Were the Klitschko's that good?

They ruled post-1990s Era where the killers either retired or washed up. I wouldn't put either Vitali or Wlad among Top 10 ATG Heavyweights.

 

They were that good. H2H nightmares for any HW ATG. Wlad also has one of the best resumes of all time.

 

The truth is that it was a little bit of both. The Klitschko's were extraordinarily good and they came along at a time when the high majority of the opposition was less than stellar. That being said, the key to all of this is that they are a "they". If they had not been brothers their fights could have produced one of the truly great heavyweight rivalries.

The key to the era's mediocrity is that the best two fighters never fought each other. If they had we would be remembering this time in heavyweight history quite differently.

 

We did Vitali vs Holyfield and Vitali vs Bowe recently. The Lennox lost is official. Vitali lost to all three of them. Wlad is even less skilled and more chinny than Vitali.

Lewis >/~ Bowe > Holyfield > Vitali > Wlad

 

I have Wlad beating Holyfield and Bowe and Vitali beating Bowe.

Saying Wlad was less skilled than Vitali is crazy talk. Alternate reality stuff.

 

I was more a fan of Vitali.. WK looked Brilliant some nights & stunk on others.. they are both great H2H fighters historically but i don't think they'd quite make my top 10.. Top 15? Ya probably.. you'd have to... they dominated for a decade & were still successful at a late age, when most great HWs of the past had retired or were badly declining. I much prefer Usyk tho..

 

Bowe had a lot of defensive lapses that an accurate and powerful puncher like Wlad would be exploiting all night long. He also could have neutralized Bowe's infighting with his clinches. Prime Holyfield went life and death against a journeyman and struggled with 40 year olds.

 

I think it's mostly seen as a weak because the two standouts didn't face each other. The level of contenders like Byrd, Chagaev, Haye and Povetkin were alright I'd say. It's rare for any era to hava really standout quality below the top 2, often below the top 1. So here youe have two really good fighters with some decent below.

It's easier to say you have a weak era when it's a short period and the other top fighters are past their best (as in Marciano's case) or don't really realize their potential (as in Tyson's case).

 

Povetkin and Chisora seemed to become better fighters once the Klitschko's were gone. Except they weren't actually better.

 

Klitschko's competition wasn't worse than other long time reigning champions. If Klitschko's era was weak, so was Louis' and Holmes'.

 

Even a guy like Pulev made his way to another title shot 6 years after Wlad beat him in 5 rounds.