Wlad is a in a paradoxical position- he needs wins over other very good fighters, but one of the very few ways a fighter can prove his quality these days, perhaps the only way, is stepping in agaisnt Wlad Klit. Or in other words, if Wladdy rolls Povekin, Chagaev, Sultan, Peter, Boytsov, etc. People will say he beat a lot of second rate guys. However, if one or two of these guys manages to spilt a series with Wlad, then it becomes a "gret era" of talneted guys who an beat each other, like the 70's or 90's. Am I making sense? Its weird, but thats boxing. For your wins to count, you have to loose. We remember great fueds like Leaonard-Duran, Graziano- Zale, Lamotta-Robinson, Ali-Frazier, Saddler-Pep, Luis-Schemeling etc. Ect. Converesly, look how Marciano is denigrated.
Bert Sugar is a ****ing idiot when it comes to rankings. Your average ESB geezer is smarter than him. I don't think Wlad will ever rank higher than Lewis, because Lewis was able to avenge both losses whereas Wlad will never be able to erase the Sanders loss. That said, IF he goes on the next 5 years beating the top contenders like Lewis did from age 31, he can look pretty damn good. If he manages to defeat Chagaev, Povetkin, Sultan, Valuev and other up and comers, he'll have a good resume. Not as good as Lewis' (who's legacy will increase as time passes by, i suspect), but very good anyway. An important question is, will Wlad lose again at 35 like Lewis did? Given the fact that he's already lost a few times, he can't afford to, if that makes sense.
Wlad has more fights than Lewis, it is logical that he would have more losses. It's all about proportion. Lewis would also have more losses if he had fought 50 fights, imo.
Thats a silly claim who would have beaten lewis if he had more fight's, lewis will always be better and ranked higher than wlad. There is nothing wlad could do that would put in him higher than lewis, nothing at all.
In theory he could. What about dominating until 2017, unifying and beating 20 more ranked contenders and also avenging losses. :yep :yep :yep
If Wlad can be as good at 34-35-36 as Calzaghe seems to be, instead of having an early prime as Tyson did, then Wlad should be fine...if he starts slumping at 33= uh ohatsch
I actually think that could happen. :think I am actually a fan of Lennox. I rank him as the best heavyweight of the 90s and #4 of all time, after Louis, Ali and Holmes.
Wlad won't be ranked ever as high as Lennox; I have him top five. I liked the fact that for such a tall fighter he had a great inside game especially his wicked uppercut delivered when opponents had his back against the ropes. But if Wlad keeps winning and taking on all top challengers he can verge on breaking into top 10 territory.
It isn't possible to compare the career of a fighter who is a champion still in his prime to the career of a retired champion, it is always going to be an incomplete argument. And Burt Sugar is a ****** who relies on his hat and cigar to make him look astute and knowledgeable when he really just gibbers incomprehensible shite.