Vitali Klitschko Is Overrated

His legacy is very similar to someone like Lyle, Shavers, Quarry, Cleveland Willams, or Cooney, except that he was able to pick up titles through title inflation.

Very good fighter, but not a great one.

 

He borders on ATG level his resume is weak which is no fault of his own because of the **** poor division. He has one of the ATG chins in heavyweight boxing

 

he has not been hit enough to make a case for an ATG chin

 

SHAVERS?

 

Stop deflecting and answering questions with questions. Certain loses demand rematches , others don't. Vitali needed to prove he could beat Byrd because his fanboys call it a fluke loss. Not every loss is the same so quit trying to weasel away from the topic.
The Lomachenko example I gave you was a perfect comparison to Vitali vs Byrd. If Vitali , like Loma , felt he only lost through injury , then he should have demanded the rematch , just like Loma did. The difference is Vitali had a rematch clause over Byrd and chose not to enact it. Loma had none over mandatory challenger Lopez.
You're just embarrassing yourself asking why Joe Louis didn't rematch Rock Marciano.

 

Dino, the arbiter of rematch evaluations

 

He took everything Lennox Lewis had and was still standing.

 

Lennox took everything he had and was still standing,has Lewis got an ATG chin?

 

I'm not deflecting anything. You seem to be. You're the one who keeps insisting that "certain" losses demand a rematch. So what fights DEMAND a rematch? Put some criteria around it and be consistent.

Did 28-year-old George Foreman's loss to Jimmy Young demand a rematch? Or did it warrant a 10-year break from the sport and never seeking one?

Did 25-year-old George Foreman's loss to Muhammad Ali demand a rematch? Or did it warrant Foreman taking the next year (15 months) off and never seeking one?

I said I don't hold it against George for not going after those rematches. TONS of famous fighters lost and didn't seek rematches. And I don't hold it against Vitali for not going after Byrd.

At least I'm trying to be consistent. Are you?

I don't defend Vitali for quitting against Byrd. Just I like I don't defend really anyone for quitting. But some guys do. You pointed out Loma had a torn up shoulder. So did Evander, and he didn't quit, either. I totally agree. Someone posted Danny Williams knocking out Potter despite having a dislocated arm. That's one of my favorite fights. I admire boxers who fight through the pain and keep going. Wilder knocked out Chris Arreola despite the fact that Wilder had a broken hand AND a torn bicep, both of which required surgery to repair, and Wilder fired his longtime trainer when the trainer threw in the towel against Fury. Some fighters never want to quit.

At least Vitali learned from his mistake. When he suffered a similar torn up shoulder that required surgery against Chisora, he just coasted to the end. He should've done that against Byrd, too.

Live and learn.

 

Vitali was during his active days and remains in retirement quite a bit overrated - but don't let's swing the pendulum too far in the opposite direction and lose sight of the fact that he was a well-rounded enough total package to be a serious h2h threat for most contenders in most eras.

He rates historically as "very good, B+ heavyweight". No more, no less.