Corrie Sanders in the 70s

Cooper fought Holyfield 1991, Sanders 1993
Billups fought Lewis 1992, Sanders 1993
Puritty fought Klitschko 1998, Sanders 1997
DeLeon vs Holyfield 1988, Sanders 1994 ... was a bit of a difference, but DeLeon was on an 8 fight win streak.

So no, not "out of their primes"

 

Well ... all right. But I'll tell you something.

 

So Schultz is better than Klitschko? Are you high?

 

Botha was never as dangerous, you look at rounds boxed and ko's Sanders is miles ahead. He blasted out guys that were regular fixtures in the 90's scene. The Rahman fight could have went either way, I never like standing counts. Holyfield was saved by one against the earth shattering and fear inducing Bert Cooper if you recall.

 

Needs to lay that crack pipe down.

 

Having a close fight with Moorer and beating Schulz was better than anything Sanders had done around '97ish.

Yes, Cooper gave Holyfield some trouble, and then Holyfield proceeded to beat the **** out of him.

Lets give Sanders a big pat on the back for beating Cooper.

Bowe, and Foreman beat him too, as did a whole host of other guys.

You know your resume is **** when you have to build up Bert Cooper.

 

The referee saved Holy's butt, because there was supposed to be no standing 8 count under the rules and yet he gave him one anyway.

 

While I disagree with your view of Sanders and the poor quality of his opposition outside of Wlad, I have to agree that even that version of Wlad who was massively flawed was a better win for Sanders than Botha beating Schultz.

Schultz may have been riding high at the time having been robbed against Foreman but nobody really rated him that highly at the time. Also Botha didn't really beat Schultz as it was changed to a NC after he tested positive for nandrolone.

 

Nelson went on to defend the WBO cruiser title 15 times after losing to Sanders. Just sayin'

 

I only mentioned Cooper because he lost out on a standing count like Sanders did vs Rahman. Sanders resume is better than any active contender in the sport. He beat Wladimir by ko and gave Vitali fits for several rounds: two top 10 atg hw boxers.

 

I noticed that, but he's not as good as Sprott or Cooper per Mad Wazza.

 

I don't think that he was "massively flawed". I think that he wasn't defensively minded enough. Pity because I liked that version of Klitschko who brought the pain and wasn't scared to let his hands fly.

 

He was flawed. He didn't know how to pace himself, as proven in the losses to Puritty and Brewster, both of which were winnable fights.

He had big holes in his game. He had too wide a stance, making him immobile, it's one of the key reasons Sander's beat him. He would throw and then be left standing in front of his opponent to be countered.

Yes he was a more exciting fighter and had all the physical tools, but I always preferred Vitali and rated him above Wlad even before Wlad lost to Puritty. He was too amateurish, wasted tons of energy with wasted movement of his hands and feet, too twitchy, and frenetic, Vitali always seemed the more seasoned pro to me, more relaxed, controlled distance better etc.

 

I'd agree Vitali was the natural fighter. You look at Vitali around the time of the Hide fight, he was so quick and light on his feet for a guy 6'7" and near 250. Compare to Wlad, or today with Joshua who is pretty static in my view.

 

Those are some fair points you make about the younger Wlad. I agree that Vitali is better (H2H at least, not resume) which is why I was disappointed that Sanders turned up in such poor shape against him. In retrospect that version of Sanders probably never had a chance against Vitali whatever he did, but, still ... if he'd managed to somehow beat Vits that would have been a huge feather in his cap.