Is Vitali Kiltschko an all time top 10 heavy weight?

I'm not trying to convince you my Friend, I'm just laying out my thoughts.
As Hemingway said about the Nobel Prize and potential candidates for winning it
"Each man will make his own list according to his knowledge, and his conscience".

 

I will invite you to compare his title claim to two from history.

1. Peter Maher
2. Marvin Hart

I think that there are valid comparisons with both, and of course one became broadly accepted, and the other didn't.

 

I honestly think he beats all of them with Holyfield and Tua being tough outs.

 

These sort of guys wore thongs in the ring and doubled as chimney sweepers and brick layers in their down time. Not exactly comparable to modern era.

 

Wow. I knew he missed some names, but I had no idea those guys were both active and ranked when Vitali was boxing. That's pretty glaring.

It kind of puts a big ****** wrench in the agenda of people saying he couldn't find good opponents or that he made the most of a limited era. Had Vitali fought and beat even 1/3 those names I don't think anyone would dispute his place in the top 10. I'd love to hear the explanation for why he couldn't face any of them.

 

I was talking about the historical validity of the claims you donut!

 

It’s a list mostly consisting of fringe guys with something like a decade in between, more if the layoff is being skipped.

He tried for the Tyson fight. Too bad he missed that. Early 2000s Holyfield wasn’t going to fight him, nor were the other King fighters in general. Haye and Povetkin would’ve helped. The others are hardly standouts and would just mush into his resume.

 

You may well be right,[though for me Evander beats him,] but my point is we never got to find out.

 

Dear god, no. Boxing is a not a statistical sport, and head to head, while fun, is not really a part of greatness or ranking. We all now there are guys today who would flatten Joe Louis, but it doesn't make them great fighters.

I love Vitali, but his record sucks, He couldn't grab the torch from Lewis, managed to lose to the second best fighter he was in with, and did not even manage to get guys like Haye and Valuev, who could have nudged him up just a bit, in the ring.

Somewhere in the top 25.

 

No.

He has wins over several RING ranked opponents which is good but also why ive stated in the past that wins over ring ranked fighters needs to be taken with a grain of salt and not constantly used as the end all be all of standards. Reason being is that there have been lots of fighters who were briefly ring ranked for short bursts of time and in some cases due to the division going through a dry phase. Beating 7 or 8 guys like that does not place one in an all time top 10

 

Does he even have a win over a top 100 all time heavyweight? Great fighter but his resume is pretty bad and I cant just speculate who he would have beaten. I could say Ike Ibeabuchi or Wilder are top 10 atg because their resumes are about as good as Vitalis.

 

You can't say top 100 without making a list.

And once you make that list, you have to take into account that most modern era guys would light up most of the pre Ali era guys.

 

Being in the discussion as a top 25 or top 20 heavyweight in the rich history of the Heavyweight division is quite an accomplishment. Vitali had a very good career. The knee injury that forced him to miss 4 years submarined his legitimate chance to crack into top 10 territory.
Looking over his resume - he was on a good track from the Lewis bout- He Gave Lewis hell and lost on a bad cut in a fight he was winning. Tough loss but no shame there.
He then fights legit top 10 heavy Kirk Johnson - not his fault Johnson was getting fat - but Vitali made a statement and blew him away. Good win.
Then the Sanders bout- Sanders coming off an epic win over Wladimir was a clear top 3 heavyweight at the time and the fight itself was a slugfest battle of attrition. Another good win. Elite win in my opinion.
Then the Williams bout - admittedly a little soft but Williams was coming off a win albeit tainted (knee injury) over mega star Mike Tyson. So he was at the high point of his career - and Vitali toyed with him. It’s a decent win.
So I have no complaints what Vitali was building up until the knee blew out. He missed a crucial 4 year stretch to build and enhance legacy. When he returned he started off right facing the once beaten legitimate top 5 Sam Peter and winning in dominant fashion. Strong Good win.
But after that - a lot of the post knee injury fights just were not the kind of fights one has, to make a case for top 10 material imo.
Charr, Chisora, Sosnoski, Solis (awesome amateur did nothing as a pro), Briggs (totally overrated and past prime too), Kevin Johnson, none of those names adds anything to a fighter historically. It’s the definition of belt milking. Looks more like something Wilder would do.
Adamek was good but too small, not a threat, he did earn his shot though, same with Gómez. So they are so so wins. Arreola was I guess a good win - he was undefeated and heavily hyped by HBO- kind of like a Michael Grant type. Another so so to decent win. Nothing stands out though to earn him top 10.
Vitali was dominant - only Wlad was a real threat- but he didn’t fight the legit guys that Wlad did to move up on legacy lists.
45-2. and the two losses were not bad losses. Up on the cards and an injury and cut forced stoppage. Excellent career. Just not top 10 imo.