A lot of these " legitimate ATG " including Ali had packed glass chins if compare with Vitali. If we are talking about Ali and others, they, including Wlad and Lewis had packed glass chins IF we compare with Vitali. So, bout with Vitali might be torture for everyone. Vitali never had been even dropped by punch, landed on chin or jaw, even on button. Or even a kick. To win Vitali there ofc were proven methods : to land on him head kick ( but not on jaw, chin or even on button ), punch/ headbutt his orbital bones, eyebrows to get TKO win. LOL. Ali had been dropped by guy who was lesser than 190 lbs, and Vitali had KOed lad who had stopped Wlad. Oh, and yeah, I will not insist, that Vitali is ATG, but he definitely had better chin than these boxers: Ali, Patterson, Johanson, Wlad, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes, Tyson etc row with notable ppl. Legit ATG is cos boxer's origin. Yeah, Vitali had bad shoulder and cos this good and bad nights. These aren't excuses, his shoulder su**ed even when he was am. In bad night Wlad might get UD win vs Vitali. If Vitali in prime shape had good night, he had most likely stopped Wlad. I don't know might Wlad outmuscle Vitali cos I think he will not outmuscle prime Briedis or Holyfield versions: both of these are level above not only vs prime Povetkin, also above best prime Tyson in clinch fight. Vitali is larger than these. Jab and move around might be best gameplan for Wlad.
NEETzschean, That’s right. But he was never equipped to deal with Vitali. He was far more formidable overall. Wlad fought Byrd more aggressively than Vitali did. He put in the better performance against that particular opponent. But it’s not relevant when looking at a H2H fight with Vitali. I was referring to punch resistance. Why would I have to be delusional to have favoured a post 08 version of Vitali? Unless he was injured and couldn’t pass the medicals, I would always have favoured Vitali. What was a prime Wlad? Fighting like an octopus against Povetkin and been overly cautious against Haye? All a prime Wlad was, was a super cautious fighter who didn’t like pressure. He leaned all over Povetkin, Haye was super cautious himself, and everybody else who he fought was a level or 2 below him. Like I’ve already noted, he was never equipped to deal with Vitali. Vitali was an elite level fighter with great attributes, which also included great mental strength and supreme confidence. He’d have targeted Wlad’s weaknesses. He’d have put Wlad under pressure and tried to have turned any potential boxing match into a fight. Regarding Ali, he was Holmes’ mentor, but that’s completely different than looking up to your big brother your whole life. Also, Ali shouldn’t even have held a license at that stage. What significant advantages did Wlad possess over Vitali, which would have been of benefit in a H2H fight? Being 2 years older with 23 more fights wouldn’t have helped him in a H2H fight against a healthy version of Vitali. He never faced anyone even remotely like Vitali in his prime, but he struggled with and lost to fighters who far inferior. Again, he was dropped 13 times in his career and succumbed to pressure. Again, he just wasn’t equipped to deal with what Vitali would have brought to the table. Vitali had the size, skills, strength, power and confidence to have exploited Wlad’s vulnerabilities.
It would have been a far bigger challenge to Wlad who was a vulnerable fighter. Did Wlad fight a legitimate ATG in their prime?
Imo wlad vs vitali is like gvozdyk vs beterbiev. Wlad could win, he could spark vitali when vitali comes forward, but most of the times vitali would stop wlad late due to exhaustion and prolonged beating.
Post video. You maybe didn't get that Sanders, yeah, had dropped Wlad, not Vitaly and not once but 4 times during 2 rounds. Vs Vitali Sanders didn't went full distance.
Vitali was actually brutally knocked out by a spinning kick in kickboxing This content is protected But yeah, spinning kick makes Lennox Lewis best punches look like Paul Mallignaggi's jab in comparison, so there is no shame in being KO'ed by it
I actually think Wlad was the better all round hw and harder hitting especially late in his career when Vits was mostly an arm puncher and huffing about with guys like Briggs and Johnson but his superior chin would likely see him through. A fight in 2012 would have been very close albeit.
I had posted this opinion. Also I never ever will gave Lewis any credit. He just was cash cow on better natural juice notning more. Duck belt is only one belt Lewis ever in his life had.
Vitalis chin was very good but not like the greats like Wach or Valuev i think. So vitalis chin is a bit overrated and Wlads is a bit underrated. Look at the similarites in Their Sanders fights. Vitali managed to ride out the storm but he was not being hit clean enough often like Wlad was. Also Lewis uppercut against Vitali is overrated too. He was exhausted as hell and didnt have his best explosive Weight and end snap behind it. Also an uppercut doesnt hit the chin from a good angle so it is automatically a worse shot than a right cross or even better: a left hook despite the power behind it.
