Question to those who consider Wlad a great...

Good post. Longevity (due to Vit's injuries) is the only aspect in which Wlad rates higher IMO.

The reason why people rate him under Wlad may be also the fact that during Vitali's absence Wlad became dominant and that perception hasn't changed when Vitali came back as he willingly, in his own words came back to be a number 2. I think he might have beaten Wlad even now but that ain't gonna happen so the general perception will probably stay as it is. And that means that Viltali was viewed as the king of the division just for 3 fights after Lewis retired. Hardly an ATG standard but that's only for people not understanding the situation IMO.

Vitali>>>Wlad

 

Vitali's career could be circumscribed as "And all that could have been". His body crumbled and let him down. His comeback is a borderline miracle.

 

Wlad has more title defenses, more belts, smoother technique and more single punch power than Vitali.

Vitali is tougher.

 

I don't see many arguing Wlad is a top 5/10 ATG heavyweight. In fact, I don't see anybody.

Reasons why Vitali isn't as high as Wlad on all-time heavyweight lists:

• Wlad would beat him H2H.
• Wlad is a superior fighter in terms of all-round ability.
• He ranks better H2H.
• He's accomplished more.
• Greater longevity.
• More dominant.
• Much better resumé.

Vitali's recent comp - nor the competition he's beaten over his whole career - doesn't come anywhere close to Wlad's.

 

h2h imo vitali would beat wlad 6 times out of 10.

But wlad has longtivity, a great record. 55-3 with 49ko, thats impressive, especially if you see that 25 guys were rated in the top 15 when the fought him.
wlad has imo 3 wins a against very good composition.
say what you want, but byrd was a very good fighter, when wlad beat him.
ibragimov is very underrated here, he was a silver medal winner at the olympics and unbeaten world champion.
chagaev was a stand out amatuer world champion, unbeaten heavyweight champion, who beat a very good version of ruiz, a prime valuev^^, and a prime virchis.

so thats why i rate wlad very high and vitali below him

 

in a recent poll asking where wlad ranks ATG right now, i think the vast majority of voters had him top 15

 

Wlad's overall competition is far better. You only need to compare their records on boxrec to show you that. Wlad has 58 fights, whereas Vitali has 42 fights.

Here's a question; do any of you take amateur accomplishments into account when ranking ATGs? :think

 

Not on the subject maybe but I take nothing but my all around impression into account when ranking. There are so many factors that vary from fighter to fighter, their concrete lifes and careers that strict, computer-like comparing things like resume, number of losses, even KO ratio etc is a lot like compu box numbers - says something but can be totally misleading.

I just know Vitali is bad mofo. Badder then Wlad. A threat to any HW in history. It's more based on head to head fantasy matchups for me but I pretty much trust my views and think it's more fair.

 

Who would win if they fight each other. I'd say wald

 

fighting the top 15 really isn't anything to boast about for an ATG. Think of the #15 HW right now. Do you think wald beating him would impress you.

 

Cause Vitali being an ATG is a given.........it is merely stating the obvious.:good

Wlad is having to overcome his KO losses, and is finally making everyone forget those with one powerful display after another.

But yes, Vitali does rank higher than Wlad............in my opinion.

 

Valid points. POints I factor in when I place Vitali ahead of Wlad, still now.

 

Vitaly would beat up your entire country! Arrogant Swede/Dane...

 

So how does top 15 equat to top 5/10 exactly? He's probably in the 15-20 range right now.

 

They should be rated close to each other. Some big Lewis fans do not like Vitali because of the fight they had, and Vitali fans asking where is the re-match Lewis promised.

Vitali has several ring records. Highest KO%, best rounds won to rounds lost ratio in the history of champions, never floored by a punch, and came back off nearly 4 years without a warm up fight at age 37 to whip Sam Peter, Gomez, Arreola, and Johnson ( Four top ten ring magazine ranked guys ) and to this day at age is 39 is still kicking @ss and taking names.