Did Vitali Klitschko's punching power diminish after Byrd?

Really? Whats the difference compared to a 5'7" 150lb man? I think you're reaching.

 

Comp and evolving technique and tactics had more to due with it than anything. He had very underestimated, very high level power. Larry Donald was a great example of that, which happened after Byrd. Donald faced a ton of top, hard punching comp over his career, really could make an argument he's a top 15 all time HW chin, was never kd'd except by VK, who did it three times.

You don't get the second highest ko% of HW champs all time without great power. VK just changed his strategy to grind people down over time rather than be as aggressive. If he had taken the strategy he used against Chris Arreola against Lennox Lewis, I think we would have seen a different result, but we'll never know.

 

Uhm, first of all, he was being sarcastic. That's why he kept insulting you after, because you never picked up on his sarcasm. Second, "myth"?! VK is the only serious HW champion to never be knocked down, and I think one of only three HW belt holders never to be knocked down. Pele Reid knocked VK out in a different sport, leg kicks provide vastly more power than a punch. It would be like Oliver McCall's chin being questioned because he chooses to do an MMA fight and gets submitted. Moreover, VK was about 20 years old, and way, way too thin. HW's need to age and fill out to get their chin peak (David Tua was brutally ko'd in an amateur boxing match, and is also one of the ATG HW chins), and VK hit his later on. I don't think he's got quite as good a chin as Oliver McCall, but he's definitely in the top 5-10 all time for HW chins, no real debate.

 

Yep... Vitali was more of a volume puncher who stopped guys late from there on out.... Although he was never a concussive KO puncher...

 

http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1365179/belts.jpg

 

Vitali fought bums and glass jaws before Byrd, that's why they were falling down early.

 

Technically he was put down by Sanders when his glove touches the canvas, the ref just didnt see or call it. And I wouldnt say he was a "serious" heavyweight champion as he only had one defense. The rest of the time he was just a top (the top) contender in a weak era holding a paper title in a weak era feesing off the softest comp in comparison to his brother who has been the only serious heavyweight champion since Lewis.

 

You check Larry Donald's record, he would have held his own in any era but was stopped by VK, a VK hampered by a dodgy knee and shoulder. I doubt any of Bowe (won UD12 vs Donald in 94) Holyfield (who lost to Donald) or Lewis would have done that able bodied tbh.

Sanders was the only man to get close to putting Vitali down in the ring, I agree on that.

 

You´re right. I think it was the back problems that made him an arm puncher, but that only made him more brutal imo. Look at Adamek, Briggs, Arreola..

 

Come on man, Donald was a fringe contender at best. He was decent, but he wouldnt have been anything special in any era if he couldnt acheive that in a notoriously weak era. Vits didnt destroy him, he wore him down over the course of the fight which is what he always did unless facing a journeyman type opponent.

 

His record is good though. I said he could hold his own, that doesn't mean special. You look at some of Vits common opponents with Lewis. Levi Billups, smashed up in two rounds by Vit, Lewis UD10. Sanders smashed Billups up in 1 round 3 fights after Lewis. Lewis should be glad he never faced the sniper. :deal

 

You cant go by what one fighter did against another. Styles make fights and guys come and go at different paces.

 

The bytch wasn't being sarcastic, he was serious.

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Based on what. Because he took an uppercut from Lennox Lewis?
Ray Mercer and Zeljko Mavrovic took more devasting punches from Lewis and didn't need the doctor to save them. Are they both in your all-time pfp top 10 chin list?

I hope you're not one of those people who were ranking Charvez Jr's chin top 10 because he was beating up Middle Weights he literally towered over. Corrie Sanders arguably knocked Vitali down but wasn't credited for it by the ref. Vitali made a career fighting overweight midget. The 2 times he met men his own size got his face tore up and head the doctor safe what was left of his overrated career.

Besides winning the event against Lewis, who did Vitali beat, and how many great punchers did he fight to be ranked in your top 10 alltime list.:think

 

We'll have to agree to disagree on those points. I always thought the kd argument against VK in Sanders was horrible; Corrie grabbed Vitali, and pulled and pushed him while holding his leg behind him to trip him. Of course he was going to his knees there. It was very much the correct call from ref. I think Corrie was frustrated that Vitali didn't go down when he hurt him and was starting to recover. As for Vitali's worth, we've already long since put our respective beliefs out there, and they won't be reconciled. We're really not all that far off our actual rankings considering you hating him and me being a fan, I appreciated that you're at least reasonable enough not to obscenely underrate him (I believe you were in lower twenties, right?). And I don't have him as far up as some, I've actually downgraded him a bit to borderline top 10 as a result of his second reign victims really looking absolutely horrible in the past couple years. To be fair, it wasn't his fault. His only bad defenses were Kevin Johnson (looked like he might be a contender at the time) Albert Sosnowski (took as stay busy when Valuev refused the most lucrative offer of his career despite no longer having a belt) and Charr( took when David Haye played spoiled brat and refused offer). Eveyone else was a solid contender at the time and has just looked bad since.

 

My responses to Jab go to most of this. And my earlier post really goes to the rest, you don't fight as many top HW's and be champ, not going down, and not have a great chin. The Lewis match led to some overrating of Vitali's chin, to the same extent the Sanders match led to underrating Wlad's chin. He had about 14 title defenses in his reign, mostly against good comp, some, like Arreola, Briggs, Sanders, Peter, were very heavyhanded. I'd put McCall above him for chin, probably a few others, but honestly, everyone else is debatable. Valuev? Lesser comp and rocked badly against Haye. Chuvalo? Got some uncredited knockdowns, and was facing vastly smaller, less powerful HW's. Mercer? Took Lennox's shots even better than Vitali, but went down a few times and ko'd by Wlad even if shot at the time. Mavrovic? No, Lewis was the only real top HW he ever fought. That can simply be accredited to stylistic matchup, I wouldn't rate Mavrovic as an ATG hw chin. Who would your top 10 HW chin list be (honest question)? I'd have to really think about it, would be a good thread for someone to do, but I can't see any way that Vitali isn't high on that list.