Opinions on Vitali seem to differ widely. Some regard him as a "top 5 h2h" or whatever, in other words, liable to beat almost any HW in history on his best night. Others point out he lost to an old Lewis and also Byrd, the two best names on his record. His opposition was often questionable but fighters like Larry Donald, Chris Arreola, Kirk Johnson, Corrie Sanders were credible. He was huge and strong, durable, excellent chin, not a big puncher but he wore his opponents down. He was technically flawed, boxing with his left hand below his waist, his face sticking forward, awkward footwork, etc. He landed his puches and avoided those coming back at him, more often than not, and that's what boxing is, not simply ticking the 'correct technique' boxes in the coach's handbook. I was impressed by his comeback at age 37. But some of his 'challengers' were pretty dire. Not sure where I should rank him against ATGs. I think he falls short but I'm not decided by how much.
He was a lot better head to head, than he is in terms of historical standing. In terms of historical standing, he was a latter day Marvin Hart, and his main claim to fame is being Wladamir's brother. In head to head terms, he was better than that. He was exceptionally unlucky, to get a career changing injury, at the worst possible point in his career. If he had not got injured after the Williams fight, then he might have rounded up the belts, before his younger brother got his duck's in a row.
Around Gerrie Coatzee level skill wise. Beatable as evidenced by losing to the two best guys he fought. He didn't beat anybody that Deontay Wilder wouldn't beat
Overrated.what is his best win? Corrie sanders, a retired golf player Went Life and a Death with an old out of shape Lewis and still lost
I agree that his resume is not all that, but the contenders that he was fighting, should have been able to manage some sort of resistance!
Man he deserved a rematch against Lewis but I understand why Lewis didn’t rematch. Did t have it in him anymore. Would have liked to see him against a Tua or Ike. Never avenged the Byrd loss. The more I think about his record the less I regard him. But he did dominate in his wins and even the Byrd match was winning till he quit. I wouldn’t argue with anyone putting him 10-30 area on their list. Below that is. Stretch imo
I think he would be a tough opponent for pretty much every other heavyweight boxer (h2h). Maybe his punching qualities are a bit underrated. Of course he wasn't an alltime great as a puncher, but he was still heavy-handed. 45 wins, 41 of them by KO is quite a strong ratio, even if the opponents were not that great. He won his first 27 fights by KO, which is not a given. He also changed his training methods, his style and his approach to his fights during his career due to constant injuries. He did less strength training and instead went swimming more (which is more joint-protective). He tried more and more to wear down his opponents constantly and less to knock them out brutally. I think that reduced his quality as a puncher.
A great talent but a career marred by injuries. It happens in sports. Maybe the Boxing equivalent of Grant Hill. The talent is obvious, didn't achieve much legacy wise, but it's obvious injuries had a huge impact.
What I like most about Vitali, was he had that classic European Upright style, many trainers particularly American ones don't like it, but he made it work for him and work quite well. He was also a master of fighting at distance. Being able to hit and not get hit.
