Someday, Will Vitali Regret Not Taking his 2nd Greatest Challenge?

No.

He'd take David Haye, woop David Haye, then David would just be another bum in a long line of bums.

 

he is trying to avoid being sparked out

 

Vitali shouldn't even be fighting anymore given his old age along with his body being ridden with injuries. He's just coming off ANOTHER surgery ffs, he should just retire or he will end up losing to some jackass he would have utterly crushed in his prime (like Haye)

David had his chances and blew them, now Vitali is entitled to tell him to **** off given the circumstances. Vitali should fight a last bye-bye fight against some bum so he can look good and call it quits.

Pretty sure Vitali would love to improve his legacy but his ever deteriorating body wont let him. He has the heart of a champion, but sadly not the tools anymore. If Haye beats him now it would mean nothing, but it'd still be sad to see the last legendary heavyweight go out with a loss

 

If you think Haye is his "greatest challenge" you have been watching a differant Haye, the one i seen has not beaten anyone of note at Heavyweight and was dropped by Barrett, keep dreaming

 

Lennox is/was his "greatest challenge."

His brother Wladimir is/was his next "greatest challenge."

Haye is better H2H in my opinion, but Povetkin is the best HW not named Klitschko, so an argument could be made that either of these two are the current "greatest challenge" either Klitschko could undertake at the moment.

 

H2H I might/probably would agree with you on several HW's (minus Solis).

But based on what they've actually done, which is how I rate fighters, Povetkin is clearly the best HW not named Klitschko.

I think Haye beats Povetkin at this moment 94 times out of 100. But how I think they would fare against someone they've never fought just doesn't and shouldn't factor into their ratings.

And when I call someone the best of the division, I am basing that on my ranking of the division.

I have no problem with someone who disagrees with that, but all I hope for is consistency which surely they would be lacking if they based rankings on hypothetical match ups. Just my opinion.

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But ultimately yes, I think most fighters who go down as HOF'ers or ATG's end up regretting not facing all of the best competition when they are long retired and reflecting on their careers. How could they not?

 

The Vitali should retire. If he's not fit and healthy enough to be a pro-boxer and not good enough anymore to be a world champion who takes on the best challengers in the division then there should be none of this "I'll wait for the outcome of Stiverne/Arreola before I say anything" bull****, he should walk away and free up the title for younger men, especially after all the crap his fans gave Lennox for doing exactly the same thing as he's doing now.

Sure Vitali's entitled to turn Haye down but he should do so officially. He should contact Booth and tell him that he has no interest in fighting Haye but if Booth is to be believed then he hasn't even done that.

And, no, he shouldn't be allowed to finish his career fighting a bum in an easy fight just to "look good" before retirement. That would be a cop out, that be a disgrace and that would make Boxing and the WBC look like a joke. If he wasn't WBC World Champion it would be different, but he does hold that title and no World Titlist should be able to pick a weak opponent for a pathetic last hurrah before retirement.

So since the fight means nothing from a legacy standpoint since pretty much everyone accepts that Vitali's not good enough anymore he should retire. If a fight with Haye would be meaningless anyway since Vitali's shot then a fight with the WBC mandatory will be meaningless as well, and so would any fight he has in the future.

If he has no intention of fighting legitimate challengers, if he has no intention of fighting dangerous opponents, and if his intention is to have one last easy fight just to look good before retirement then he is making a mockery of the sport and of the title he holds and he should be widely scorned and criticised for it regardless of whatever past glories he might have.

 

David Haye is a bigger challenge than LL? even past prime LL > current David Haye

 

are u brain dead? :huh Corrie Sanders woulda beat Haye pillar to post. :deal

 

Team Klitschko should not respond. I think they had a lot of trouble with each other during the last negotiations, I guess it was both teams fault.But still Haye has done nothing to become WBC contender, so why should they respond. With all of his retirement talk, his semi retirement, his stay at the jungle etc, he could have wiped out the WBC rankings or the WBA/IBF/WBO rankings. Maybe even both, it's been 20 months since his defeat against Wladimir. He could have been the rightful contender and in my opinion Haye is the best heavyweight not named Klitschko.
I think Haye could and would cause Vitali problems and it would be a very good win for either of them. But still, Haye has driven them nuts for years, he did all the barking, loudmouthing. He bailed out a few times, he didn't deliver a few times and the performance against Wladimir was a fiasco. And later he couldn't accept defeat, showed his pinky toe. Now it's on team Klitschko to let him bark.

 

Vitali is running scared. He knows Haye will knock him out.