Langford v Wlad?

Heart goes a long way. He never quit trying to win, took a huge beating, and put Wlad on the ropes, even if briefly. That's more than far more skilled fighters have done against him.

Well yeah, I think Povetkin is a fun scrapper but he was outboxed by Chambers and Huck, and Wlad is going to do what he wants with him most likely.

 

I only saw the fight the once but I had him winning some of the early rounds, I was shocked to see he not only outlanded but outjabbed Wlad when I revisited the stats. His length and awkwardness did seem to throw Wlad off initially.

I'm shocked by any Thompson KO, his punches doesn't seem to have that much power on them but I suppose its the timing and weird angles he hits at.

 

I agree. Even if he wasn't very effective save that one moment, nobody came at Wlad that hard since the first Peter fight. Could be a one night inspired performance thing, but I hope he gets more opportunties.

 

McGrain,

Louis never fought Jimmy Bivins(1940-1947), Lem Franklin(Louis ducked Franklin for a Simon Rematch), Lee Q Murray, and Elmer Ray...so apparently Louis never cleaned out his division either? All these men were very highly rated 1940s fighters..very dangerous. All were black.

 

Wlad can't face Vitali because he's his older brother and its about time people quit ignoring that. It isn't going to happen. Wlad at least has faced Haye, Chageav, Chambers, and now Povetkin, whom have all pretty much took turns occupying the top spots just below his brother since 2008. And Wlad has beat better versions of Peter, than the overweight slob who was hanging to a #2 spot in 2008. Adamek is the only guy he's really missing, but eh....

Joe Louis never faced Bivins because he was largely inactive from 42-46 over World War II. This was during Bivin's rise and reign as the duration LHW and HW Champion. Unforuntaely, Bivins couldn't maintain his absurdly great run against so many challenges from so many contenders and slipped just as Louis came back. He did miss Elmer Rey but eh...

 

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Anyone who tries to nit pick Louis record, the most highly skilled of any hwt champion, by pointing to bouts he had as a shot fighter at the end of his career has some real issues. Very very few past champions would stand any chance beating the best Louis. This is why he is rated as the greatest or at least top two all time by most who know what they are talking about.

 

Louis came up in one of the tougher divisions in history. Just look at the gauntlet of fighters he faced to earn his title shot at the cagey Braddock: 4 recently removed World Champions and several established long time contenders. That's quite a mountain to climb and its amazing he only lost the one time. Facing off against Baer, Sharkey, Schemling, Primo, Levinsky, Uzudon, and Pastor is pretty hardcore. Imagine Wlad circa 2000 going up against Tyson, Holyfield, Ruiz, Rahman, Tua, and Johnson.

Sigh, why pick on Galento? Sure, he talked trash, he was also obvoiusly fat and bald and didn't look the part. But he was a very durable slugger with one punch power and the minimal skills needed to set up his money punch. He was also dangerous, mean, and very dirty. And when he showed up in shape, demonstrated good stamina and late power. He destroyed several top 10 fighters and upset the leading contender to earn his spot. Galento just had the physical Nova's number in a dirty brawl.

This doesn't mean the division was weak, it meant he was a tough fighter who got a favorable match up that catapulted him further up the rankings than he was likely to go under other circumstances. Would you say Oleg and Peter both grabbing #2 rankings behind Wlad at different points was a sign the divison was rubbish? No, Oleg just had Rahman's number, and in turn the vulnerable Oleg was easy pickings for Peter. And for my money, Galento would have ate Oleg alive. And even if Peter showed up at his best, a match up between him and any version of Galento would be a toss up.