Now that the dust has settled... where does Wlad belongs ?

No, because longevity and depth, are much harder to achieve, than short term dominance.

Most lists are a bit of a blend of the two though.

 

He lacked in elite quality names, but made up for it with sheer quantity. Haye, Byrd, Povetkin, Chambers, Pulev, and Peter aren't the most glamorous names, but they'd be above average in nearly any other era or could even grab titles. Wladmir is top 10 for sure in my opinion and it's hard to place him outside that group given his impressive run, dominance, and h2h ability (great jab, hook, 1-2, outside skills, etc).

The main things holding him back were his shaky chin, occasionally panicking on defense, failing to become undisputed, not avenging several losses. Sanders is the worst offense...you can't just have your big brother solve your problems. Speaking of brothers, the fact he and Vitali never fought is a mark against them both since they were the two best fighters in their division for basically a decade, but it's understandable.

He's certainly above the likes of Dempsey, Johnson, and Liston. Possibly Holmes too.

 

Exactly this. If it were H2H then the list might look a bit different. I am not sure Louis would be that high at all and Ali might take a bit of a dip as well. Marciano could actually be rated higher based on 'greatness' too. He might pip Foreman for #6 or higher depending on how you rate the name value of his wins.

 

Does Shavers even make the top 40 or 50. Probably not. Around 50-60 seems about right.

 

Even top 50 would be generous for Shavers. He was the living embodiment of the hot/cold fighter who occasionally turned up and produced a spectacular win, then he could get demolished in the next fight, then has an average performance. His career was all over the place. This was because he was essentially a glass cannon whose only gameplan was to fire bombs away from round 1. It wasn't until around the time of the Williams/Ali matches that he started to improve his endurance/paced himself better and developed a more well-rounded approach rather than mindless offense.

Shavers wasn't a "great" boxer by any stretch of the imagination...but he was exciting as hell...! Anyone who got in the ring with him probably felt like they were tip-toeing through a field full of mines and IED's scared they may walk right into a fight-ending punch. But it was equally true Shavers could run right into something that ends him as well, he often just shelled up or became passive when hurt.

 

He still ranks the second best fighter in his family, unless his mom can have the row

 

I can't see Wlad not being top 10.

 

Wlad is the biggest, best combination puncher we've ever seen in his first career and one of the most lethal long range technicians ever in his second (maybe Vitali and Lennox were better, Ali faster and more precise). He had two careers full of huge KOs. He dominated the division and had people damning boxing he was so universally reviled. He would give big trouble to anyone else in the top 10. For me, Wlad is right there. I have him at #7.

Ali, Holmes, Lennox, Foreman, Louis, Holyfield, Wladimir.

 

Off the top of my head in no order.

Mike Tyson
Joe Louis
Lennox Lewis
Muhammad Ali
Evander Holyfield
Larry Holmes
Jack Dempsey
Alexander Povetkin
Vitali Klitschko
Chris Byrd
Wladimir Klitschko
Ray Mercer
Jack Johnson
George Foreman
Ron Lyle
Jerry Quarry
Sonny Liston
Ingemar Johansson
Tim Witherspoon
Tony Tucker
Pinklon Thomas
Sonny Liston
Anthony Joshua
Tyson Fury
Oleksandry Usyk
David Tua
Ike Ibeabuchi
Ezzard Charles
Jack Dempsey
Michael Spinks
Rocky Marciano
Gene Tunney

I think that's 30 ? I could see all of these names beating Shavers at their best some of them actually did.