Jersey Joe Ezzard Charles Archie Moore James J Corbett Gene Tunney Micheal Spinks Roy Jones Junior All these guys were top men in the HW division at one point or another, all of them are much smaller than Wlad, all of them are GREATER than Wlad at this point for me. Do any of them have a chance to beat him? Or does he bust them all up?
I'd give Jersey Joe a good chance because of his intelligence/style and power.. Spinks would be game too with his right hand and he showed he could handle quality jabs as well against Holmes. So I don't see him getting blown out and could possibly pull it out, you can't count out Michael Spinks. But basically if you're a small HW without a lot of power fighting Wlad, you're ****ed.
I honestly have a hard time seeing any of them beating Wlad. He didn't just beat fine boxers like Byrd, Brock, Chambers, Ibragimov and Chagaev; he completely dominated and stopped 80% of them. They were all in their primes. The fact that he stopped nearly all of them is highly significant to me, because punchers often lose their KO% when stepping up in class. Off that list, i would give Moore the best chance, because he's a good hitter and scored some impressive knockouts. But i still have trouble seeing them effectively getting their punches off. I strongly doubt Jones would get up after eating that monster right hand. Corbett's style is not well suited for boxing with large gloves and shorter fights. Charles is tough and might try to make it a war, but would have trouble working on the inside with Wlad's holding. Spinks, i don't think he's durable enough - Wlad is no Cooney. As for Tunney, we've not seen that much of him against heavyweights. He does have great footwork which is what a smaller man needs against Wlad, but how does he deal with Wlad's jab? And when Klitschko hits him with a solid punch like Dempsey in their rematch, might he need a very long count? p.s. I wouldn't say that Spinks and Jones are greater than Wlad - at heavyweight, that is.
I dont like corbet or jones's chances but give the others a real shot at wlad. You have to, i remember brewer and sanders! sure he can keep small guys at the end of a punch all night but there is a pace he cant fight at and can be hit when tired. when wlad gets hit once and misses 2 out of 3 shots his mouth hangs open and hes breathing like a ******. He implodes very quickly. against slow guys confusing themselves with gameplans it is rarely seen but still there. The other guys on the list have to have a shot at making him miss and pay. sam peter wasnt razor fast was he?
Chagaev certainly wasnt. And for the most part these men arent in the small greats class. I think Wlad domnates the lot of them though. The only men I give very slim outside chances too are - Walcott -trickyness and skill, Jones - so much speed but probably neutralised by the jab and sparked
P4p all of them are greater than Wlad but at hw only Charles and Walcott have arguments to be greater IMO. The only ones haveing a good chance against Wlad are Walcott and Moore. Still I wouldn´t favour either of them over him. Wlad feasts on smaller fighters with good skills but no special hw power. Moore and Walcott are tricky and have enough power to KO him. The others however aren´t.
Normally the difference between a 6'3 guy and Wlad Klitschko is effectively more than 3 and a half inches. The 6'3 guy will normally squat to protect their chin, but Wlad fights tall for 12 rounds. I don't know either of the above fighters though so this is a generalisation
I think a lot of Vlad, he is a very equipted Big Man, one of the best ever,Lennox Lewis and Vitali being the other 2, above Bowe, Primo and Willard IMO. That being said Vlad is not a come out and Kill Heavyweight he is a behind the jab fighter and careful. I think he may have trouble trying to cat and mouse Jersey Joe (who was a pinpoint puncher) with power and may have some trouble with Ezzard. Moore was a puncher but he may have trouble getting past Vlads jab. Corbett, Spinks and Jones are easy fights for Vlad. Ezzard has a chance, JJWalcott has the best chance IMO, Moore a punchers chance but all three of these men had great experience BUT ARE IN AGAINST A SKILLED gIANT so I think they come up short. Gene T. may be an awkward fight like SULTAN WAS BUT VLAD JAB KEEP GENE ON THE MOVE.
I definitely agree (although he wasn't listed in McGrain's original post). Walcott's accurate, unexpected straight right hand might dump Wlad on his ass. But then i think Walcott lacks the aggression to get a stoppage.
True, unless the punch took you out JJW was content with a KD and get back into the glide mode, he would push but not too much
i also dont like knocking curant fighters for the sake of it. wlad is great at what he does fighting tall with heavy hands at his own pace. which works fine on other big guys with under 25 fights experience. remember most big guys of 6'1 - 6'4 are carrying more built up muscle than wlad who is comparably light for his giants frame. I just think the more experienced of this colection (corbet did not fight enough) would sapp wlad with their speed and pace. a busy, experienced fighter with balls will bother wlad. They dont have to be so small as these dudes. even so Id also give conn a chance.
The guys in bold are not good boxers. Ibriganov is the best out of the ones you listed, defensively at least, but he was too scared to commit to any of his punches, and just adapted the style he used against Wlad when he first tested it out on Briggs, after Mayweather became his trainer. Byrd is overrated as a boxer, but I would still categorize him as a boxer, but he was a featherfisted guy who had no chance against Wlad. Chagaev, Chambers, and Brock are straight up and down punching bags.