What can Wlad do now to elevate himself ahead of Lewis in the atg standings?

It didn't hurt Salvador Sanchez's reputation when Azumah Nelson went on to become an all-time great. When they mention that in his last fight Sanchez beat Nelson, people don't tend to bring up that Nelson was a late-sub with only 13 wins at the time.

Just that it was a good fight, and Sanchez has a win over another all-time great.

 

Or, to use another example, Froch going on to beat Bute, Kessler, and Groves after losing to Ward.

 

1. Die

2. Be reincarnated

3. Go to America young, find Mayweather Sr. for training

4. Box

 

I agree. Lewis is too rough and tough for him at his best

 

Right. Although, Kessler and Bute were already established champs.

Let's say Groves goes on to become an all-time great ... Froch's wins over him might be considered among Carl's best ever. (Whereas, if Groves crashes and burns in the coming years, it may not seem like anything special.)

And if Froch fights and beats DeGale, too, there's a good chance Groves and DeGale are going to continue fighting for years and will likely win titles down the road (whereas Bute and Kessler likely won't).

That's why it's good, at the end of a career, for a champ to sprinkle in some fights with talented young guys who have a likelihood of becoming champ down the road.

Those are the guys who keep your name in the headlines. Because every time someone writes stories about Groves and DeGale as they progress in their careers and maybe become champs themselves, if Froch has wins over them, his name will keep coming up.

Wins over Bute and Kessler were big at the time for Froch, but when you retire you want to have wins over active guys still continuing in their careers. That's how your legacy continues to grow.

Wlad and Froch and Mayweather, if they want to continue to grow their legacies, need to "scout" their upcoming opponents. They need to pick guys who might be green now but have a great likelihood of becoming champs in a year or two ... or even years from now. Those might **** off some fans now, but they can carry more weight down the line.

 

Imagine how highly Lewis would be regarded if he fought and beat Wlad.

 

True. They were on a collision course before Vitali lost to Byrd in 2000. Lewis and Wlad was considered to be such a sure thing for the end of 2001 that it was the main event taking place in the film Ocean's Eleven (filmed in 2000 and released in 2001).

But then Wlad fought Byrd for the WBO belt (to 'avenge' his brother) and won it, which took him out of the WBC ratings ... and put Vitali in them.

 

Wlad is already top 10, don't give a f*ck what anybody says. If he stays on top for another 2-3 years it will be hard to leave him out of the top 5 just based on longevity/title defenses alone. Pulev, Stiverne, Fury, Takam, Jennings/Perez winner, and Glazkov would all look very nice on his resume. I expect he'll at least go through 3-4 of those guys with a few voluntaries mixed in before calling it a day.

 

way to late to consider this now, too late to improve the margin to make that improvement is too great.

 

Nothing. It cannot be done.

If he bets Pulev and unifies the last belt with the winner of Stivene-Wilder, he is just a top ten guy. But he cannot equal Lewis.

 

Rahman knocked Lewis out, McCall TKO'd Lewis out.

Since Wilder's fans claim that Wilder is the greatest heavyweight of all time, then all Vlad has to do is knock Wilder out. Judging from the sparring he had with Wilder for the Wach fight it will be an easy knockout!!!!!!!

 

Wlad above Lewis never

 

It really is impossible to say. But in a fantasy land... Beat all of the following opponents, each with a best case scenario upward continuation of their careers up until the point of my proposed matches.

2014- Pulev (scheduled)
2015- winner of Jennings vs. Perez
2015- Stiverne
2016- Fury
2016- Takam
2017- Huck
2017- Povetkin II

On a twice a year fighting schedule, this would have him retiring before his 42nd birthday with a record of 69-3 if he won out. Obviously, it all depends on the opponents, what they've done, what they go on to do, etc. making it impossible to say, but if this happened, Wladimir probably would be ahead of Lennox or at the very least a lot more debatable than it is today and a far from dismissed opinion.

 

He surpassed Lewis resume like 10 years ago. Already the fact that he didn't drop a belt to duck Chris Byrd, like Lewis did, makes him miles better.