Over both Kilts perhaps, I think the brothers might make a nose dive in the ratings as a result. All depends if they still go on and rein perhaps.
U mean if he stopped Vitali as well ? top 15 4 sure and that would mean that Vitali was @ outside of my top 10 as well . Vitali's opposition was not stellar , just like Max Schmelling's wasn't , but at least he didn't share his humiliating KO losses . Even 1 serious stoppage loss would have still had him higher than Schmelling whom had his more than fair share , but that would have proved something that Vitali's haters (im not a fan myself) don't have yet .
I think he'd top Ike Ibeabuchi as the recent king of the what-ifs. A guy has a solid journeyman career, winning most of his fights by knockout. He's fast, he's powerful he's good, but he's lost in his most serious fights against his best opposition(And save for Rahman, it hasn't been great). Thats a plenty good career, more than 90% get to have in this sport. Sanders at this point is a known quantity. Then, he pancakes the heir apparent to the heavyweight thrown, and(in the divergence from history) proves it isn't a fluke by beating the number one heavyweight in the world, big brother. A gatekeeper goes from nothing terribly amazing to RING champion in two fights, scoring massive upset wins against the two best heavyweight fighters on the planet who weren't named Lennox Lewis at the time. Then he retires? People would be saying wtf, and scratching their heads about Sanders for decades. Did lightning just strike twice? Or did this guy, somehow, really hit his stride and become the best heavyweight on Earth?
Beating both the Klitschkos wouldnt have done much more for his legacy in my opinion because I dont rank the Klitschkos that highly. Sanders was a decent fighter probably better than most of the fighters either Klitschko has faced in the last decade.
The problem with tagging value to this scenario, is that had Sanders beaten Vitali, then Vitali's worth as a fighter would have diminished, leaving people reluctant to give him much credit for it.... Hell, the only thing most people seem to touch upon as it is, is the fact that Vitali " lost to the two best men he ever faced. " That said, I myself think that retiring with a record of 39-2 with wins over both Klits, plus a fair number of household fringe and journeyman types in Duplooy, Cooper, Cole, Pritchard and Purity would have been a decent legacy.. But I don't think he'd be taken very seriously when being compared in a historical sense.
After all Nate Tubbs and Hasim Rahman were bums compared 2 Max Diekmann , Larry Gaines , Gipsy Daniles , Max Baer and losing decisions 2 Jack Sharkey , Jack Taylor and Steve Hamas could only add 2 his aura of invincibility . And Al Cole had nothing on William Stribling . 1 has 2b knocked out a sufficient # of times 2b taken seriously . This is Y I think Schmelling > Louis . Remember that Schmelling was 33 years old 4 their rematch , far removed from his unbeatable prime .
