Career KO %: George Foreman - 83.95%. Wlad Klitschko - 83.64%; also, Lewis-Wlad stats

George Foreman: 76-5 {68}. 83.95% KO's

Wladimir Klitschko: 52-3 {46}. 83.64% KO's

Any time you can be mentioned in the same breath as the legendary Foreman, particularly when the subject is knockout victories, you must be doing something right.

Another amazing stat for the younger Klitschko:

At just 32 years and 9 months old, Wladimir already has 11 more wins (and one more loss, and one fewer draw) than Lennox Lewis (who retired at age 37) ended his career with.

Wlad is now 13-2 with 11 knockouts in 15 world title fights.

Lewis was 15-2-1 with 10 knockouts in 18 world title fights.

So if Wlad is able to fight in 4 more world title fights and win 3 more such fights, he will have both fought in, and won, more such bouts than did the highly-rated former British HW. In 3 less world title matches, Wladimir has already scored 1 more knockout victory than Lewis did in his 18 world title matchups.

Despite his critics and detractors, Wladimir Klitschko is compiling a very impressive set of career statistics which put him in the company of a few of the more memorable performers in the history of the division.

 

No, disabuser of idiots.

It's all great for the anti-Klits until the statistics -- those darned facts -- begin to be brought up.

Wlad is on course for more world title fights and wins than had Lewis. Of course, the Wlad haters will say he fought in a weak era and so on and so forth.

The funny thing is, Lewis' detractors always said the same thing, with Lennox catching foes such as Tyson and Holyfield on the downsides of their respective careers, and with farces like Tommy Gun Morrison being elevated to legitimacy.

 

Wlad clearly has his faults, and particularly so during that 20 month span in 2003 - 2004 when he lost to Sanders and Brewster, and looked awful against Williamson.

However, if he continues at his current pace it will be hard to deny him all-time standing in the history of the division.

I like the Klitschkos, but am no blind nuthugger of them or anyone else. But you have to have respect for the career statistics Wlad is building up relative to some of the other HOF's from the heavyweight ranks.

 

Lennox Lewis: 72.73%

 

I agree with this. The three performances will be compared, certainly. Rahman was never in the fight with Klitschko, whereas Hasim stopped Lewis with just one punch in South Africa.

This is one of the hitches in Lewis' legacy: He didn't always take his training seriously, and it cost him against Rahman and could have cost him against Vitali.

Whatever else you say about the Klitschkos, you can never question their commitment to keeping their bodies prepared for their matches.

That's a strike against Lewis, and one which more astute historians will undoubtedly recall.