Pick ONE fighter who beats a prime Vitali Klitschko

Muhammad Ali

 

Well there were two, actually.

 

Same list, minus Tua and Shavers.

Add Ali and maybe Louis.

 

I honestly think David Haye would have faired much better against Vitali than Wlad. Vitali did not have the Jab of Wlad nor the discipline in my opinion. I still remember the jab that night vs Haye, one of the best Jabs ive seen a heavyweight throw, it was lightning fast. For me i think Haye would have had a great chance, Vitali was not hard to hit, if you arent hard to hit vs Haye, its a problem for you, granted it wouldnt have been a prime Vitali back in 2011/2012 but even so, i think a Peak Haye vs a Peak Vitali is a great discussion.

 

Ali, Holmes and Usyk...

 

Gonna be in a minority here but I don't like Usyk to do the job here. Vitali hits hard and often, has a great engine and a great chin. Usyk will look great in spells but when he takes his breathers; we all know he takes breathers at heavyweight, don't we?, Vitali will suffocate him. When I think of Vitali v Usyk I think of the round AJ hurt him and the three rounds Fury looked like a world beater against him but I know Vitali would not be deterred or tire... I know Usyk is a better boxer than Vitali but the big fellas style is all wrong for him in my opinion. Close fight up to halfway and Vitali pulls away in the stretch winning a comfortable points victory. Vitali won't stop him because he is a head hunter.

OK, ok, keep the criticisms of this take polite please ....

 

Anyone with fast feet as Vitali's are notoriously slow.

Usyk, Ali, Holmes, Fury. All of these guys probably outspeed him and outpoint him. Bowe, Lewis, Foreman, Liston have size and power to take him head on.

He does best vs shorter heavyweights like Frazier, Tyson (quick feet may make it even), Marciano. Imo.

 

Vitali was never down once in his whole career. He had one of the best chins in history. Wlad, while a highly skilled fighter, had a glass chin which would never hold up in a fight with his much tougher big brother.
There ain't many guys in history who'd have stood up to the uppercuts Lewis landed on Vitali.
Vitali also avenged 2 of Wladamirs KO losses via KO.

I can't see Tyson knocking Vitali out. It'd be a very tough fight and a close decision could go either way. Tyson would take the earlier rounds with his explosiveness but would be tiring badly in the later rounds.

Vitali was comfortably up on the scorecards until he tore his rotator cuff. Apparently it's one of the most painful things a human can experience. He never truly lost a professional fight. 1 stoppage via cut and one via injury. Nobody ever beat him.

 

I think prime Lewis has the best chance and possibly wins a close contest. There were excuses for both the time they actually fought.

Prime Ali could possibly frustrate him on the outside but it wouldn't be easy with Vitali so much bigger.

Bowe during his short prime would be a tough fight.

Prime Foreman is a handful for anyone.

I think he KO's Fury, Joshua and Wilder. An extremely overrated era. Maybe Fury could see the final bell but he's definitely going down at least twice.

I think he bullies Usyk to a unanimous decision win.

Prime Tyson and Holyfield were great. Both would go the distance but Vitali would probably outpoint them.

This is a controversial one but I believe Holmes is overrated. He went absolute life and death in his prime with a past his best Norton. If that fight had even taken place one year earlier Norton wins. Holmes own team admitted to protecting him from all the top 70s fighters. He then dominated in one of the worst ever eras in Heavyweight boxing.
Vitali wins via decision imo. Too big and crafty for Holmes to outbox. He'd tie Holmes up and lean on him constantly.

 

Sonny Liston is a nightmare for either brother. Off the charts 84 in reach with a damaging power jab and sledgehammer right. Vit and Wlad can’t fight moving backwards and Sonny would certainly back them up. They couldn’t relax under pressure, especially Wlad. I rate both brothers as top 15 or better but Sonny beats both and he bludgeons Wlad.

Ali, Foreman, Lewis likely beat him. I believe Holmes has a very tough night ahead of him.

 

Only 8 punches separated Byrd and Vitali with Byrd landing over 40 percent of his punches compared to 26 percent from Vitali.

It was a very competitive fight and Byrd won a majority of the rounds after the 4th round winning rounds 5, 7, 9.

The fact Vitali never rematched him when he was higher ranked than any of Vitali’s opponents before Vitali semi retired speaks volumes.

But if you want to create a fantasy to erase the record books go ahead it won't change anything Byrd beat Vitali end of.

 

Liston possibly KO's Wlad but I'm not sure he beats Vitali. It would be a tough fight though.

Liston was a bully and no way is he bullying the 6ft 8 inch Vitali with Iron chin. I'm not sure how he would handle Vitalis high punch volume either. My money would be on the big Ukranian.

 

I think peak Vitali would of taken care of Haye pretty easy. But the 2012 version of Vitali that there was discussions to fight could of been issues. I even think Klitschkos management knew it.

 

Vitali was up on all 3 scorecards comfortably. Every Judge had him ahead by between 5 - 7 rounds with only 3 remaining. He could've ran around like Jake Paul the final 3 rounds and still would've been up on the scorecards. Byrd did not win that fight. It was gifted to him via freak injury.

 

If I had to pick just one fighter with absolute confidence it would have to be Larry Holmes IMO.