How good was Vitali Klitschko ?

Vitali Vs Lennox
As far as I know Lennox said before the fight with Vitali that it was the last fight in his career, no matter how it ended.

 

No higher than top 20 and certainly not top 10 his resume is very thin.I take my hat off to him and the other Ukrainian boxers for what they are doing right now.Huge respect to them!

 

He and his brother are Unesco Ambassadors and have been for some years raising money for it and visiting poor countries.I think his present actions prove where he stands on human rights!

 

I thought Lewis was getting back in the fight.
They count the Byrd fight because other fighters have continued with similar and worse injuries and gone on to win.Buddy McGirt.and Danny Williams are 2 examples.
Vitali was in front against a much smaller, light hitting ,last minute opponent ,all he had to do was coast the remaining rounds, but he elected to quit,that's his choice and he was entitled to make it,but which option he chose cannot be ignored.

 

He's tough to judge. Physically few match up with him. Resume wise he's not Ali but fought about 9 ranked contenders and old lost to Lewis ( no shame on cut, up 4-2 in the match on all judges cards ) and torn his shoulder to a prime Byrd. No one thinks the Byrd match would be close with a healthy Vitaly, so it all comes down to what you think of Lewis. He did not get rematches. Top 10 for me strictly on head to head, top 20 on resume.

I have a felling his resume will rise because he's a hero and hero's are never under rated.

 

Very good but not great. He pushed Lennox Lewis to his limit (losing nonetheless, fair & square, whatever gripes folks may have) - but it has to be said that it was an old LL with one foot firmly placed past the threshold of the door already.

People harp on him being 'better' than Wlad in a h2h sense but I have always been skeptical of that. In terms of conventional boxing skill and power (he's heavy-handed for an arm-puncher, sure, but - not the same), Dr. Iron Fist was well short of Dr. Steelhammer's league. What he had as advantages were the so-called intangibles: his awkwardness (born of honing his talents primarily in a kickboxing ring first) and his physical & mental fortitude which most perceive as eclipsing baby brother's. I think at best you can call it a wash. Two imperfect but very good fighters, Wlad with the greater championship ledger (but still found a bit wanting in terms of major, "important"-feeling scalps) but each could have benefited from absorbing the attributes of their sibling and, with that nudge, probably been among the very greatest ever.