Wladimir Klitschko is now the greatest heavyweight who ever lived, according to Boxrec.

Yeah true Vitali being injury prone is kinda of a weakness.

It was incredible how many punches he threw for such a big man and how active he was and he had a style highly dependent on the use of his shoulders which probably had a lot to do with his torn roter cuff injury.

 

Ali, Louis, and Lewis are fine no argument there. But Holmes is arguable, his competition was no better than Wlad’s, and he struggled a lot more with it, having plenty of close calls and controversial decisions. People forget how many razor-thin fights Holmes had against guys who wouldn't be top contenders in other eras.

But Evander? That’s where I draw the line.

Holyfield was wildly inconsistent and lost a ton of big fights. He was exciting, sure, but he lost to Moorer, Bowe, Ruiz, Byrd not to mention going life and death with ancient versions of Foreman and Holmes. Wlad at his peak was dominant barely lost rounds, let alone fights. His style wasn’t always fun to watch, but he controlled the division for a full decade and cleaned out the top contenders.

There’s no real case for Holyfield being clearly above Wlad unless you’re just grading on entertainment or warrior spirit. If we’re talking about skill, longevity, and dominance, Wlad has the edge.

 

Byrd made him miss and punch the air a lot and if you're swinging at something that isn't there you risk snapping your shyte up. Been there, done that.

 

Fully agree

His opposition at times over his reign was almost as bad as Wilder

Worst era in my lifetime

 

Only new fans who know f..k all would rank him anywhere close to the top

He fought in an absolute bum era. Even the guys now are a little better

 

This era is as least fairly competitive

I feel sick just thinking about that time on HW boxing

 

Better then Holmes era lol

 

Well I am only old enough to remember boxing from 89, but that wlad era was awful. He was also rubbish to watch. Definitely an absolute bum era

I wouldn't have him anywhere close to top 5. That's moronic

 

Insulting people for having in a different view

 

Byrd, Haye, Povetkin, Pulev, Chagev, Ibragimov are total bums sooooo true. Can't hold up to the greats that are Evangelista, LeDoux, Zanon, Jones, Frank, Cobb

 

He's a troll. He lives for the reactions to his hot takes.

 

Not for me it wasn't

 

For me it was both were weak era but Wlad dominated his Holmes struggled with his.

 

That’s fine.

But even if we rank him highly on his defences, we still have to apply context.
I couldn’t put him in a top 5.
I couldn’t rate him above Evander, Lennox and Larry.

 

They are bums