A Second loss to Fury and he will be forever known as a bully man who used his size and multiple infractions of the rules to beat the worst crop of contenders in HW history. Greats dominate a weak era in spectacular fashion. Wlad dominated in an ugly , cheat infested fashion. Thats what he will be remembered for since he never produced the entertainment people get remembered for.
That glass hearted performance first time has already changed everything and people will remember that more than the times he won.
I would rate Wlad very highly. He was a great champ who may not have had the most pleasing style to watch but won many fights against good competition. Often when you have a dominant champ you dont get any atgs or legends around them because the champ is so dominant that the other fighters dont get to go to the top. Look at how people rate Ali, Forman, Fraiser yet all were relying on how the others faired as to whether they were great wins or not. Look at how now getting older Wlad has been beaten people are saying the division is interesting but that is because there was undefeated fighters and champs, but had Wlad beaten them, fighters like recent IBF HW champ Martin would not have been considered a decent win for Wlad but possibly would have been for Wilder or Fury and is for Joshua. Wlad beat - HW title holder (IBF & WBO) Byrd twice as a title holder HW title holder (WBO) Ibragimov (undefeated) HW title holder (WBA) Haye HW title holder (WBA) Povetkin (undefeated) HW title holder (WBA) Chagaev (undefeated) undefeated Peter twice who became HW title holder (WBC) Brewster who had beaten Wlad and been a HW title holder As well as undefeated world rated fighters like Brock Pulev and undefeated fighters like Pianeta Jennings Wach the whos who of the HW division Botha McCline Thompson Chambers Rahman Austin Nicholson Schultz Mercer I think Wlad will be one that gets more respected as time goes on. I would have favoured prime Wlad over many HWs (not all) but think his resume is greater than many that could be rated above him
I dont think Wlad was shot, just think Fury was all wrong which was why I picked Fury to win. Wont bore you with what I wrote now, but I was spot on