I think his longevity and dominance during the course of his reign has him just cracking the top 10 for me.
If you never looked great , you can't be a great in my book. Greats paint a masterpiece. Wlad scrunched up the canvas and threw it on the floor. Did more harm to the sport than any other HW i can think of.
Ali Louis Tunney Johnson Marciano Jeffries Langford Wills Lewis Holyfield Walcott Holmes Dempsey Corbett Charles No way in hell does wlad make the top 10
If he beats Fury in the rematch he will be top 10 for me. If he goes on to beat Joshua and Wilder (regardless of the outcome of Povetkin-Wilder fight) I will push him right to top 3
Then absolutely positively no way in hell do Charles, Tunney, Walcott, Corbett or Jeffries make the top ten.
I would say that he is up there with the greatest champions. I never found it suitable to create an exact list as it would always seem that someone is unjustifiably put too low. Certainly above Larry Holmes in my opinion.
He's going to end up in the Top 15 for me, regardless of what he does from his current age onward. He'll end up around the 12th spot for me. Longevity and dedication to the sport solidify him as a bona-fide boxing ATG. I also factor in how his best potential opponent during his post Brewster 1 run just so happened to be a guy who was practically "tag-teaming" the post-Lewis remnants of the division with him. Big Brother Vitali was definitely relevant...and even more dominant after LL's retirement. A large portion of Wladimir's run was with his brother also controlling the division -- a division in a bit of disarray. No other HW in history had such a unique advantage working in their favor. Still, Wladimir and Steward took out the trash and did so as consistently as could be expected. Their union was truly special and Wladimir's dedication to the sport played a vital role in their success. He could have easily quit and retired after previous setbacks, but he pushed onward towards a fruitful career in the sport.
If he beats fury then top 5. if he beats then winner of wilder/povetkin and Joshua then he would be my number 1!!!
Modern top 10 (from the 60s) 1. Ali 2. Lewis 3. wlad 4. Holmes 5. Foreman 6. holyfield 7. Tyson 8. Vitali 9. byrd 10. frazier
Below 25. They dominated the HWD in a long period because of their huge size. If they were not that big, they would get their ass kicked long long time ago. Both of them. Please retire.
I've got him at #12 at the moment. If he beats Fury in July, I'd happily put him at #8. In the future after he's left, if say Fury and/or Povetkin go on to dominate the HW division (provided he beats Fury in July), his stock will go up for me substantially, so I'd probably increase his ATG position to around #6 / #7. However, if for arguments sake he beats Fury in July, then beats both Joshua and Wilder - essentially a cleanout of the current crop of champs / prospects in the division and then retiring; I'd probably put him at #3, behind only Ali and Louis.
Easily top 10. Can't really see an argument for him not to be. Boring? Yes. Effective? Almost a decade at the top speaks for itself.
Where do you have Felix Trinidad on the WW ATG list? His longevity and reign was more impressive than Wlads? Is Dariusz Michalczewski a bona-fide ATG? He has the best stats on paper in the history of the LHW division. Bona-fide ATGs don't need corrupt refs to implement a ban on inside fighting or use custom illegal ring canvass , all to beat inferior opposition.
No top 10 would ever , ever go life and death with a bum like Sam Peter. Or Get out boxed and floored by Williamson. Or gets destroyed by Purrity , Sanders and Brewster. And certainly no ATG gives up their titles like Wlad done vs Fury. These reasons prove why he isn't , more than why he is.