Wladimir Klitschko has a very good resume..where does it rate in history

No.

 

I think he surpassed the bold ones already and I think he is nearer surpassing Dempsey and Wills than Langford.

 

:think

 

New atg HW list:
1. W. Klitschko
2. everyone else

 

I don't really blame Lewis for not fighting Wlad in 01/02. In 2001, Lewis was busy getting his title back from Rahman and did so impressively. Then in 2002, Mike Tyson was a MUCH bigger fight. Even if Tyson was shot, he was still a fast, huge puncher with an iron chin for 3-4 rounds. The #3 contender and most important: the biggest payday around. He got something like $30M for that. Wlad wasn't as established and could draw maybe $10M.

It's too bad the fight didn't happen, but it is what it is. Even in the worst case: it certainly would've reflected better on Klitschko's career if he suffered that KO from Lewis instead of from Sanders. The Lewis of 2003 may have lost, but you could see in his fight with Vitali that he wasn't ready to give up his title just yet. He defended it with every ounce he had... that is what defines a great champion to me.


As for Wlad's legacy, it's solid. He's an absolute nightmare for skilled boxers without top end power, but somewhat vulnerable to punchers. A better version of Ken Norton if you will.

I hope he fights Haye and Povetkin before retiring. Povetkin looked sharp in his recent bout, with Teddy Atlas in his corner.

 

Peter - nope
Brock - nope
Byrd - has a claim, appart from a lucky win over Vitali who else did he beat prior to facing Wlad?
Chagaev - nope
Thompson - nope
Brewster - nope
Ibragimov - nope
Chambers - nope

A win over Haye is better than all of the above imo.
So please, enlighten me.

 

I consider the bold ones all better hws than Haye. Haye beat an old past it Valuev and an even older more past it Ruiz. That´s not impressive. He looks good but he hasn´t beaten one live contender at heavyweight. Not one young, good challenger. If he would add a Chambers, Povetkin, Arreola, Adamek or somebody like them to his resume he slowly might sneak into consideration.

 

Haye, Povetkin, Adamek and than perhaps Boytsov - if he finally steps up would be a good feat considering 2-3 of them are contenders for his throne when he retires.

 

Suzie, you talk about ring magazine top 10 contenders. And that is perhaps true. But (if we take vitali out of the equation) how many of Wlad's title defences have actually been against the best challenger available. Realistically, I would say Chagaev is the only one, and perhaps Byrd. This is one of the reasons why it is very difficult to compare old reigns to new reigns.

Dempsey is criticised nowadays for not fighting Wills and Greb. But Wlad didnt fight Ruiz or Valuev, both of who were belt holders for a long time, and a World championship claim is surely as good or better than a no 1 contenders claim. It does make it hard to compare.

 

Tua and Holy.

 

Valuev would have destroyed Wladimir. Wlad never offered him a fight and flatly avoided him. Ruiz too...because anybody that gives Valuev a good fight would've been too serious a threat for the panicky Wlad too.

 

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

 

...That's all I meant.

 

Neither Ruiz nor Valuev were ever the best challengers available, they were mediocre belt holders at best. Plus they were managed by Don King, thus carefully shielded from fighting the Klits. How can one blame Wlad for the fights not happening? I don't think one can. This is like blaming Lewis for not fighting Bowe.

 

Forgot about Tuaatsch but I'm not giving you 2002 Holy, come on!!