Noting Wlads past record, he has always lost in surprises. Ross Purrity was a trail horse, Corrie Sanders was fat and inactive, and Lamon Brewster was unknown. Wlad can be devestating, but gets upended easily. From his previous losses, you can see he's beatable, and he probably will lose again before too long, and probably against an underdog. Sorry Steve.
Wow, predicting that a Heavyweight will be knocked out in one of his next "several" fights. How amazing. You could predict that about any heavyweight out there, and there would be a good chance it would be true. About Wlad dominating.... yea has only dominated several top 10 ranked boxers. He only knocked out Byrd who was Ring Mag #1 at the time... and beat Sam Peter who is currently #2, behind Wlad. Calvin Brock was undefeated. Ray Austin was a mandatory, and Lamon Brewster is that guy who people were claiming that Wlad would never fight again. Also, you act like Wlad didn't dominate Byrd earlier in their careers as well.
Steve, I think Wlad has a different mind set now and does not look past guys like he used to vs Brewster or Sanders. I also feel Wlad has devleoped new skills such as footwork and clinching, which make him harder to stop. I can't see Wlad losing via decsion. Can he be caught by a bomb? Sure, anyone can. Peter was thought to be a tank, and McCline nearly Ko'd him, Ibragimov has a shot to pull off an upset, but if he doesn't do it, I think Klitschko's going to keep winning for a while.
Well, first he has to beat Sultan, who is a tougher test than the ones he's had the past 2 years. If he does it, he can surelly reign till 2010, not sure about 2011, but probably yes.
I think he can do it. However, the doubt is always present, because he could is always vulnerable to upsets. He could fight anyone and it could be the same result as the Sanders or first Brewster fight.
Anyone with a frame that big and who's had as many fights (pro and amateur) will eventually develop chronic injuries, like his hand.
Wlads chin is extremely weak, who ever said it isn't is lying to themselves. The last powerful fighter that was willing to trade with Wlad put him on the canvas 3 times and hurt him badly enough for him go into a panic attack and clinch over 95 times that fight just to stay on his feet. I feel even in this weak Heavyweight division his chin will be exposed again, against someone who possess the chin, power, agression, and heart to give Wlad a tough time in the ring, it's just too bad it's rare to find that in todays landscape of Heavyweights that someone has even 2 of those attributes, let alone 4.
Considering that Wlad has been the favorite in all but one of his fights (he was the underdog against Peter), Mr. Obvious....
There is nobody that can take him. Dr. Steel Hammer is going to be around until someone new comes out of nowhere and takes the sport by storm and becomes the new superstar in the division.