Can Wlad Klitschko beat a lot of old school greats?

What was with his heart vs Purity? It was lack of stamina, same as vs. Brewster, he punched himself out. Lack of heart was Vitaly's prerogative.

 

Wlad has all the ideal stylistic tools to take Marciano out, however Rocky's power coupled with the fact that Wlad has a less than stellar chin suggests that Rocky would always stand a punchers chance.

That said under Manny Steward I'd make Wlad favourite in this one, given the fact that he's been much tighter defensively and fundamentally better over the last few years. Wlad wears Marciano down for a late TKO. :good

 

It's not quite that simple though.

Sanders, despite a lot of shortcomings, had 4 great assets:

1) Southpaw
2) Quick hands
3) Very good power
4) Fast starter

It was a deadly cocktail for a (probably) complacent Wlad.

In addition, he was seen as a tuneup for Wlad and probably Klitschko didn't have enough respect for him.
I'd imagine his mental preparations would be quite different when facing a legend.

Common sense says he'd do very well vs. some legends.
He's huge, uses his size and strength well, has a pole-axe jab, big power in his right hand and left hook, knows how to tie a man up and has got good boxing fundamentals. That's more than half the legends have.
His only real weakness as I see it is his chin, but although his quality of opposition isn't much, you can appreciate just how difficult it is to fight against him.

Sure, I see him beating quite a few legends.

 

You say Brewster wore him down/Wlad punched himself out. I think it's quite clearly the latter. Wearing someone down means pressuring your opponent, taking the body, not giving him room to breath, etc. This was not at all the case in Wlad vs Brewster. Wlad was the aggressor all the time. Brewster landed only one body shot. Wlad punched himself out or did too much weight training. All Brewster did was show one hell of a chin and not get knocked down, but let's face it, other than being a punching bag, he did very little to wear him down. Watch the rematch how helpless he was in wearing down when Wlad was not aggressive.

Also watch how easily Wlad shoves Brewster into the ropes. He'd do that just as easily with Frazier; Brewster may carry around some bulk, but that should prevent you from being shoved around.

 

Agree. Wlad would have serious trouble vs true heavy hitters with skills, such as Louis, Dempsey, Foreman, Liston, Tyson, Frazier, Lewis. Yes, he has a punchers chance vs a Louis, a Dempsey or a Lewis, but Wlad is far more vulnerable in the chin department than either of them, and they are better punchers too (in combinations, if not raw one-punch power). He would be utterly schooled by an Ali or Holmes - Wlad would have almost no chance at all vs those two with their granite chins and massive superiority in boxing skills, speed, & mental toughness.

Wlad would be really dangerous for the smaller heavyweights who lacked the power to take him out and keep him off them. The Chris Byrd fight was a good example. I favour Wlad over Tunney, Charles, Walcott, Patterson and Holyfield. Marciano on paper should struggle, but you can't count out the intagibles, toughness, willpower, and 2-fisted KO potential which Rocky relied on time and again.

 

Sanders has a lot of speed and power. 225 is a good weight for him even if he has some lose flesh on his body. That's just Sanders body fat. He looked the same when he started out. Sanders caught Wlad early. Don't kid yourself if Sanders caught some other X champs he could TKO them too. In fact lesser puncher had all of the above guys either down or out.

Since the Brewster loss, Wlad has become a much better defensive and focused fighter. Being a linear champ is just a title. It does not mean greatess. See Leon Spinks, and Shannon Briggs. Wlad will win two belts, and if politcs allow, perhaps get a thrid belt. In the good old days, there was only one belt. It is harder to unify the titles, then to win the linear title.

 

Why not? Wlad is hardly going to out-point Ali, and he ain't knocking him out either. Ali would either wear Wlad down for a late KO or TKO on cuts, or he cruises to an easy points victory.

Ali stopped Liston, Foreman, and Frazier - 3 granite chinned champions with huge punching power. What makes you think he can't do the same with Wlad, who has a far weaker chin and less dangerous power than either of those 3? Ali absolutely ate up the big heavy-hitting guys.

 

Holyfield's a much bigger man than either Marciano or Dempsey, and he's no slouch for power either. Holyfield definitely has the potential power to stop Klit.

 

I think Holyfield has enough power to stop Wlad for sure, but I don’t think he has enough power for an early stoppage. Wlad’s chin is not that bad. Peter hits harder than Holy, and he landed some good ones that were legal and illegal.

When I look back at Hoyfield’s career, he was one of those fighters who seemed to have “ it “ some nights, and other nights was a bit “ flat “

 

While Ali did stop Liston, its fishy. While Ali did stop Foreman, George ran out of gas. Frazier was by no means a granite chinned champion. Ali was a good attrition fighter with a great jab and a solid right hand. Wlad has rare one punch KO power in both hands. He also has stmaina to get late TKO's. When you factor in his skills, reach and handspeed, you Wlad's offense is as good as anyone's.

Wlad would only need to land about 60% of the punches Ali landed on Foreman to stop them. Maybe even less than that in Frazier's case.

 

No doubt at all Holyfield has the potential to stop him late.

What you are saying, is that Holyfield was an inconsistent fighter

 

I agree with this post, I see Ali and Holmes having trouble with Vlad because of Vlads Offence(great right hand(HOLMES) and fantastic hook(ALI) ofcourse Vlads Jab would be an important weapon vs all but it would be the hardpunching and relentless guys that could wear Vlad down or drain him with power shots. I also like Walcott because of his slickness and power and one shot ability but Vlad jab and power may be a deterent for a guy like Walcott and keep him safely at bay. I also like his chances vs ALI and Holmes because they were outside fighters and in this department Vlad has them out gunned,Speed would be Ali and Holmes edge but slight,Vlad has a fast and powerfull jab,a rocket right and turns the hook off the jab,quickly and deadly and Ali could be caught with the hook over his right and Holmes with the right over his jab

 

This is an excellent point that too few people give credit to. A lot of people are quick to judge champions based on weather or not they either unified or were considered the lineal champion of thier day. Holmes for example was the concencus best of his time, despite not acquiring multiple alpha titles. Champions who have unified such as Tyson or Lewis, only did so because politics were in their favor. Under different circumstances, unifications are seldom made.

 

Foreman would slaughter him pretty easily. You're on drugs punk !