Vitali Klitschko was basically undefeated. His two losses were controversial. -Injured against Byrd so retired in 11th round. Was ahead 7-3 in the scorecards. -Unlucky cut against Lennox Lewis. Was 4-2 ahead in the scorecards. Vitali had the height, reflexes, iron chin and respectable power (41KOs). Do you think he is ATG number 1 or top 3 with Ali and Louis?
Klitschko is a 2D fighter and the only reason he dominates the heavyweight division is because there are no fighters good enough to contend with his reach and jab. This says more about the lack of talent in the division than it does his skill. Fighters like Ali and Tyson had the speed to get around a jab like that. Claiming Klitschko would "lean on Ali" to tire him out... A) boxers fought like that back then too and had enough cardio endurance to carry on boxing. B) Ali dealt with Foreman, who roughed him up and leant on him a lot. Boxers back then fought high output for 15 rounds or more. Boxers now can't last 12 rounds of slow output. Ali adapted to many different styles of fighter. Klitschko, like most fighters these days has cherry picked his opponents to get to the top. He has fought no one notable. Ali fought all of the top fighters in the world, most of which hold their place in the Hall of Fame.
for me personally, 100%. he took the Lewis fight on 2 weeks notice, didn't really have a game plan, and almost took him out... then Lewis promised him a rematch then mysteriously retired. I don't see any heavyweight of any Era beating Vitali really. Nobody had the reflexes of Vitali, he fought with his hands down at his waist in almost all of his last 10 fights, which is unheard of. thats how confident he was. Never has there been such a tall fighter thats so talented, busy, (he threw 100 punches per round), and who has such a killer instinct IMO. Maybe just maybe Ali could outpoint him on a good day, but Im not a big fan of comparing fighters from different eras.
Vitali Klitschko - the greatest heavyweight of all time... Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! That's a good one!!!!!
Head to head there is a good chance he is, but he never fought enough good heavyweights to give us the evidence to go by. Lewis taking the rematch would of helped a lot. Vitali certainly did not achieve enough to be the best heavyweight ever. If you are making a list of best heavyweights by achievement, I think Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Wladimir Klitschko, Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis have to be on the list, because those five achieved the most.
In ability, he is certainly up there, but his career does not reflect that, unfortunately. He is superior to his brother, in my eyes, quite clearly.
If you're judging heavyweights on head-to-head "in the lab" abilities, you can put who you like at number one. It's all fantasy. I've no objection to Vitali being the #1, nor do I have a problem with Daniel Dubois being named as such. When you're talking pure fantasy, fantasise whatever you like. In the real world, Vitali lost a real fight to the only great heavy he ever met. Boxing isn't a video game. Cuts happen. Rough-housing happens. The Lennox Lewis that Vitali met wasn't even primed and his face fell apart during the combat. A very special fighter though.
Lewis did not offer a re-match he said he would give for a reason. The cut, which could have been created by a backhand swipe ( on video ) with loose tape on the glove ( As reported by fight news ) saved him. He was gassing when the ring Dr. stopped it. Being up 4-2 vs Lewis on two weeks notice, and fighting with that cut shows how good he was. In the real world, guys suffer injuries during sports. That defines his losses, not ability. As for Vitali's ability, was never close to being out boxed or floored by a punch, and he came back to boxing in his mid to late 30's, taking out several top ten contenders during the process. Head to head you could argue top 3. He doesn't have the resume to rate top 5 in accomplishments, and Lewis and Byrd not wanting a re-match as reasons why. Just imagine if Rhaman and McCall said no thanks to Lewis in re-matches, where you you place Lewis then? Or if Schmeling said no thanks to a re-match to Joe Louis. Or Joe Frazier told Ali to pound sand after whipping him in 1971? See my point?
This is the same post you make every time this comes up? Rematches, Schmeling-Louis, etc.? Not sure what that has to do with the thread topic - if this post isn't the usual one let me know and i'll read it.
Vitali, lennox or wlad. Everyone earlier is to small I think. We have never seen a sub 6 foot 3 heavyweight consiently beat guys 6 foot 5 and above weighing 240lbs. Tyson in his prime was knocking out guys weighing 210 to 220 and 6.2 to 6.3 foot. Holyfield has 1 win 1 draw and 3 losses against good big heavyweights. Before them Ali Holmes were the big guys of there era. Ali especially out weighed 80% of his opponents. Its to early to judge the current heavyweights however the man that's the best over the next 10 years may be the atg head to head heavyweight. Seriously there's about 7 or 8 big athletic heavyweights contenders coming up that are 6 foot 5 or above we have never seen that before! Usyk maybe be able to break the mold but he's 32 if his foot speed starts to slow down... Anyway good times ahead in the heavyweight division.
LOL, it took you about 2 minutes to reply! No he did not. Avoiding a re-match means not fighting the person over a course of time. Don King would never risk the belt that he matched Rhaman, Ruiz, Golota and Byrd with vs Vitali. It was reported as such. The only reason why Byrd fought Wlad again was money, and Wlad turned him to road kill. Anyone who knows boxing will tell you Vitali wins the re-match He was basically beating Byrd with one good shoulder easily on the score cards. Fully healthy, it's an easy fight for Vitali. The Klitshcko camp said that King wants options on the fight winner of Vitali vs Byrd II and that's a fact. Classic Don King. The reason the re-match did not happen. I don't have time for you today. Troll on
Chris Byrd was not promoted by Don King in 2000 , which is when Vitali ducked the rematch. Everything you just typed is a lie . You know it too which is why you want to run away.
Those old 6'2-6'3 200-215lb fighters like Louis, Ali, Holmes would get annihilated by these 6'6 240lb giants of today.
