Likely #1 in the division out between him and Fury. I think style wise Fury may just always his number but kind of hard to tell in some ways. Wilder would have a fair shot at icing him as he pretty much does against every HW ever with that right hand, but I'd still pick prime Wlad over him. Be interested to see how Wilder took Wlad's right hand
Ruiz arguably beat Parker as well as other top names. And again, it’s not as if Klitschko ever avenged that loss to Purrity
He avenged his loss against Brewster, who was a level above Purrity and was better than Ruiz is now. Tell me about all these great victories Ruiz has had please. He is an average fighter in a weak era.
I think he'd always struggle with Fury, but KO's AJ & Wilder in his prime. Forget the likes of Whyte, Parker etc. Missmatches.
Manhandled? He was a sea hair away from KOing Joshua and just failed to pull the trigger in his 40s. Behave.
I am absolutely sure that current Wlad would annihilate "doughnut kid" Whyte, who went life and death with Wach..
Yeah manhandled. Joshua was knocked down after he gassed trying to KO Wlad. The only time Wlad has success was when Joshua was trying to catch his second wind. Joshua was moving Klitschkos entire body back just with the force of his jab alone. He knocked Klitschko down three or four times and nearly uppercutted his head off of his shoulders and into the stands
You're out of your mind man. If you don't think Wlad from 5-6 years previous has a great chance of stopping Joshua then you might want to follow a sport that you can actually understand.
When did I say Klitschko from 5-6 years ago wouldn’t have a chance ? If bum Ruiz could do it, of course Klitschko would have a chance. Maybe work on your reading comprehension You can argue that the Joshua who fought Klitschko was green and still carrying too much muscle and recklessly going for the kill caused him to gas and get knocked down in the first place. A rookie mistake which Joshua has since addressed
Wlad crushes this era. He was an all time great and a better athlete than all the current belt holders. He was badly in decline when he fought both Fury and Joshua. He was in decline against Jennings. Even against Pulev. Wlad dominated barely losing a round for 10 years. Wilder whom Wlad crushed in sparring loses more rounds in one fight than Wlad did in years. Joshua escaped from a 40 year old Wlad in his final fight. Fury could pose a problem but Wlad was dying for a rematch and Fury wasn’t. Makes me believe prime Wlad with Steward finds a way to get to him. But that is the toughest matchup. Everyone else loses. Clearly
Wlad's era was just as strong, if not stronger, than this current one but suffered from the fact that it was utterly dominated by Wlad himself. Fighters like Ibragimov, Chagaev, Haye and of course prime Povetkin were superb boxers that Wlad completely outclassed, and the fact that an aged Povetkin is still hanging around the top of the top ten now says it all regarding how well those other fighters would have done. Haye would have blown Wilder away (and I'm not a Haye nuthugger by any means, but he's got a massive style advantage over Wilder) and fighters like Ortiz and Whyte would just be a couple more 'bums' for Wlad to dispose of (or would be called that today had they fought back then). Ortiz himself would be another Sam Peter, or at best another Odlanier Solis (who was more skilled than him), Kownacki would be another Arreola, Hunter another Eddie Chambers, Parker, Wilder and AJ another Haye (fast, powerful guys that are hyped up to beat him), Ruiz another Chagaev, Whyte another Brewster post-upset. None of these guys would have stood out. Only Fury and Usyk would provide Wlad with challenges he never experienced in his prime, but Usyk right now hasn't proven to be any better than Chris Byrd at HW (proven considerably less as a matter of fact), and Wlad had no problems with Byrd either time they met. Wlad's era was dull and uncompetitive, but that's not the same as being weak; rather a byproduct of having such a dominant and consistent champion.
Fury's the only fighter I think could have beaten Wlad in his prime, simply because he knew how to negate all of Wlad's strengths under Steward. I actually think a pre-Steward Wlad would have done considerably better, because he wouldn't have been afraid to let his hands go, and no way would Fury have stood up to the barrage that Wlad inflicted on guys like Brewster and Mercer. He would have crumbled, and early.