Greater fighter: Thomas Hearns or Wladimir Klitschko

No.

 

Heavyweight is arguably the weakest of the original weight classes, so "shutting it down" by defending against mediocre competition continuously isn't as impressive as a smaller amount of wins over superior competition imo, hence P4P. Heavyweight making more money doesn't make wins there more impressive.

 

Hearns. He was multifaceted. Like Wladamir he could be knocked out but didn't totally change his style to cover for his lack of chin.

 

Heavyweight is not arguably the weakest.

 

P4P? I gotta rank Hearns above Wlad. Imagine if Hearns had stayed at welterweight or jr. middleweight for a length of time.

 

He had the stones to take risks and back his strengths. He could also keep people off for longer stretches because he was happy to blaze away (instead of clinch) if an opponent was taking liberties. He clinched when hurt, not as a kneejerk tactic.

 

And so can Wlad. Hence why he was champion for so long. 2 years he was #1 ranked contender, but LL didn't try to make that fight. Fury didn't want the rematch. Wlad can definitely hang with the best of them.

 

It's a little different when the opponent is 100 pounds heavier.

 

Rubbish. Wlad was the bigger man the majority of time, Hearns was governed by weight divisions. Like welter to light heavyweight doesn't have punchers that can blow you out stat.

 

I'm talking about HWs in general.

 

Wlad isn't a welterweight getting hit by heavyweights. He's a big guy getting hit by other big guys, many who were smaller than him. The comparison falls flat.

 

People won't like this but it's Wlad. Wlad learnt to be dominant against all comers. Hearns was amazing against certain styles that suited him but fell apart against others multiple times.

Yet they had the same trainer who worked out holding was a strategy he probably should of got Hearns doing on the inside to survive in fighting, which he was never going to get the best of.

 

I'll watch 10 of Hearns' fights in a row before I force myself to watch one of Wlad fights.

 

Hearns didn't get KO'd by three unranked fighters tho. Not being able to hold when in trouble hurt him in one fight, vs SRL. After that he knew how to latch on when hurt. It's terribly negative to latch on half the night when you aren't even hurt, as a strategy. They must have been horrified about Wlad's durability or lack thereof. Obviously they felt the need to protect his chin.