Is Vitali Klitschko an ATG?

Which other 38 year old heavyweights who took three fights in a year could look better than Vitlai did vs. Johnson?

Not Ali, not Foreman, and not even Holmes.

Here is a quick snapshot of Vitali's career:

Ring Magazine champion
Ring Magazine come back of the year fighter ( pending, but likely )
WBC and WBO champion 9-2, 8 KO's in title fights
Highest KO% among all boxing champions
Never floored by a punch
Best rounds won to rounds lost ratio in the history of boxing
Fantastic older fighter in his late 30's.

And he's not done yet.

All of the above accomplishments are signs of a great fighter.

 

Well said you have my support :good

 

A top 100 HW of all-time, certainly. Much much higher in H2H speculation for me. Maybe top ten, maybe top 15-20 there. Top 100 p4p ever? I don't even understand why anyone would ask that. Okay, weak era. Fine, it's happened before and yielded at least impressive title reigns. He hasn't had that either. I understand there is context. I don't blame him for unavoidable injury or a weak division where the best other fighter is your own brother. But you have to prove it, not suggest you have the potential for it.

 

There's no way on mother earth you could know this.

 

Probably not P4p but he should be listed with the best 20 to 25 heavies of all time

 

Im convinced Vitali now has the skills to compete with top guys, but his resume is horrible. He hasnt had the proper competition to call him an ATG, not mention he failed to beat the biggest challenge of his career in taking the torch from a retiring Lennox Lewis.
Personally I rate Vitali over Wladmir, but unless some serious threat comes out of the woodwork, he will never go down as an ATG, just a good solid fighter that dominated a **** poor era.

 

His greatest performance is a loss to a semi-retired, 38 year old Lennox Lewis.

And no matter how you dress it up, he also has a TKO loss to Chris Byrd.

What are his top 10 wins?

As for a HOF spot - his inclusion at this stage is debatable IMO. In terms of his head to head ability he would no doubt rank highly, but that is based more on assumptions than substance I'm afraid.

 

Not all top20 HWs have great wins, Dempsey certainly doesnt, neither does Liston, Jeffries and Holmes title run while better than Vitali's isn't a murderers row of oppponents either

Vitali's dominance of his division since Lennox's retirement is impressive, his resume isnt great but he looks unbeatable by anyone around in the last few years. So yes H2H hes very strong but also in beating the men in his era in dominating fashion. Also say what you want but Lennox aside he hasnt had a devastating loss

 

Quitting against a non offensive threat like Byrd is a big detractor in his career as well.

 

Yes it was a big let down but we dont judge a man by 1 fight and Liston quit with the same injury. Plus he showed heart against Lennox

 

I think he redeemed himself in the Lewis fight, fighting with his face falling off, and I also think Vitali has come a long way being a pro, but still things might have been a lot worse for him had he faced better fighters earlier in his career.

 

Resume / background check---my ass......... Not every champ can have an "Ali or Holy" type resume.......... Vitali Klit has a good record and has won some good fights against some rugged dudes who also owned skill....... The dude gets my vote and I have seen countless ex-heavyweight champs fight before via film footage and tapes, etc........ V.K. is in my top-10 of all-time....... The guy is good.......... I will not back down from that statement either........ Peace.....

MR.BILL

 

Its hard to make that type of claim based off his competition and what he did against argueably the two best fighters he faced. Im sure you can think of 10 other great fighters that had better resumes and faced better comp. In other words, its easy to look dominant against the Sanders, Williams and Johnsons of the world, because they offer nothing to showcase your skills.
While I'll agree Vitali possesses some skills and has a very difficult awkward style utilizing his height, he just hasnt been able to prove it against good enough fighters. Not even good fighters really just flat out bad ones for the most part.

 

:good I often wonder about "Mad Ike" and just what he could have achieved if he had stayed sane!!