Question to those who consider Wlad a great...

I believe part of the reason is that most of the criticism on the forum is aimed at Wlad instead of Vitali, Therefore most of the talk of Wlad ATG is in response to that criticism.

I personally rank them both top 10 H2H
If you talk careers then both at least top 20 or 15 mostly because they have existed together...if they were solo in their endeavors ie 80's and 2000's they would both be top 10.

They aren't done yet though so we'll see what happens

 

This is all true.

The thing is... its hard NOT to consider him an ATG at this point, at least top 15, based on what he has done just in the last 6 years.

It's not Wlad's fault Lennox Lewis, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier and all those guys aren't fighting in his era. All he can do is crush everybody in front of him. Hell... his #1 contenders and other titleholders won't even fight him!

 

Actually he won't fight his other title holders because one is his brother and the other he can't come to terms on PPV revunue with.

 

What you have to consider is Wlad is dominant, has longevity, makes the most of his physical ability, height size strentgh etc and beats everyone in front of him.

these fighters arent great but you can only beat who is in front of you and who is in your era.

on the other hand vitali lost his biggest fights.

quit in those biggest fights regardless of the situation he did quit.

and he isnt as dominant as wlad and hasnt had as long a reign as wlad.

coupled with this is the possibility that he wont be fighting in 2 years so wont have done enough to reach wlads possible impact in future years.

 

It hasnt had any bad bearing on pacs career and thomas hearn career due to being Ko has it?

you dont get credentials in your career to losing fights, it may happen sometimes but rarely does.

also he did come back to ko lmon brewster.

what you have to think is why is marciano rated so high, no one great was in his era (joe louis) was far past it but he was dominant.

How high will wlad be ranked if he dominates a further 5 years including a win over haye.

all of this is realistic and possible.

 

People consider Vitali pretty close to Wlad.

If you're asking why there isn't as much noise about Vitali? It's because he doesn't garner as much hate.
If you're asking why he's not listed ahead of Wlad? It's because he has beaten mediocre opponents and lost a huge chunk of his career to injuries. Wlad's experience in title fights dwarfs Vitali's.
Wlad has the potential to fight for another 5 years...Vitali maybe another 1-2.

...and anyone who thinks that Vitali in his prime was better then Wlad is in his prime should have their heads examined. The only thing Vitali ever had on Wlad has been chin and that's one liability that Wlad has concentrated on erasing, without ?able chin Wlad surpasses Vitali H2H by miles.

 

When debating ATG status, I look at potential head to head fights against fighters from every era.

With that in mind, I believe both Wladimir and Vitali, have a very good chance at beating any of the greats. For this reason I put them on my ATG list.

I think a few years ago Vitali was better...but right now I believe Wladimir to be the best of the brothers.

 

Vitali being out for 3+ years hurt as he has a lot fewer fights than Wlad .... but he is just as dominant, and though the conventional wisdom seems to be that he is slipping, he still hasn't really lost a round since his comeback. I think rather than slipping, VK has coasted a little in his last couple of fights. We'll see how he does with Briggs, who will present more of a danger. I like both K-Bros, but admit I am more partial to Vitali, as he has a mean streak that Wlad lacks: this is the guy who choked Davey Haye in a German restaurant and who punches out people in the Ukraine parliament! Vitali is no shrinking violet.

 

BTW, can someone tell Brian Kenney at ESPN that it's pronounced Vi-TAL-i, not VIT-ali? Drives me nuts.