I mean if its Literally today with AJ less then two weeks after a bad stoppage I might say Vitali. If we where ignoring that? I would have to see Vitali fight someone else to really have a meaningful opinion.
What? That Vitaly at 47 years of age is better than AJ? The question is clear... if he stepped in right now who would win... It didn't ask who was better as a boxer... ergo... HATERS!!!! Objectivity is lacking among here, thank god we have me.
It's possible Wlad could KO him, but AJ IMO has gained a stigma overnight because of Ruiz. Prime or out of prime Wlad still uses a lot of clinches, to which I think AJ is strong enough to brake out of them. I remember Holyfield said he sparred one or both--forgot, but he acknowledged they are so strong on the inside that fans don't realize how hard it is to break those clinches. I think AJ could. If not, then he loses. If he breaks free, the fight changes. AJ is still writing his legacy
AJ is a poor mans wlad and I said that way before Ruiz fight, even before AJ went life and death with shot 42yo wlad. Wlad beats AJ 8 times out of 10. Better footwork, better jab, better right hand, better left hook, higher ring IQ ,more power, just because both are chinny I give stiff british robot 20% chance.
Here's Vitali in 2018: https://static.ukrinform.com/photos/2018_01/thumb_files/630_360_1516352067-3624.jpeg It's quite telling of this division to see old Vitali keeping in 10x better shape years into his retirement than 50% of the HW top 25.
Of course he wouldn't beat AJ but even if you think he's way past it (I agree) there are definitely some scrubs in the top 50 boxrec or any other org that he can still beat. Someone like Lucas Browne who is also old and shot, there should be no question that Vitali would still be the favourite
Vitali looked pretty crap in 2012 against Chisora and Charr. 7 years of retirement and being about 48 years old isn't going to help matters. Joshua and anyone else inside the top 20 would absolutely batter him.
I agree, he wasn't looking fantastic against Charr ... but he was still clobbering him. And that's a prime Charr against the oldest version of Vitali. The fact that ancient Charr has a belt in this era tells us something.
