Wladimir Klitschko Retires - Where Does He Rank ?

Unbelievable yeah he would pretty much have a chance to win against any heavy that ever lived.
Second longest title reign to Joe Louis. The most Title fights ever and the 3rd most consecutive.
The best heavyweight in the world for a decade.
Top 10 without question in my book.
His style was boring but efficient. Once he got rolling during his reign he rarely lost a round. Insane
Class act outside the ring and ushered in the wave of Eastern European fighters helping be a part of increasing the sports talent pool.
Great legacy.

 

The argument for him being Top Five is much stronger than for him being 15-20.

 

Exactly right I thought Ring magazine was way off with there rating recently.
You can't have guys with dominant championship reigns like Ali, Louis, Holmes and Marciano all in top 6 and then place Wlad at 16-17.
Today with so many belts a belt holder can milk his belt and pad defenses and time as champion - but Wlad was the best in the division for a decade that is difficult to do and he dominated challengers every round. For me lock top 10 argument for top 5

 

Longevity speaks for him. But I rank resume higher. Add to that his fights were generally terrible.
No way he ranks Top 10 in my opinion.

 

I'd actually put him ahead of Marciano who, great as he was, fought in an athletically depleted era and went life and death with shop worn lighheavy types. Ali, Louis, Holmes and Lewis are hard to match, but he swims well in the murky waters beyond that.

 

Tell me something of Marciano's or Johnson's or Dempsey's resumes against heavyweights.

 

An authentic great would have smashed through that weak division in spectacular fashion. Wlads hideous performances against bang average opponents turned a generation away from the division.

The once greatest prize in sports was an after thought relegated to bog standard channels - Eurosport and EPIX.
An unrepresented feat , but it came easily when Wlad was in charge.

Joshua in only 3 years is closing in as being one of the biggest sportsmens in the world , not just boxing. Wlad despite this historic run wasn't even in the top 5 most popular in boxing.
Why is that buddy?

 

Top ten head to head sense. Too big, skilled, powerful fast, and near impossible to outbox in his prime.

Top Ten in a legacy sense. Legacy meaning total title defenses, being on top for 10 years, ducking no one.

#1 overall in terms of attracting modern detractors, full of misty eye memories of smaller 205 and below pound heavyweights who still think they would be on top today.

Also greeted with antipathy for those who can't accept an NON-USA or UK champion, but don't expect such open honesty on that topic!

 

I think you could sneak him into the top 15 based on longevity. If Vitali didn't happen to be his brother or they fought and he beat him he'd be pushing the 10.

 

Just a horrible fighter to watch. The worst in my time. At least Loen Spinks tried to make it a fight in his bouts. Wlad.....lots of posing, tons of leaning, completely afraid to engage .... horrific.

 

I think the RING ranked him about 15th.sounds reasonable to me.

 

Here is a list of the heavyweights that dominated a definable era:

John L Sullivan
James Jeffries
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Joe Louis
Rocky Marciano
Muhammad Ali
Larry Holmes
Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Wladamir Klitschko

Not a bad list to be part of.

 

16th ,and Vitali 17th.

 

James Slater of ESB also has Wlad around place 15th ATG.