Vitali Klitschko vs. Ike Ibeabuchi 1999

What? Byrd beat Vits who was better than Adamek and didn't the Golota Adamek beat lose to Ray Austin in one round the fight before?

 

Gratuitous use of the word “beat.”

Adamek achieved a higher ranking at heavyweight than Golota ever did.

 

Not gratuitous, factual.

Why do you keep talking about Golota? Why not talk about Puritty, Bean, Norris, Donald and Hoffman who Vits fought instead of rematching the guy he lost to?

Ps.-Golota fought in a much tougher heavyweight era than Adamek.

 

There is a lot of nuance between getting a win and leaving an opponent beaten.

You’re creating a fantasy reality. Byrd got his ass kicked by Wlad and then successfully pursued a Don King belt. Vitali pursued the real title and eventually won it, along with establishing lineage, before taking years off with injuries.

Vitali didn’t just have the ability to snap his fingers and have Byrd eagerly sign up to get his ass kicked by him.

 

We know Byrd wasnt beaten, and we know he got the win. But Vits wanted no part of a rematch.

Hate to break it to you, but Vits was never the lineal champion.

You keep going back to Wlad. Its getting tiresome. Vits and Wlad are not the same fighter. So what he lost to Wlad. We're thefighters Vits fought before retiring better and more worthy fighters than Byrd? You keep avoiding this.

 

That's debatable, some people consider Vitali as the lineal champion but it's a very small minority. He definitely was never universally recognized. If we assume he was lineal, he was the worst lineal champion ever probably besides Marvin Hart.

 

I dont know of any reputable organization that has recognized him as lineal. If so though I would rate Shannon Briggs as a worse lineal champion.

 

The Ring crowned him their champion and there were some outlets that followed their authority. I actually did some research into the topic:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...eal-world-heavyweight-champion-part-i.747128/

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...al-world-heavyweight-champion-part-ii.747129/

 

As much as I admire The Ring I have a problem using a guy with one top ten win for a vacant lineal title, yet they do not recognize Holyfield, Moorer, Foreman and Briggs in succession. Had Vits had the lineal title or had Sanders won it from Wlad i would recognize it. But I cant for the life of me recognize that fight for the lineal title and most dont either. I do thank you for opening my eyes to the Ring recognizing it and the excellent research and time you put in there though.

 

Thanks. To be fair, they weren't awarding the title in the 90's, that's why Buster, Holyfield x2, Bowe, Moorer, Foreman, Briggs, Lewis x1 and Rahman didn't have their belt, but the new editorial board underlined many times, that if they had awarded it, these guys would be their champions according to their policy. They came back on the right track giving the belt to Lewis in 2002.

 

Vitali would rack up more rounds with his long straight punches but Ibeabuchi could give him hell at times. Not enough to win the rounds though

 

Indeed!