Tyson Fury > Wlad Klitschko

Fury won the H2H: schooled A-side champion P4P No.6 Wlad in his backyard and ended his era.

“Tyson Fury is the biggest threat to Wladimir in terms of talent and toughness. He’s the next dominant heavyweight champion.” - Emanuel Steward, 2012


Wlad's losses: Puritty, Sanders, Brewster, Fury, Joshua

Fury's losses: Usyk x2

I'd take prime Usyk over prime Wlad and 37 year old Usyk over everyone Wlad fought, barring perhaps 27 year old Fury.


Wlad's best wins: Haye, Povetkin (Greco-Roman wrestling match)

Fury's best wins: Wlad, Wilder

39 year old Ring champion Wlad was better than anyone Wlad beat. Haye ducked Fury. Undefeated, top 2 ranked, WBC champion Wilder also would have been considered Wlad's best win, especially if he'd gone to America and stopped Wilder in 7 rounds.


Fury never sold out to Joshua:

If this changes my thread is null and void. But as it stands, Fury has left a huge amount of money on the table for the benefit of his boxing legacy. Fighting a four loss Joshua would gain Fury nothing but money, while risking a legacy-destroying defeat. Wlad had no pride and sacrificed his legacy in a shameful display of boxing masochism ("I won by losing").

 

I know my argument is unpopular/controversial but I think it's logically sound. 10 years ago Wlad was judged very differently to how he is today. People are understandably tired of Fury and focus on the negatives.

But when one fighter has beaten his rival as a wide underdog with the deck stacked against him, has far fewer and less bad losses, and has beaten better/more dangerous opponents in more dominant fashion at the top end of his record, I don't see how it's much of a stretch.

 

Wlad's best wins are all inferior to dethroning Wlad or dethroning Wilder, especially as Wlad's Povetkin win was a farce.

Fury was 2x Ring fighter of the year on those two wins. How many times did Wlad win Ring fighter of the year again?

"Ibragimov was a very dangerous HW"

Fanboy stuff. Not dangerous enough to beat Ray Austin, apparently. Not dangerous enough to put a dent in a mid-40's Holyfield or an old Briggs. But yes, he's one of Wlad's best wins and Wlad couldn't do anything with that fat cruiser, despite Emanuel Steward shouting at him.

Wlad didn't stop most of his best opponents. He stopped 6 of his best 13 opponents beaten by my count, and lost to 5 more. He took 7+ to stop all of those barring Pulev, who stood right in front of him.

 

No one else could have taken away Wlad's tools as Fury did, fan consensus is anything between 9-3 and 11-1 Fury. If Fury had been a bum and stood in front of Wlad with no defence as Pulev did then it would have been far more violent. Wlad was getting outboxed, even by his own admission post-fight, so the onus was on him to land more and he didn't/couldn't.

"Plus refused to rematch"

So what? Fury won by a mile.

 

Fury can only fight those who will get in the ring with him. Haye is often considered Wlad's best win and he wouldn't fight Fury. Ruiz may look good on paper but he wouldn't fight. Some of the current names weren't in contention when Fury was active and Wilder x3 (for instance) cannot be counted as one opponent.

The only major name he missed was Joshua. But Joshua has four losses now so risk-reward isn't there. It's not Fury's fault he kept losing and blowing the fight, or not being ready for it.

If Wlad had beaten Joshua that would be one thing. But instead he went out sad and claimed his defeat was actually a victory! Didn't look to avenge the loss either, despite Joshua's proven vulnerability. Any delusion that this lamentable display was a feather in Wlad's cap should have been shattered when Ruiz battered him, let alone Dubois.

Ngannou and McDermott 1 were 50-50's but Fury didn't go under. Wlad did (in much better shape) vs Puritty, Brewster 1 etc.

"Wlad has a ridiculous amount in quantity were he shut out good fighters"

That's the major counterargument. I don't think it's unreasonable, there's always subjectivity. But I prefer Fury.

 

I don't see it.

Wlad's best win ducked Fury 7 days out from their fight. Fury's top 2 wins are better than any of Wlad's, hence Fury won Ring fighter of the year twice to Wlad's zero.

There are five losses to consider with Wlad, all of them worse than Fury's two.

If my thread had been Vitali > Wlad it wouldn't be controversial. Despite Chisora arguably being his best win or at least top 2, Fury having three wins better than any of Vitali's, only losing to one opponent who was the P4P No.1 and Kevin also featuring in Vitali's top 10.

 

"Wladimir Klitschko never avoided anyone during his career."

Don't open with fanboy garbage if you want me to read your post. Wlad ducked numerous fights by your own standards. He was more risk-averse than Fury.