After Wladimir Klitschko fights 5 more times, where will this leave him in the ATG?

Of course it's a weak era, HW is meant to be the premier division in boxing and the top 20 is a who's who of nobodies.

The fact that a joke like Deontay Wilder is a WBC belt holder is absurd.

Imagine him fighting in the 90's...:rofl:rofl:rofl

 

Don't be too generous, now. What 10 heavyweights run through his career, fight for fight, with less than 3 losses?

 

The point is, how many can match Wlad's longevity, dominance, and consistency?

Louis went 50-3 and Ali went 43-5 against fighters rated top 10 at one time or another. They're far and away #1 and 2.

Guess who's already #3? It's Wlad, who is 24-2. He beats Fury, and he's got as many as Patterson and Frazier...combined. Or Vitali and Foreman combined. Your call.

Another 5 wins and he'll have more than Frazier and Foreman combined. The same as Marciano and Bowe combined.

The real question is why is the bar set so much higher for Wladimir Klitschko for so many people that he needs to accomplish as much as HOF/ATG heavyweights combined for them to be so "generous" as to give him a top 10 rating?

 

I disagree, many of the decent Heavyweights today would probably be top 10 in the 70's and 80's.

 

:deal

 

The division is not weak, it is just that American dominance is no more, hence no hype, hence no exposure, hence people in America do not give a damn. Wilder is lucky that Vitali vacated the belt, or else this scenario where Wilder and Bermain Stiverne have fought for the title would not have happened. Wilder is not as bad as people make him out to be, but even he can be a great top fighter in any era prior to the 90's, and even in the 90's he can muster some wins over some of the notable heavyweights, with the exception of Lennox/Holyfield or Vitali of course and a few others. Wilder is a ticking time bomb waiting to be exposed, he is lucky he is even champion. His time is running out before his glass mandible is shattered.

 

His resume and level of competition compared to the fighters in the top 10 ATG, quite frankly, sucks. That's not necessarily his fault, it's one of the weakest HW era's ever. When someone like Deontay Wilder is holding the WBC strap you know things are looking bad.

It seems like your basis for ranking Wlad so high is on longevity and consistency? But when that consistency is consistently fighting in a weak division it makes it much less impressive. I will give Wlad props though for maintaining his level into his late 30's, it seems like father time is some way off for him.

Look the bottom line is, it's a weak HW era. He doesn't have any marquee wins, and his chin and stamina would let him down if he were to somehow face an elite level opponent.

What really hurts his status for me is that he didn't avenge his KO losses. Not rematching Sanders was a shameful duck, especially as he had to rely on his big brother Vitali to settle his business for him. That's not what an top 5 ATG would do. I'm pretty sure Sanders KO's him again, it's a bad fight for Wlad at any stage of his career.

Like imagine if Wlad was fighting in the 90's, I'm pretty sure he gets stopped more than 3 times there, but at least he would be fighting a greater level of opposition. Wlad just isn't good enough head to head to warrant a top 5 ATG spot, his chin is garbage.

 

I have him top 15 now but I think 5 wins over top contenders would get him into the top 5.

 

Fury, Wilder, Povetkin rematch, Glazkov, Takam.... Last 5 fights I would like to see.

 

He tired and basically fell to pieces against Purrity, not because of lack of skill or heart, the same with Brewster, after which he changed his training regime and has vastly improved his stamina since.

His loss to Sanders was mostly due to the level of aggresion he displayed at that young age. He changed trainers afterward and has gone on a historical title reign.

 

What is the relevance of this if we all know that when Wilder fought Stiverne, Stiverne was sickened and could barely punch? Also, Stiverne was (on a style v style basis) tailor made for Wilder.

I would place several heavyweight fighters in the top ten over Wilder and favor them in a fight v him. That doesn't necessarily speak to the quality of the division as much as him getting the right circumstances and opponent to win the title.

It isn't as if he was ripping through the top ten to get the title, thus showing how weak it is.

 

I'm pretty sure Sanders beats Wlad at any stage of his career, it's a bad matchup for him not just because of his glass jaw and stamina issues.

What happened to this regime when he ate the canvas 3 times vs Sam Peter?

His title reign can be commended yes because of it's longevity, but not for it's level of competition in the weakest HW era. He doesn't have a single marquee fight to his name, imagine if he was fighting in the 90's vs Lewis/Holyfield/Bowe/Tyson/Bruno etc....talk about Shattered Glass :rofl

 

You're pretty sure Sanders beats him at any stage of his career?!

I'll just that let that one stand as it is.

Wladimar fighting during the 90's. Ok, and what about it? Golota stood toe to toe against Bowe. Bruno would be demolished by Wladimar, Holyfield would be a great matchup. Vitali beat Lewis from post to post until the stoppage, but against Wlad it would be a great match up. Tyson would be another. Tyson had great difficulty against tall fighters, especially skilled tall fighters all throughout.