Wladimir Klitschko is now the greatest heavyweight who ever lived, according to Boxrec.

Was he so good? Are you sure that he might had beat Vitali in rematch?
And Vitali was replacement boy for Lewis and Lewis wasn't out of shape or unprepared regardless from Lewis fans agenda.


I don't think that Lewis was better or worse than Vitali, he was just from proper country.
To be from proper country is almost fundament you need to have cool pro boxing career.

 

While yeah, I think modern HW era is considerably worse than Klits era and Lewis era.
Of course, bearing in mind recent top level fights at HW.
Looks you need to be enough old to get good high level fights.
There are so large numbers with examples for top level fights that it is crazy. Especially cos sometimes there are boxers from this Klit era or even a bit older.

 

We’ve discussed this before.

Today’s era isn’t particularly strong either.

As great as Wladimir was, he wasn’t going unbeaten for 11 years in a stronger era.

 

Vitali was ahead and Lennox was looking the weaker of the 2 when it was stopped.

Before the fight, Lennox spoke of fighting on for a few more years.

After the fight, Lennox never fought again.

There was a reason for that.

 

If anyone fought in a weak era it was prime Mike Tyson. Had Wlad (with all the modern advantages he enjoyed) come into his peak in the 80's it would have been a far easier 11 years unbeaten against much smaller and less well-trained opposition. The only 90's heavyweight who was on a similar level to Wlad was Lewis and Lewis got blasted out twice with single punches by B level opposition and was outboxed by the likes of a worn Frank Bruno in his prime. Then consider that Wlad was a more skilled boxer and harder puncher than any of Lewis's opponents, including Vitali. Wlad never got taken out with a single punch or literally KO'd: he gassed late against iron-chinned southpaw Ross Purrity and his corner threw the towel in, he got headbutted three times by power punching southpaw Corrie Sanders and was poisoned in the Brewster fight. Lewis on the other hand, like most historical heavyweight champions, ducked and never faced a decent southpaw in his entire career.

Wlad was a victim of his own success: the more dominant you are the less credit you get. Ali could lose three fights to chinny featherfist cruiser Ken Norton, lose two fights against half-blind midget featherfist cruiser Joe Frazier, lose against featherfisted journeyman cruiser Jimmy Young and lose against chinny featherfisted cruiser bum Leon Spinks and this is used as proof of Ali's greatness by the U.S. boxing media and the braindead parrots who take them seriously. The 70's and to a lesser extent the 90's were also protected eras for pro boxers in the West, with political walls protecting the heavyweight division from the Soviet and Cuban competition which usually prevailed in the amateurs.

Emmanuel Steward (a man not immune to nostalgia) trained both Lewis and Wlad and claimed that Wlad was more talented than Lewis in 2011, just 11 fights into Wlad's 21 win streak with 16 KO's. It was also the consensus among trainers that Wlad was better than Vitali and they promised their mother when they were young that they would never fight, so Vitali's injuries and semi-retirement were irrelevant. Steward also claimed that historical heavyweight champions would have struggled to get past Wladimir's jab or contend with his size and power. In terms or resume and head to head there's a very strong case for Wlad being the best and second best heavyweight of all time respectively.

 

When I talk about the top 6 I am talking about my perception of head to head ability, not who they have beaten in the pros. They were all highly decorated amateurs, are genuine super-heavyweights and the fact that they have had fewer pro fights than Whyte, Parker, Hunter, Ruiz and Wilder (not to mention Ortiz or Povetkin) means they are carrying far less wear and tear, along with all of their experience from the amateurs and semi-pro world series of boxing. "Top 10" Hunter just ducked "top 20" Hrgovic in a world title eliminator. Make sense of that.

 

I do not value phrase unbeaten so highly as usually fans does value this.
I had served the Holy Ring vs fighter who had been advised by gentleman who had been paid by 3 national teams to serve the Games.
His corner man had delivered a world pro title belt.
word Unbeaten means for me not so much as you think.
Most worse beat up in my life I had get from fighter who I had formally and also for everyone, had won on all cards.
You do not know how damaged lad really is there. I had looked very impressive vs him. This pain damn a lot after month and even later. This stuff for me was fight under K-1 rules not K-1 org or boxing.

I walue Foreman and Norton, Frazier higher than Ali hype job for don version in 70 ies who was rude talking iron chinned average dude, rude bombs eating boxer in 70 ies.
Not a boxing icon, most stupid idol boxing fans ever in their life had is Ali.
Mediocre business cash cow who had get cool King's fights in 70 ies not the greatest, rude unthankful boxer who had milked Frazier when he did not had license and later he insulted him to get money.

Ali in 70 ies was mediocre even for modern CW and rude money hungry racist vs Frazier.
Not so good lad he was, not better than BJS he was.

 

NEETzschean,

Far easier, how?

A prime version of Larry Holmes would have been a big task for Wlad to overcome, and he wasn’t beating a mid 80’s version of Tyson. He was far too vulnerable.

Lewis did get taken out by 2 B level guys. That’s true. But it’s HW boxing. A single punch can change a fight. But those 2 knockout defeats were years apart, and it’s well known that Lewis wasn’t motivated for the Rahman fight.

That was completely different to Wlad getting knocked out 3 times in his 20’s, not fighting Sanders again, as his big bro came to his aid, before suffering a 3 knockdown scare against a basic Sam Peter.

How many times was Wlad down in his career? 10 times?

Lennox was far more proven than Wlad. It’s not even close.

How have you got the audacity to claim that anyone is biased after the nonsense that you’ve written?

Vitali had a huge input into Wlad’s career.

He took Corrie Sanders out of the equation.

If he hadn’t have retired when he did through injury, he could have had the opportunity to claim the other titles, which would have left Wlad out in the cold.

Wlad would not have had 11 years dominance with Vitali being the champion. He wouldn’t have had the same number of title defences.

It doesn’t matter if Wlad was more skilled than Vitali, where he was a better technician. He was far weaker than Vitali. He didn’t possess Vitali’s physical or mental strength. He didn’t have Vitali’s chin. Vitali was far more formidable. Wlad was never a better all around fighter than Vitali, even if he was more skilled. Vitali would never have been bounced around the ring by Sam Peter and suffered 10 knockdowns in his career. Wlad only ranks higher because he had 20 more fights. Again, under different circumstances, he’d be nowhere near the top 5 HW’s of all time.

Regarding a H2H fight with his brother, he would never have beaten Vitali.

 

I suggest that you go and rewatch he fight.

Lennox was relieved that the fight was stopped.

The whole boxing world wanted a rematch.

There’s a reason why we never saw it.

 

Wlad may be bottom of top ten based only on his ability to use what he had effectively.
Protecting that glass jaw and winning was quite an accomplishment.
However, he held way to much and wasn't called on it.
And he never re-matched a fighter he wasn't sure he could beat.
Having his Brother avenge his losses was pathetic so I could never rate him at or near the top.

 

Boxrec is wrong.

 

Yes, they are carrying less wear and tear. But they are also unproven.

Until they have proven that they can beat any top 10-15 guys, they cannot be rated that highly.