You're not paying attention then. It was mentioned that he beat several world champions as well. A high % of people say he has great skills.
Like Team Jennings did to the new york state athletic commission before the fight. Why do you think Wlad looked so ordinary in that fight? And couldn't even hurt Jennings , never mind blow him away in 4 round like he was expected to..
How is his resume filled with tomato cans? This is 2015. It might seem easy to get a title shot, but there are ~7 billion people that live in this world. A lot of ppl take up boxing; it's a global sport. Not that easy to go and fight for the HW Championship.
Google it yourself, you might find a few other reasons to criticize Wlad during that time since it appears to give you some joy.
Best athlete as in never let himself get out of shape. Frazier was never in the same shape after the FOTC. Ditto on Marciano. But Wlad is pretty clearly on top here.
On top of what? Keeping in shape is expected of a professional boxer. Are we handing out accolades for training now? Nobody argues Mayweather is 'TBE' because he keeps himself in good condition. His skills and ring accomplishments do that. In terms of a boxer being a good athlete , Tyson Fury is a better example. He has a higher work rate and greater range of movement than Wlad. This ain't a body building forum. Huge muscle bulk doesn't benefit a boxer. Body builders have the stamina of Gandhi. Frazier apparently couldn't bench press two squirrels but when it comes to athleticism in the ring , he blows Wlad away.
you can say this about any of the heavyweights but you are being harsh with Vlad. He has had his bad moments but has risen from the ashes and has been king of the hill for sometime, fighting all styles and comers....Vlad has done well
Wlad certainly has, Pov, Jennings, Pulev and now Fury, all the top guys. Why don't you ever hate on Wilder for his obvious fraud? Is it cos eez black?
I think it's crazy how people will defend the resumes of Dempsey, Liston, and others but find so much fault in Wladimir's. Liston beat up 6' guys under 200 lbs. Oh, he beat Williams too... Williams sucked! Patterson x2, Folley, and Machen... good small Heavyweights, his resume is lacking. Dempsey would beat Klitschko? No way! Why? how? It's just not right to pick someone over Louis (unless it's Ali) is it? Maybe Louis could beat Klitschko but I wouldn't bet on it. He was much smaller and not the most durable HW ever. He was down more than a few times and stopped twice by fighters under 200 Lbs. He usually got up and KTFO of the fighter who dropped him... but could he do that vs. Klitschko?
It seems the only real argument that you guys have made of Wlad's ATG status is his athleticism an not his skill level. What other criteria does an ATG have to fulfull other than having the best skill? Klitschko might be able to dunk or bench press over 400 lbs (examples of Athleticism) but how does this make him an ATG?
For me Wlad is an ATG for 2 reasons. One his extreme consistency and two his level above his peers. Wlad has been the highest ranked HW since 06 but for a long time Vitali clouded that ranking. Since then Wlad has dominated the next best (Povetkin) and has looked a class above his peers every time. Yes he flaunts the rules and yes he clinches too much, but until he's told he can't, why should he change a winning formula? Dempsey stood over his fallen victims waiting to spark them clean out, until he was told not to it remained the case.
So he's an ATG because he can clinch for most of a fight? You can't use Dempsey as an example because that is when he knocked an opponent down. It's not like he was avoiding a fight, he was ready to finish them off.