Ibragimov vs Chagaev

Both top elite level talents and good thinkers in the ring. Would have been an entertaining, thinking man's bout. Sultan wins a tight decision with faster, more clever footwork and handspeed.

It is important to remember that Wlad took both their 0's.

 

C'mon , this is just a pro-Wlad post isn't it?

Micheal Moorer was greater than both of them and you wouldn't call him a 'top elite level talent'.

Same as Povetkin who was also better than both of them.. He fought a slightly competitive fight with Chaggy but was the clear victor. He'd beat Iggy as well. Iggy was not even a top 5 rated HW in a poor era.

What happened to levels in the sport. Tyson Fury and AJ are in the elite top level category . Sultan and Chagg were solid B levellers.

 

Even with a small amount of time passed since his historic title reign, many of Wlad's opponents have been revealed as top level elite talents. This is the value of context.

Expect estimations of Wlad's All Time status to rise annually. He will be a consensus top 5 ATG in a matter of years... possibly the greatest even in only a decade.

 

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I agree with this post. People were saying that if only we got rid of Wladimir, the HW division would open up, breath of fresh air, bla bla blah .... and it's worse than ever. Same old stiffs ducking each other and fighting rematches with suckola opponents. Fury weighing 3 tons and retired. Wach and Miller having a whale porn exhibition instead of a fight. Pffft.

 

You're forgetting the recent all time classic that was Charr vs Ustinov. That was one for the ages.

 

Oooh. I don't know about that. Unless you're thinking people are going to start believing Tony Thompson and Alex Lepai were all-timers.

You can make the argument the two best fighters Wlad ever faced both beat him. And he never avenged the Sanders or Purrity (who was a straight up journeyman) stoppage loses, either. And he had plenty of time to do so.

There aren't too many top five all-time greats who lost to guys like Ross Puritty.

The biggest wins of Wlad's career were probably Povetkin (and who knows how he'll be remembered), David Haye and Chris Byrd. (I don't think Chagaev was better than any of them. Maybe he was.) Wlad fought them a total of four times (Byrd twice). Scored one stoppage, even though he had pretty ridiculous size advantages over them.

I think Wlad is an all-timer. But THE BIGGEST names on his resume from an all-time standpoint will likely be the last two names on that resume. And he lost to them.

So I don't know about that top five rating.

 

Which Wlad fights were all-time classics, other than his final fight? Which fight that Wlad won would you point to as "one for the ages?"

Wlad dominated, yes, but most people found his fights pretty freaking dull if we're honest. HBO quit covering him after the Ibragimov fight. And they rarely do that, regardless of how dull a name is.

 

My post was a joke about the boring state of the heavyweight division.

You think I was implying that Wladimir is an exciting fighter?

 

Which Wilder fight was boring this year? Which Joshua fight was boring this year? Which Dominic Breazeale fight was boring? Which David Haye fight was boring?

I can think of a lot more boring divisions. And they'd include divisions that get nothing but praise.

Terence Crawford is just as dull as prime Wlad Klitschko. But since he's a super lightweight, he's the king of everything. And his division was terrible.

 

That's what was said about Holmes in the 90s. Then time passed and suddenly the 80s was a decent era. Same will happen with Wlad's era. I think he belongs in the same group as Holmes and Lewis.

 

I think Wlad at age 41, 1.5 years out of the ring raised his stock in a loss to Joshua. That's what will be remembered.