How will history view the Klitschkos?

History will look kinder on Wlad than Vitali. That is because of Vitali's inactivity, and the fact that he has only a very short period of dominance (2004) while Wlad has been the dominant heavyweight since 2006. He is now the top heavyweight for five years. Nobody who has been at the top for that long, no matter what the opposition, can be denied their greatness.

Vitali - very good, about top 25
Wlad - ATG heavyweight, currently top 15, in five years or so, maybe, just maybe, depending on what happens, top ten.

 

:rofl

 

Wlad will remember as an ATG Champion.

 

I think it will depend on what happens after they are gone. If they leave and the Heavyweight Division returns to prominance (as many including myself believe that their dominance hurts the division) then they will be viewed as champions in a weak era. If the Heavyweight Division continues to stink after they are gone then I think they will be viewed for what they are dominant, skilled boring fighters.

 

Come on dude.

You cant judge the fight on what might of happened. He might have been ahead on the scorecards which means he might have won.

On the other hand, a two point difference isn't huge and Lewis might have ended up winning on points. Lewis might have knocked him out in the next round.

Vitali might have split his shorts, fallen out of the ring and decapitated himself!

Lewis won fair and square at nearly 38 and past his best.

It was a brave performance by Vitali but ultimately a losing one. If he didn't want cuts to stop the fight he should have started getting out of the way after the first one.

 

Exactly. :deal

IMO the chronological lineage of super dominant HW's is something like this:

Wlad
Lewis
Tyson
Holmes
Foreman
Frazier
Ali
Liston
Patterson
Marciano
Louis
Dempsey
Johnson
Jeffries
Corbett
Sullivan

 

It would depend I think. If for example, the heavyweights who brought back excitement and prominence back to the division after Wlad retires (face it, Wlad would be around longer than Vitali) was beaten by Wlad, then his stock would rise. Say Wlad, before he retired, beat fighter A, then B, and C, and they emerged as the new superstars of boxing as a result of his retirement, Wlad's reputation would rise.

But if the new superstars were completely new, or they beat an old Wlad (like Ali-Holmes, Louis-Marciano, Tyson-Holmes), his Wlad's standing would remain as is or even decline.

 

:good

Wlad has more dominant years and more title defenses than most guys on that list.

 

With respect to Vitali, I have never been sold on his "talent" per say. To be sure, however, he's tough, tenacious, and employs his height advantages to reaonably good effect. I think he is probably a top 50 HW all-time, but I differ (depending upon the day and my mood) as to where he should ultimately reside (ie 30s, high 20s, 40s ect).

Wlad, however, is a far more intriguing case. His losses to substandard opponents and modest resume, the latter of course through little fault of his own, will certainly adversely impact his final rating. I suspect he is a top 20-25 HW historically. His talent level, in my opinion, approaches the top 10 range. He's fast, athletic, can box a bit, and has excellent power.

 

Fighter / Years on Top / Title defenses

Wlad / 5 years / 8 defenses
Lewis / 6 years / 8 defenses
Tyson / 5 years / 9 defenses
Holmes / 7 years / 20 defenses
Foreman / 4 years / 5 defenses (both reigns)
Frazier / 3 years / 4 defenses
Ali / 8 years / 19 defenses (in his three reigns)
Liston / 2 years / 1 defense
Patterson / 6 years / 6 defenses (both reigns)
Marciano / 5 years / 6 defenses
Louis / 12 years / 25 defenses
Dempsey / 7 years / 6 defenses
Johnson / 8 years / 8 defenses
Jeffries / 7 years / 6 defenses
Corbett / 6 years / 1 defense

 

Now thats crazy. I dont think Wlad will ever catch up to those numbers.
However, I thought Wlad had like 18 title fight, no?

 

Tunney,Charles, Patterson, Holmes, Holyfield, and Lewis.

-All heavily criticized during their initial runs for lacking quality competition, being boring, not as good as the Champions before them...etc. All now considered all time greats.

Vitali probably missed his boat with years of injuries but Wlad has the potential to be yet another great successful heavyweight technician not appreciated in his own time. If he closes his career well, history will no doubt look very favorably upon him.

 

Peak Mike Tyson had an absolute **** era. Late 80s, early 90s sucked balls- even more so than today's heavies. But no one will dare say it because everyone on here is on his balls. ***gots!

 

At the rate he is going, who knows? Despite some fluke, I don't see anyone stopping him any time soon.

If he fights twice a year for three more years, that's 14 defenses. Many more than most of the guys on that list....

He's already tied or surpassed 8 of the 14 other guys on the list in number of defenses and years at the top.

I spent some time gathering some information, and its kind of surprising:

Fighter Reign (yrs) Defenses **********Record********** Win % KO%
Louis 12 25 68 Fights 65(51)-3-0-1 96% 78%
Holmes 7 20 75 Fights 69(44)-6-0-0 92% 64%
Ali 8 19 61 Fights 56 (37)-5-0-0 92% 66%
Tyson 5 9 58 Fights 50(44)-6-0-2 86% 88%
Johnson 8 8 104 Fights 73(40)-13-9-9 70% 57%
Lewis 6 8 44 Fights 41(32)-2-1-0 93% 78%
Wlad 5 8 57 Fights 54(48)-3-0-0 95% 89%
* Vitali 6 7 42 Fights 40(38)-2-0-0 95% 95%
Dempsey 7 6 83 Fights 66(51)-6-11 80% 77%
Jeffries 7 6 21 Fights 18(14)-1-2-0 86% 78%
Patterson 6 6 64 Fights 55(40)-8-1-0 86% 73%
Marciano 5 6 49 Fights 49(43)-0-0-0 100% 88%
Foreman 4 5 81 Fights 76(68)-5-0-0 94% 89%
Frazier 3 4 37 Fights 32(28)-4-1-0 86% 88%
Corbett 6 1 25 Fights 16(4)-4-3-2 64% 25%
Liston 2 1 54 Fights 50(39)-4--0 93% 78%
Sullivan 38 Fights 35(30)-1-2-0 92% 86%

 

As steroid test tube created freaks.
Freaking Russians are natural born cheats and will go to any insane lengths to win a boxing match.
I actually liked the normal "female born" Russian better.

Remember in the 70s Olympics when Russia fed all those female swimmers steroids and they grew arms like Popeye?