Wladimir Klitschko Retires - Where Does He Rank ?

Don't really know where to start with this. Holy wasn't 39, not even when he lost to Ruiz, and not Lewis's best wins. Vitaly was. A prime Holy would have been, yes.

Floyd was 38 and he fought a Pac that many (most probably) had further past his prime than Floyd was despite being younger.

I'd say that my point has aged well. Losing to prime Fury when 39 yourself is hardly a black mark.

 

A strong argument for too ten. His longevity either at or near the top is something the heavyweight division hasn’t seen in decades and may not see again. A lot of criticism has been made about his opposition and I can understand some of it, but it certainly isn’t a blanket issue. That record contained a lot of fighters with unbeaten records, Olympic pedigree, physical tools and a lot of south paws too. As he aged he also took on a lot of guys who were a fair bit younger than himself.

 

I find that kind of strange as well. How many men in history do we hold accountable for losing when they were 39 let alone with about 70 fights of mileage behind them ? Kind of odd. And as it turns out, the man Wlad lost to is now the best man in the division and has been for some time.

 

The way you put it Magoo is a strong argument for at least top 5!
With all his success I do not think he can be lower than top 10.

The reason he might not be top 5? I would say the amount of holding & home cooking referees/favoritism.

 

Well no, your Ego is talking here, John Thomas was correct in his observations.
When you do not even read his good-faith reply-which was no "absurdly long", count the words, even for the Internet-you do not want to face his critique.
You did cherry pick fights when Ali was completely shot & skip his biggest wins-totally inconsistent with objectivity & what you do for favored fighters.
He was also right about Marciano's opposition, their size, quality-you really should check out what he said if you want to be fair & credible.

You also got wrong the only couple of things you even mentioned.
Unimportant is that Joe Louis was 137 years old in Coming to America-but you missed the context of why he used that example.

Nobody can tell if you know about something when you omit extremely obvious fights & virtues in rating fighters.
Also while Liston was past prime, he was not greatly so in their first fight, was NOT uncoordinated-& even for the time was not a "giant".
More muscular than usual, but only a little over 6', & only 210-215 in his prime.

Please reconsider being so arrogant, then when someone disagrees, doubling down on this while not even paying attention to *what* they say.

 

I have Wlad at #11 behind Frazier and above Dempsey.

 

There's no sensible rationale I could make for Wlad being placed amongst the Top-15.

#16? Maybe.

 

This is a good time to review how his resume has stood the test of time.

He may have retired, but many of his opponents fought on, and their legacies are still up for negotiation.

It is now clear that Fury, the man who dethroned him, was the best of the next generation.

This was not necessarily obvious at the time, so the loss looks less damaging in hindsight.

Povetkin went on to score a win over Whyte, so his stock has gone up.

Pulev was still in the top ten six years after Wlad beat him, so that win stands the test of time well enough.

By the same token, a couple of his opponents who looked OK on paper, went on losing streaks afterward.

 

In terms of dominance and longevity near his best, he's in select company. Top 10, at least. He will probably rise higher as time goes on.

 

One of the most overrated boxers in history. The quality of his wins are pathetic, and unlike his brother, he was savagely beaten several times by mediocre opposition and also outclassed. Many boxers throughout history of a high standard would have been able to reign if they had it all of their own way like W. Klitschko, and a brother to ease the strain even more so.

 

My Granddaughter, Son, and I are in the process of combining our all-time Heavyweight Rankings. We'll then each claim them as our own, since the rankings then become a FAMILY rankings. This will give us a multi-generational approach to the problem of ranking fighters all-time. My point is that, especially with my Granddaughter's influence, and somewhat with my Son's, more modern fighters will be elevated above where I would have them. Wladimir Klitschko immediately comes to mind. He will no doubt appear in our FAMILY top 10, and even possibly in our top 5.

 

somewhere between 5th to 7th.

Extraordinary highly successful long lasting career at the top. Elite skills, elite power. Reigning as champ for over a decade beating mandatory after mandatory taking undefeated record after undefeated record is some accomplishment and won't be done again for a long time. Brilliant role model outside the ring too.

When you also factor in his amateur career and winning a Olympic Gold medal aged just 20 in a division usually for older men. And that he did it all away from his home country. He really was a special, all time great.

 

Sounds a lot like something designed by comitie.

 

For openers, my Granddaughter has Joe Louis ranked #1. I have Muhammad Ali in that spot. My son changes back and forth, depending on when you ask him. So what do we do with that?

 

Your granddaughter seems to be the wisest, but I guess that your son gets the casting vote.