Good point. Chisora arguably beat Whyte too.. & Arreola is still knocking around .. even Kevin Johnson is still knocking aground.. Wilder has been a champion for years in this era and he is technically one of the most inept HW Champions ever… so what's so superior about it? Least Vitali could box.. The two top dogs right now base most of their legacy on a 40 year old Klitschko, a guy who for years was called an overrated Euro bum & the weaker sibling.. so if K2 era was so bad it automatically makes this era look pretty weak really.. considering WK nearly sparked Joshua, Whyte just got sparked by the K2 era nearly man & 40 yr old Pulev is somehow Joshuas mandatory.. & What makes men like Ortiz so much better than prime Peter? A former WBC Champion who actually has some decent wins..
Fury, Wilder, and Joshua are in their primes, and the cycle of them actually fighting each other has begun. Did you forget that 46 year-old Evander Holyfield came back in that era and came within a bad decision of winning the WBA championship?
What do you mean "Greater at Heavy"??? thats assuming that they both competed in different weight classes, and were somehow different in them LOLOL...... they only competed at heavy. and yeah, Vitali was way better. I'm the biggest Povetkin fan there is, but Vitali beats him quite easily.
Yeah but Povetkin would also go through Vitali's winning record undefeated , easily. Povetkin likely wouldn't lose to a Byrd who took the fight on a weeks notice either.. Povetkin isn't a guy to tap out on his stool when injured. He broke his right hand against Firtha but had enough skill and know-how to use his jab and left hook to win the fight. Vitali had to quit because he had no ability to adapt. . In terms of pure boxing skill , Povetkin was better. Vitali would have major problems with Povetkins angles and counter punching. Vitali would have to keep Povetkin on the outside to win the fight. His hands were too low and he stood too upright. He was open for the right hand over the top which is a punch that Povetkin throws well. I don' see how his basic and crude skill-set would enable him to beat Povetkin "easily". Povetkins foundations as a boxer were built in the Olympic amateur system.. Vitali was a converted kickboxer and it showed. .
You are wrong. His longevity is great. He was first ranked in 2007. No fighter aside from him appeared in the rankings for this long, or is remotely close to him. Tyson Fury appears in 2012 and remains in the rankings today, although he had a big gap away. This type of longevity is indicative of greatness, and is extremely rare, at any weight. It's close to unheard of, at any weight, in the history of boxing. It's an astonishing achievement.
Being a contender for a long period of time isnt greatness. Had he beaten great fighters along the way youd have an argument. He never did. Merely existing in the division for an extended period of time doesn't make you great if there were no peaks of greatness in his career. He merely was treading water in a very shallow talent pool
I agree. Buy you wrote that there is NOTHING great about Povetkin. You are wrong. His longevity is great. He has great longevity. On a list which stressed longevity as significant he could appear quite high. And while you accuse him of "treading water" I know he has beaten a reasonable number of contenders. More than many. He would appear in a top 100 now, that should be clear.
Well imo that's not a quality I would call great by itself. And yes, he's been a solid to very good fighter and everything in between for many years. Credit to him for that
I think we're agreeing violently, just using different words to describe the same thing. I think it's fair enough to ignore "contender longevity" as a reason for naming a fighter great I think that's ok - but i also think it's rather underrated in general and it's worth stating how rare it is as a rule. Being ranked for over a decade in one weight division (or two for that matter) is crazy.
Fair enough. I respect povetkin and know that remaining that close to the top of the food chain for that long is no easy feat
