years and proved to be a tough, durable fighter.
He has exibited ATG skill, ability and the heart and killer instinct of a champion.
His fights were the biggest events in boxing when he fought and he made record high PPV sales on both sides of the atlantic.

Wlad cannot be credited with any of those factors.

Greatness is evaluated by level of competition fought and defeated. He has had not a single win over an elite level fighter , let alone an ATG fighter. The 3 fighters he lost to and the manner he lost in, gives a clear outline on how hard he can be pushed and what his limits are.
He is currently trying to get out of a fight with Povektin and has blatantly ducked Chisora twice in the past. Both those fighters have dug deep and turned a fight ugly in order to win, and are the proven characteristics to take Wladimir down.

Since fighting out of Germany he gets away with as many illegal tactics as he wants. People think he improved as a fighter but he hasn't , he has a personal ref who bails him out when the going gets tough.
Clinching and fighting out of the clinch is part of boxing. Wlad can only clinch and wait for the ref to break and move his opponent out of range. His power his completely redundant at close range and is nothing more than a sitting duck in a trade off.

Imagine Steve Smoger officiating a Wlad fight. It doesn't paint a positive image of Wlad coming out on top.

He clinched and locked up 40 year old Mormek 20 times in round 1. He would of been DQ'd anywhere else in the world.

What world champs has he beaten in the last 7 years besides Haye? What fighters had a top 5 ranking? Whats the accomplishment in fighting a string of past it, over 40 , beyond 50 ranked nobody's?

If that was the criteria for evaluating greatness, surly Sven Ottke would be sitting at the top

He and been dumped off the major sports networks in the UK and US and never in a million years would one of his fights qualify for a ppv event. Pretty appalling considering he is the unified Heavy Weight Champion of the world, the biggest prize in boxing.

Tell me how does that equate to an ATG top 10 HW?

 

Just for a laugh, can you give us the other 34 ? :yep

 

The question is can he do anything now, at the age of 36 and after controlling the division for 7 years, to fall out of the top 10.