I'm serious, I don't see what is so good about him. He lacks speed and relies on putting his weight on an opponent to wear them down. Only 2 of the opponents of his last 5 fights are still in the top 10. So whats so great about him? If points were deducted for excessive clinching, this dude wouldn't have a title.
Establishing yourself as the best in your division for a period of nearly 10 years will always warrant all time greatness, even if the talent during that period was abysmal.
His dominance is incredible. There was always a bit of debate when Vitali was around but now it is clear Wlad is the man. He's arguably been the number one for a decade nearly. Plus his jab and grab is almost unbeatable.
Dominance Ring Record Title record Longevity Skills Power Conditioning Dominace on the score cards Never ducked anyone ranked for three years or more that deserved a title shot
It's not one fight, it's his career as a whole Pick the last one if needed. A complete blowout over the #1 ranked Pulev. The hook to end it was outstanding and produced a time-tested like KO. Such speed and power. At age 39! Or take the first Peter fight. Wlad didn't have to take the risky match. Peter was undefeated and scored three knockdowns One which was likely illegal ) illegally and illegally. Anyway, Wlad got off the matt to win without a scoring controversy and close the show in style by hurting Peter in the 12th frame.
Jennings was his last fight.... If Pulev was his defining fight then I don't have much faith in Wlad's ATG status.
It was an eliminator for Byrd's IBF title so... And that fight is overrated anyway. It was a great comeback win for Wlad which saved his career from falling apart entirely, but in retrospect we can say that Peter was pretty ****ing bad. He barely cracks Wlad's top 10 wins at best. It was a learning curve, nothing else.
It comes down to resume. You don’t have to beat a great fighter, or even have a great fight, to be an all-time great. If you dominate a definable era of the heavyweight division, and are legitimately beating the best fighters in that division, then that unequivocally makes you an all-time great.
Oh right. In my opinion Jennings is better than Wilder. The Jennings win might look better years down the road. At any rate, you just don't see many heavyweight champions past age 38 doing this well. I don't think Pulev was his defining fight or best win. I'll repost a thread of his best title wins. One thing Wlad never did was make his legacy on washed up older names, like many past ATG heavies did. This content is protected