Ken was great but way past it when he fought Holmes. Holmes was fat retired and near shot when Tyson beat him.
Which is a clear indication how weak the devision was in the 60s . In fact ALI was given credit for saving the devision . He wouldnt need to save a great devision now would he .atsch
atsch VLAD made them look unimpressive thats why . Like PBF made GATTI look unimpressive but MICKY made him look great great . Its facinating how many TARDS on this site dont get it . wow
don't know how anyone can consider mccline, sultan I, byrd 2, and even brock and chagaev "elite" level. his best victims are byrd1, thompson1, haye, and maybe peter, chag and brock. haye's an elite figher arguably tho the hw resume is wanting. byrd 1 is arguably elite. sanders is up there as one of his best opponents and that didn't go so well.... all that said, Wlad is clearly atg 'elite' for his body of work that has been by and large dominant and he has put in so many great (or near great) performances even against bad opponents that he must be given his due
Ali cheated in their first fight... (Smelling salts were already illegal to use in England) In the second fight Cooper was ahead on the scorecards until cuts from previous fights reopened. Golota gets underrated a lot, but a prime Golota had one hell of a jab. Very talented guy before he got injuries, but a fragile mind. Best remembered for being KO'd by Lewis in 1 round, on his defence. He had a nervous breakdown and an injection of lidocaine for tendonitis in his knee... I don't think anybody would have beaten that version of Lewis but in his prime he wouldn't have been destroyed like that. Also he got robbed against Ruiz.
What elite level fighter did Holmes ever beat? Guys that Wlad would have blasted easily, Holmes included.
Short answer is No. Long answer is no cause there was no one around when he was champ. But I would say Wlad is Elite.
I think Byrd 1 is Wlad's best win, although it was an extremely good stylistic match-up for Wlad its an elite win. Peter 1 was a tougher fight for Wlad but a gutsy performance & is perhaps his signature win along beating a sick Chagaev, Wlad has plently of wins against good/decent opponents.