“ Dominating a decade ” At the turn of the centruy Jeffries was on top of the mountain. From 1908-1915 it was Johnson's turn. Then Demspey. The early 1930's were a mess, until Joe Louis came around. In the 1940's, Joe Louis was king. The 1970's was Ali's time. With just a few days left in the decade, I thought I'd offer a piece in this decade of heavyweight boxing. When they first hit the scene as professionals in November 1996 as World Amateur Champions, many critics in North American and the United Kingdom labeled the Klitschko’s as amateur Eastern European boxers. Some called critics called them “ white hopes “. Some foolishly compared them to oafish heavyweights of yesteryear. Others greeted them with antipathy and bigotry. My opinion based on ring observation prior to 2000 was they would both would be future champions. Slowly but surely the Kltischko’s have silenced the critics. Indeed the brothers have dominated the decade of heavyweight boxing, punched out various myths, and forced boxing pundits to “re-think” their initial comments. Below is a thread on their accomplishments from 2001-2010. Record World title fights. Vitali: 8-1, Wlad 16-2. Combined record 34-3! 91.89% winning percentage. World title belts won. WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO. Lineal Champions defeated. Vitali: 1, Wlad: 1. Combined 2. Record of opponents when they fought them. Wlad 659-46-16 -91.4% winning percentage of opponents. Vitali 526-41-10 -91.2% winning percentage of opponents. Combined record of opponents: 1,185-87-26 – 91.2% winning percentage Distinctions earned. Vitali reached : #1 by all major independent Rankings ( Ring Magaizne, IBO, Box Rec, Fight news ) . Ring Magazine Champion. Ring Magazine Comeback Fighter of the year. Ring Magazine top 12 Pound for Pound ranking. First pro kickboxer champion to become a heavyweight champion as a boxer. Wald: reached #1 by all major independent Rankings ( Ring Magazine, IBO, Box Rec, Fightnews ), Ring Magazine Champion. Unified more than one belt, Ring Magazine top 10 pound for pound ranking. Top Ring Magazine ranked fighters defeated Wlad: 12. Vitali: 6. Combined 18. Number of undefeated prospects beaten: 7 Became the first brothers to simultaneously hold major world title belts in the heavyweight division. Formed K2 promotions which promotes large boxing cards, and gave millions to charity through the Klitschko Brothers Fund, a charitable organization. Like them or not, there is no doubt the Kltischko’s have dominated this decade of heavyweight boxing. Boxing Historians and fans will be referencing them 50 years from now. A legacy has been earned.
How come your prioritise secondary sources and ignore primary sources when you insist that Johnson-Johnson was scheduled for 10 rounds?
yes they dominated most of the decade but in my very humble opinion the oposition they faced was of a poor standard , and the only legacy setting fight either was in involved ended in defeat for vitali , and wlad falls down with his defeats against fighters he really should of beaten
Most of all they haven't fought each other. I don't expect them to. I'm just saying. They will never meet the other top HW in the division...neither Klitschko will ever beat his #1 contender. Meanwhile, their record against ranked #3 contenders is almost non-existant...they are busy in the top ten but less so in the top five, and as for their beating a fighter ranked 1-3? Doesn't happen, basically. Compromised dominance, I'm afraid.
There are very few atg's who meet each other in the ring when both men are in their primes or near primes. As I explained before, if Wlad or Vitali are #1 and #2, the WBA guy who has avoided them in many cases has been #3. Sustained dominance in a decade is very rare. The numbers speak for themselves.
the numbers stack up very well i suppose but if you put me in the ring with 45 blind men i would be 45 and 0 with 45 ko's does that make me an ATG, its all about the opposition when it comes to legacy surely i really like watching the old wba super-fly champion galaxy but i have to admit his opposition was not always as good as it could of been and i dont like to admit it but it does hurt his standing on here at times i may be rambling now as i have been up all night watching the cricket (sorry)
All true, nevertheless dominating an era like Wlad does is something that doesn´t happen so often. Jeffries Johnson Louis Marciano Ali Holmes Tyson Lewis did. And Wlad. He is in very good company here - and honestly, I don´t think his opposition is really much worse than Holmes´or Tyson´s 80s opponents. I don´t think you can hold it against them that they never face each other. Wlad faced Peter, Ibragimov and Chagaev when they were ranked between 1 and 3. That Wlad isn´t able to face the number 2 (Haye) and 3 (Povetkin) isn´t is fault either, both avoid him. It´s although a very recent thing.
Well you should ask your friends to provide a primary source, because all the ones that are turned up on this forum describe the fight as a 10 round affair. El Paso Herald describes exactly that, "a ten round bout". The Indianapolis Star called it "a ten round contest". The Washington Herald, in describing the fight before it happens, after it was signed, describes this fight as being scheduled for 10, and then Frank Moran for 20 rounds early the following year. That fight was then postponed because Johnson injured his arm. This is just the stuff I have sitting on this computer. EVERY primary source describes a ten round fight. Every one. You ignore this instead favouring what your friends say. At best, this is lazy.
Who is holding it against them? I can't make it any clearer that I don't expect them to meet. I'm simply stating a fact - they will never meet the other top HW of their time. This leaves them untested at the very highest level (aside from Vitali, who failed his test versus Lewis). The reason they don't meet is irrelevant. Like Dempsey, Wladimir will never be tested against the extraordinary HW of his generation.
Yes. That´s why I hope Vitali faces Haye early next year and loses and then Wlad beats Haye. Would solve this problem.
