Wladimir Klitschko: how highly do you rate him?

I posted this earlier today, I'd like to know what the consensus is regarding Wladimir Klitschko, and my opinion of him:
(this was from a thread on the best fighters since '95)



It's not really a matter of who he has or hasn't fought, it's because he just isn't that good. That's my honest opinion formed by watching most of his fights from the late 90s onwards. The only 3 good wins he has ever had IMO were against Byrd, Peter and Mercer. And yet I don't rate the Peter and Mercer wins that highly, he was very cautious against Peter and was KD'd 3 times, and Mercer was old. Add that to stoppage defeats to guys of the calibre of Brewster, Sanders, and Ross Purrity, and I just can't see how we have a very good fighter here at all. He is just lucky to have come along at a time when the hw division was very weak - I fully expect him to be exposed by Chagaev or Haye, that's if Povetkin can't manage it first. And Lewis's resume is much much better than Wlad's.

Like The Ring and most other people, I wouldn't have him in my top 10 p4p of the moment, so I can't really understand how he could make anyone's top 20 since 1995.

I gave my top 15 1995-2008 earlier, and will add the five who would make up my top 20:

1.Roy Jones Jr
2.Floyd Mayweather Jr
3.Lennox Lewis
4.Bernard Hopkins
5.Oscar De La Hoya
6.Manny Pacquiao
7.Marco Antonio Barrera
8.Erik Morales
9.Felix Trinidad
10.Joe Calzaghe
11.Juan Manuel Marquez
12.Winky Wright
13.Shane Mosley
14.Kostya Tszyu
15.Johnny Tapia
16.Ricardo Lopez (obviously he would be higher than this if the time-period was extended, but he only fought 12 times after '95 and the opposition wasn't great)
17.Miguel Cotto
18.Ricky Hatton
19.Dariusz Michalczewski
20.Jose Luis Castillo

That's my top 20 and I do not believe Wlad deserves a place in there p4p. In fact, I can see the argument for a whole raft of others to be in front of him as well, guys like Casamayor, Corrales, Quartey, Vargas, Margarito, Forrest... Hamed. (and that's not even including the guys ranked above him pound-for-pound right now like Pavlik, Vasquez, Calderon, Mijares). I would also say that even though his weak resume and early retirement count against him, Vitali was a much better heavyweight than Wlad h2h.




Do you agree/disagree on W.Klitschko? Have I been fair or harsh?

 

I don't think it would have been as academic as that. Chagaev would've given Wlad a serious fight when he was WBA champ, and he'd still give him a serious fight now.

 

P4P he probably should be rated higher because of Vitali's early retirement and therefore weak resume, but he was a far superior fighter to Wlad h2h. Vitali would NEVER be stopped by guys like Purrity, Brewster and Sanders - not in a million years.

 

I can't ask anything else of him - but I can say with justification that I do not think he is a very good heavyweight champion. My justification is in the thread-start extract.

Oh, and he didn't beat everyone that came along. When Ross Purrity came along, he stopped Wlad. When Corrie Sanders came along, he stopped him too. He didn't beat everyone that came along at all.

He is only 32 and may achieve more, but the thread that that was originally posted on was asking for best fighters 1995-now, so possible future wins went for nothing in that discussion.