Wladimir or Vitali - Who was the best

Unless they drew

 

That was Wlad in response to the question of who would win h2h between him and Vitali on another boxing site. It comes up as "virus" if I try link it, so I am not sure if there's a problem with that site or whether BF24 has cleverly spun some digital magic to convert rival site links to garbage.

Maybe he was being diplomatic. Maybe he was telling the truth.

 

Well, common opponents would point to Vitali as the better brother h2h.

Sam Peter intimidated Wlad and made him taste the canvas three times, forcing Wlad to go 12.

Vitali scared the poop out of Sam, won every round, and made him quit. And that was off a four year lay off at 38.



Sanders demo'd Wlad decisively, almost ending his career.

Vitala won nearly every round on his way to stopping the big man.

 

Exactly I said the same. People see Wlad's speed and good fundamentals and think that equates to good boxing skill, see that power as well and then assume he was the better fighter. But flashy attributes like speed and power can't hide flaws that a discerning eye can spot.

Early on Wlad failed to meet expectations by losing to the likes of Puritty, Brewster and Sanders while Vitali went undefeated apart from a loss due to injury and gave Lewis one of his toughest fights. Vitali showed at that early stage he was the better brother.

Then of course later on Wlad hooked up with Steward and despite a rough start vs Brewster became a better fighter. But the Steward trained Wlad was floored 3 times by Peter. Peter after 3 good wins vs Toney, McCline and Makaev earned a shot against Vitali and was dominated by a comeback Vitali who hadn't fought in years. So Vitali once again shows his superiority to Wlad against Peter. And then even later on a past it Peter fights and even more improved Wlad and still lasts longer against the supposedly harder hitting younger brother once again proving Vitali's superiority over Wlad at this stage.

Vitali was always the better brother. Even in the amateurs Vitali was the better, it was Vitali who was supposed to fight at the Atlanta Olympics for Ukraine in the Super heavyweight division while Wlad who was struggling with the weight at heavyweight was forced to boil down to a lower division to be able to go to the games as his brother was the clear choice at super heavy. But when Vitali was dropped from the team for doping it allowed Wlad to move up and fight at his more natural weight, but he would have never fought at that weight because of his superior brother keeping out of that top spot.

So Vitali is better than Wlad when they were amateurs, better when they were contenders coming up, better when Vitali came back beating Peter more convincingly than Wlad ever would. Plenty of evidence to suggest Vitali was better.

 

Wladimir

 

Great post.

I do think that Wladimir hit considerably harder than Vitali, though. His balance and punching form have always been beautiful. I can't recall Vits uncorking anything like that missile that starched Pulev like yesterday's washing. Vitali arm-punched a lot, sacrificing power for accuracy and timing. You can see that Vitali really likes hurting people, whereas Wlad likes to build a fight to a win by controlling the action.

Not to say that Wlad isn't a fighter, but there's a big caveman with sore tooth, packing a ten pound club lurking inside Vits. I know who I pick when the going gets tough.

 

though to be fair, Vitali always had a few years experience on his brother, so its not a perfect comparison.

 

We're still pretending Vitali was some stiff in the ring? Are you blind?

 

Agreed Wlad clearly had more power behind his shots and yes there is a definite mean streak in Vitali that Wlad lacks.

 

In regards to their time as amateurs I'd agree, experience could have been a decider as to why Vitali was better then, Wlad was pretty young in Atlanta, I think 19 or 20. But by the time Wlad was losing to Sanders, struggling with Peter the first time he had plenty of time to garner experience, he had plenty of fights and was in his physical prime.

 

I wrote his a few years ago:

Vitali or Wlad?

I have seen dozens of threads on who was the better. As a fan of both who has seen both of them on at least 10 different occasions here is my break down on 11 separate categories.


Power: Prior to Vitali's shoulder and back, leg and back injuries, Universum said he Vitali harder than Wlad and early Vitali fights will back this up. However as Wlad matured, and Vitali had to overcome injuries which required surgery, Wlad became the harder hitter. Who hit harder between the two at their best is debatable. I do think Wlad at his best had a bit more power in his cross and hook, however, Vitali seemed to have “ heavier hands “ and could hurt his man a bit easier without landing perfect type of punches. I will give this one to Wlad by a narrow margin.


Size: Defined as a full-blown tale of the tape. Both are super heavyweights in every sense of the word. Vitali is 6'’7" ½” with an 80” reach, Wlad is 6'’6"” with an 81” reach. Vitali is on average about 5 ( 245-250 ) pounds heavier and has the bigger lower body of the two, while Wlad’s torso rivals and possible exceeds the sculpted statues of the Roman or Greek gods. Vitali seems to have a thicker / stronger neck. Wlad has bigger arms, shoulders and back muscles. Both men are without a doubt among the largest heavies ever. Overall, I would give a slight edge to Vitali.


Skills on Offense: Wlad owns a laser like right hand, and compact hook, and an accurate jab. Vitali is a bit less refined in terms of technique, but has the ability to throw and land punches at odd angles, and uses the uppercut and body punching a bit more. Vitali is also a bit better on counter punching. Wlad can combo off his jab, or turn it into a hook, which is rare among heavyweights. While Vitali seems to be more dominant on the scorecards, I would give the edge on skills to his younger brother, who in my opinion is a rare technical boxer with great power and very good speed. The advantage to Wlad.


Skills on Defense: Defined as the ability make the other guy miss, punch anticipation, clinching, block shots with the gloves, base guard stance, use of footwork to get out of the way, and covering up. Wlad has mastered the art of clinching and can execute the maneuver with technique, speed, and power. Wlad has also developed a high right-hand guard that makes it tougher for his opponent to land the hook and very smart footwork. Vitali defense is a bit more unorthodox, as his guard is lower. However, Vitali has great punch anticipation, makes the other guy miss often by leaning back a few inches, and actually can cover more ground quicker than his brother can. Vitali can clinch or cover up well if he needs to. I think Vitali is harder to hit overall with the jab, body shots or right hand, which is 70% or more of the punches thrown in a boxing match. The advantage to Vitali.


Hand and foot speed: Wlad has extremely fast hands for a larger fighter. Vitali has deceptive hand speed. I think Vitali's foot speed is better than Wlad’s though. I'll call this one a draw.


The quality of competition fought: Although Vitali fought a decent collection of fighters, Wlad has more overall fights, and has had more matches vs fighters who were X Champions, or one time top ten rated opponents. The advantage to Wlad.


Chin: If Wlad had a top chin, I have little doubt he would be among the best ever. However, like most fighters, Wlad has a suspect chin vs punchers. Vitali, in my opinion, has an all-time chin at heavyweight. Vitali has never been knocked down from a punch, and has taken hard shots extremely well, and shown the ability to recover from them quickly. This is category has perhaps the greatest difference between the two. Big edge to Vitali.


Stamina: Early in Wlad career, he had some stamina problems, but the problem has been corrected due to focus on sparring many rounds, and more cardio work as opposed to the weight lifting that Universum favored. As it stands right now, Wlad has very good 12 round stamina and can box, fight and move without resting on the ropes for 12 rounds. Wlad has a high punch output, and his stamina seems to be an asset these days. Vitali stamina is underrated. Vitali actually throws more punches per round than legends such as Rocky Marciano or Joe Frazier. The ability to score late TKO’s and punching on average 70 times a round or more point to Vitali having better stamina. Two of Wlad’s losses seem to be stamina related. Edge to Vitali, though Wlad in his prime seems to have good stamina as well.


Heart: Vitali did quit in one fight vs Chris Byrd, but to be fair it was a bad injury and I could name a dozen hall of fame fighters who also packed it in. Vitali proved he could fight with a bad hand vs Williams, and with a bad cut that would take the heart of most fighters vs Lewis. Wlad’s fighting heart is underrated, and he’ll get up as many times as he physically can. But part of a fighting heart is nerve and composure for the rough stuff in boxing, and here, Vitali seems much better. But who is better overall? I’ll give Wlad a slight edge here.


Ring Generalship: Wlad used to have problems managing his stamina, preparing himself, and changing tactics vs different type of opponents. It appears now that Wlad is fighting much smarter, and because of this, his weaknesses are much harder to exploit. . Vitali to me had a better sense when to box, slug or brawl, and when to change tactics. Wlad himself says his brother is a smarter fighter. I agree. Edge to Vitali.


Intimidation / Killer instinct: Both Klitschko is intimidating figures in the ring. I do think Wlad no longer sees himself as a younger brother and now casts a shadow of his own, however, I do think Vitali has a bit more aggression in him when he has his man hurt. In addition, Vitali has the better stare down and meaner disposition in general. Wlad personality is a bit more happy go lucky. Advantage Vitali.


Tally:

Wlad has an edge in 4 categories
Vitali has the edge in 6 categories
One category is even

Who would win if they fought? Vitali. Sooner or later he's land something serious and Wlad would not take it well.

 

Great post.

 

If you are going to make an issue of Vitally's better performance against Sanders, then you cant exactly overlook Wald’s better performances against Byrd.

Indeed if you are not applying context, then you would have to factor in Wald’s second win over Peter as well.

The bottom line is that when one of the brothers did better against a common opponent, there was a reason why this was the case, and that means that those comparison's don't tell us very much.

The bottom line is that there was no overlap between their primes, and little meaningful overlap between their opposition.

 

This is a good thread.

To be fair, Wlad h2h against Vits is also a rough proposition for Vits. Vits is facing probably the hardest puncher he's faced (maybe Sanders hit harder) with the same size as him, and a better array of punches and a better jab. Apparently one of the reasons they stopped sparring is because they used to mess each other up rotten. So it's by no means a blowout.

But I, as many others, think that Vitali was better suited to endure that sort of punishment and come out the winner at the end. He wouldn't look pretty, and he might not even win every time, but I'd favour him.

 

I don't get the big deal about Wladdy ploughing on after his almighty struggle with Sam Peter. Why wouldn't he? The landscape had nothing but cream puffs and left overs from the 90's on the horizon.

Holyfield saw it for what it was and hung in there till he was close to 50. Going out with a defacto victory against one of the division's top men. A guy both Vit and Wlad never fought no less.

Look at Wilder and you can see how easy it is to string defences together. Wlad basically done what Wilder has done now for 10 years. Yeah , Wlad beat guys at a higher level , but he never had to worry about the Povetkins and David Hayes since he created a shield around himself by rigging the system. 10 years of opponents were never given a fair opportunity to compete against him. Think of him as an F1 driver. They're nothing without the team around them. Wladdy knew no guy would be allowed fight their fight.
Wilder would have no issues beating Povetkin if he had the whole deck stacked against him. He may even beat him fairly next year who knows. Povetkin seems weary of him.

Its hard to say who is better. Wlad wasn't good enough to out box Sam Peter. Vitali took him to school in cruise control. But then Vitali couldn't beat Byrd and Wlad handled Byrd fine albeit in a workmanlike fashion and not in impressive fashion like Ikeabuchi.
No doubt Wlad threw near textbook perfect left hooks and right hands but he couldn't produce the same shots going back ward or forward. Wlad simply can not box and move at the same time. . Vitali had average technique but his ability hit and move was far superior and that would serve him more favourably at top level. You can have all the technique in the world on the heavy bag , but the opportunity to throw and land those shots from a stand still will never be there against elite levellers. See David Haye for example , who wasn't even an elite'r btw.
Id say they both lacked the vital intangibles to be successful at elite level. One thing is for certain however - Vitali was by far the most respectful and honourable sportsman.Inside the ring and outside it. Ive seen him multiple times ringside supporting fighters.
Wlad was in town when K2 promoted Golovkin was fighting Brook and he didn't even turn up. That tells you a lot right there.