Yes, he may have put the division to sleep commercially, and his safety-first fight can be gruelling to watch. But it's easy to forget HOW he was able to do what he did. Completely dominating a division for over 10 years isn't trivial, even in a weaker era. On a personal note, I'm torn on his AJ fight now, it was good for British Boxing and the familiar "passing the torch" tropes, but bad for boxing in general, because despite being 41 years old and 18 months out the game, the much superior boxer lost, and he could have simply walked AJ down and won at his leisure had he wanted to, after the knockdown. A 35 year old Wlad would have knocked AJ out in 2 rounds, even with his safety first style. In 2011 David Haye didn't put a glove on him all night, and at least Haye has the speed to avoid getting knocked out if caught flat-footed. Adam Booth said he couldn't believe how good Klitchko's footwork was that night. A genuine Top 10 ATG heavy.
Absolute legend in the ring, and class act out of it. He got his praise, Klitschko is a household name in a lot of countries.
This is tricky imo. I consider Vitali to be a H2H nightmare against most fighters, much more so than Wladimir. However, Wlad’s career and reign is more impressive. Far more impressive actually.
I have him 5-4 ATG heavy depending on the criteria. IMO its between him and Holmes for 4 and 5. Top 3 are Ali Louis and Lewis.
He got knocked out by some fairly mediocre fighters and reigned over the weakest era in history. With that said 'hes rated as an atg so I don't see how he could be underrated
He is not underrated. A certified top 10 ATG with one of the longest reigns in history and a very impressive resume. He would look even more impressive in the current era where Andy Ruiz is an undisputed champion.
Another Doozy here, weakest era was Louis if were considering modern rules somewhat. He got knocked out legit once early on by sanders however under steward was another problem and learned to count his punches after he weighed over 225 pounds . besides that he defeats Sanders ina rematch and would land if he trained with actual south paws. The real hilarious thing is NOW posters are shifting to hes an ATG ( I guess enough time has passed ) ,not long ago he was overatted and couldn't box was a robot and was critised for dominating TOO much even with a high K.O % nobody wanted ,now everyone is a Wlad lover ? GTFOH...lol ,Sound familiar ? It should bc this what fans have been doing since at least the 60's Its just further proof most are clueless about boxing. After this era guess who will be another ATG who people are claiming is chinny and stiff ? lol Hes underatted in general by the majority , but most boxing fans are stupid ( no other way to say it ) if you're stupid you also cry over facts someone posts about other fighters even though you can watch them on video ,right ? lol
Haye wasn't a 6'6 giant with catch /counter abilities with a long jab at his disposal. The hard truth is Wlad had to be at his best that night or near it ,he surely made up for it with ring IQ but a equally sized fighter who fights aggressive stuffed him and avoided Wlads attack after that knock down ,no one can argue that if they count the punches Wlad through at him . The way to defeat wlad was pressure that's why smart money would have gone to AJ at any time beyond a guy with 18 fights at least ( ppl forget the fight was supposed to be earlier and Wlad may win that ) but it wasn't ,Wlad met a huge fast athletic guy determined to win and you'll see it agin in December what im talking about. a BIG difference here when someone is motivated Wlad defeat anyone now besides AJ. Bad style and overall attributes to combat Wlad will give Joshua the win almost always .
As a huge Wlad fan, I find myself pleasantly surprised that he seems to be getting a fair due in retirement. I suppose he is no longer threatening to those he previously did. And, ultimately, from all accounts we know of he seems to be an awesome great dude so once he called it a day in the ring, what is there to hate on?
Still making noises about the age record. If Ortiz beats Wilder and comes clean about being 52 it will be moot anyway.
Wladimir Klitschko was knocked out and knocked down umpteen times in his career. Vitali Klitschko wasn't down once. Wladimir Klitschko has also lost on the cards. Vitali Klitschko was never down on the cards in his career and I believe he only lost something like 10 rounds in his entire career. Vitali Klitschko is by far the superior.