I disagree Wladimir is a more challenging opponent for Holmes than Vitali is. Wladimir is a better technical boxer than Vitali with a great jab and a game changing right hand which Holmes could sometimes be suspect to.
Holmes won 22 rounds out of the 23 rounds he boxed against Shavers outside of the knockdown in the 7th round. Norton is a come forward awkward fighter with a unique cross arm defence. Snipes again Holmes won every round outside of the knockdown round and Holmes actually finished the round stronger. Cooney is a much harder single puncher than Vitali and Holmes still beat him convincingly. Witherspoon like Norton has a unique cross arm defence which is nothing like a stand up robotic Vitali. Spinks is a smaller mobile Heavyweight with a tricky style plus Holmes was past his prime. Williams was also when Holmes was past his prime.
Not nonsense at all Byrd said Wladimir hit x3 harder than Vitali. Cooney is a considerably harder puncher than Vitali in regards to single punches.
There are levels to the game. Vitali was never down on the cards except for 1 round against Hide. Cooney got his ass kicked by Foreman and Spinks and never logged a serious win over a contender.
If you have to dig that hard, you shouldn't dig at all. I'm sure Holmes would find Vitali and Usyk to be "unique."
I've already said Usyk will be a very hard challenge for Holmes I'm not disagreeing with you on that. Usyk is a southpaw, very skillful, adaptable, with great movement. He would definitely give Holmes all he could handle. Vitali on the other hand is too slow, robotic/stiff, for me. Vitali has good workrate and a good chin so he would go the distance and win some rounds Holmes isn't unbeatable. But I feel like Holmes being the much more smoother/fluid boxer with good movement would be the difference.
But here's my theory. Holmes floored Cooney early right ? I actually think if Holmes would've really jumped on Cooney when he was hurt he could've got him out of there. I think Cooney's power gave Holmes some pause and Holmes wanted to be a bit more cautious. Vitali doesn't have that type of power in regards to really game changing 1 punch KO power. Vitali wears opponents down with an accumulation of punishment and whilst he is quite heavy handed. I don't think his power is anything stand out and this is where a high KO ratio is a bit misleading in this case. Is Vitali a better opponent than Cooney ? Yes. But the power difference in regards to single punches is quite a bit different.
Holmes would find a counter on wlad at some point and eventually take him out. Vitality is far less likely to be caught clean and a lot, lot less likely to be stopped.
I'm not sure about that. Wladimir doesn't have a great chin granted. But if you actually examine Wladimir's stoppage loss. Puritty = Early in his career and that was more to do with stamina issues. Brewster = Again stamina issues Wladimir punched himself out after battering Brewster for 4 rounds. Sanders = Sanders blitzed him yes but Sanders is a very big puncher. Holmes has respectable power but he's not a really big puncher. This would be a battle of the jabs and Holmes would be up against a Super Heavyweight with a great jab like himself but Wladimir has KO power in his right hand which again Holmes could be suspect to. I think Wladimir's technical skills and right hand power makes him a much more formidable opponent against Holmes than Vitali would be. Vitali doesn't have a great jab he's robotic and too slow to beat a smoother faster mobile boxer like Holmes.
I see a Vitali fight as perhaps longer and gruelling , I really don't see Wlad seeing the end, Holmes jab would soften him up before koing him or getting a wide decision.(If wlad s lucky)