Can Wlad Klitschko beat a lot of old school greats?

So long as Wlad is fit and focussed (but then, that's the whole point with these prime vs prime matchups)...I think he'd do quite well against any of a reasonable Top 15 All-Time Heavyweights. I think you need to be a good banger to disturb him and upset his rhythm.

Until his career is complete you can never be certain though.

 

Foreman certainly had more than enough power to crack Wlad's chin, but the style is another matter entirely. Klitschko was primarily troubled by left hookers. That's not to say that big George couldn't catch him, but styles are always somethibg to consider.

 

wlad doesnt wear anyone out. quite opposite. he tires as the fight goes on against pressure fighters. facing a peak lean mean animal rocky marciano, he will get outworked, beaten down and stopped in the mid rounds-late rounds. maybe early, if rocky catches him with his overhand right.

Marciano TKO 7 wlad

 

No, he's not that good.

 

I know some of you will disagree, but i believe he could beat everyone from Sullivan to Patterson.

 

That's not an unreasonable claim. If Louis, Dempsey and Marciano were the best fighters of the first half of the century, then I think Wlad has an excellent chance of beating all of the early period greats.

 

No way Johnson of Jeffries beat him. They never faced any skilled big heavyweights and more important: they hardly knew what a jab was. How to throw it, how to block it, how to slip it, how to counter it. They also have no clue about what combinations are or how to keep your gloves higher than your waist. In case you don't want to believe me: watch their film. All they do is throw a punch, get in a long clinch, wrestle some, throw a few uppercuts, get out of the clinch and start it all over again.

 

I think the majority of the smaller heavyweights would catch hell from Wlad, same with Vitali.

They've got a modicum of skill to go along with their disgusting power.

 

He'd be a handful for any of them. Fighters who could beat him would be Tyson, Liston and Lewis. Less likely, but certainly possible, would be Foreman, Holyfield, Holmes and Ali. Either way, I think on a h2h basis, not career, he's probably top 10. There really aren't many fighers like Sanders out there, so he's unlikely to get blown out against most ATG's as they stylistically are very different fighters than Sanders. Course I'm assuming Wlad doesn't tire himself out, and uses all the attributes at his disposal. The one flaw I see in Wlad is that if he's pressured he tends to either freeze for a second or doesn't seem to instintively know what to do. That's way a hard hitting agressive fighter like Tyson could give him fits. He doesn't use his size the way Lewis does in these situations nor does he have that crushing Lewis uppercut at his disposal. If Frazier and Dempsey were bigger I think they do could beat him, as that's the style he'd have the most problems with. But you're not going to out box him from the outside I don't think. His jab is too good as is his reach and power.

 

Here's how I view it. What if Lennox Lewis, Joe Louis, or Ali was in their peak from 1890-1915? Would they have the classic modern skills, or would they mostly be a product of their time? I choose the later option.

HOWEVER, they would be the same man! This is why I prefer to rate the man, and not pigeon hole him in an era. Some skills such as power, heart, durability and stamina translate into any era. Other skills they rely on technical training, and strategy change as time passes / rules change.

If the fights were only 12 rounds from 1890-1915, the pace would be much quicker. I have little doubt the old timers had better stamina. I disagree a bit regarding the jabs. Johnson had a good jab, and so did Jeffries. The jab was just used differently in those days.

If Johnson or Jeffries were at their peak in 1960-present, they would have a different guard set, and be more offensively oriented out fighters. They were just not trained as modern fighters were. Johnson was a skilled clincher, and in- fighter with a sneaky uppercut. Jeffries was a great body puncher, and hooker with quick feet and slip and duck type of defense.

So the question is could Johnson and Jeffries have a much better jab and combinations in a modern era? Absolutely. Both were good athletes. The difference is between the two is durability and size. I don’t think Johnson would hold up well vs the more skilled punchers.

 

Dempsey,Louis,Marciano, had great chance of beating him after Marciano, Liston had a punchers chance but Vlad was much bigger and his jab and power shots would be tough for Liston to overcome, Foreman was more durable but was also open to a lot of Vlads power and his jab, the early rounds would be dangerous and Vlad must fight behind the jab and Foreman could start an avalanch with one snowball but if Vlad got past the 1st 5-6 rounds Big George would fADE and be vulnerable for the right, Ali and Holmes would have trouble with the size jab, and LFT Hook, Righthand power shots, with Lewis, Lennox had better early power but never got up to win, Vlad did but in this fight right now I favor Lewis, time will tell how good Vlad gets.

 

Not true both weighed 185lb. Dempsey was even lighter as he had to put weights in his pocket just to weigh 185lb.

 

I'm pretty sure Dempsey's highest fighting weight was more than Marciano's, I can't be certain, though.