Is Vitali Klitschko an ATG?

I think he just edges the top100 so I voted yes.

 

F.F.Sakes...... We've been through this crap over and over, but for some reason certain jackass' here don't seem to get it...... Again, for the umpteenth time, Vitali Klit performs better when pitted against a pressure fighter looking to mix-it-up..... That is why he was so dominant against the likes of "Peter and Arreola." HOWEVER! When matched with a slippery ****er (Gomez or Johnson) looking to block and evade punches all fight long, V.K. kinda' gets thrown out of his element / zone..... But he still manages to get the job done and wins.......... Cheerio......

MR.BILL

 

You forgot to mention that when he faces someone that is a decent fighter, who comes to win, and who isn't intimidated and fires back, he either gets bust up or quits :deal

He's fought 2 good fighters in his career, and he's lost twice. Tells you all you need to know about VITLAY.

 

There are so many underwhelming fighters on these lists I don't know where to start. Let me pick out one of the better ones and ask you a simple question.

What would be the result of Tommy Gibbons and Chris Arreola over 15 rounds? Honestly.

 

Pound for pound? No. I agree. Top 100 at heavyweight? I dare you to try and list 100 heavyweights who were better than either Klitschko.

 

They were the best of a horrible lot.
If there was any depth of
quality among the challengers, do you think.
35year old Sanders
36 year old Rahman
35 year old Donald
36 year old Gomez
would be in the mix ?
Add to them, until recently, Maskaev in his 40's plus Ruiz also 40s,add 45 year old Holyfield, again tilll recently in the mix, the division stinks.
I don't care if a guy has a record of 50 wins, all by ko, and no losses, it who he is beating that counts.
Otherwise we have a BrianNeilsen /Lamar Clark syndrome.

 

Jack Johnson has nothing to do with this debate.
Smason Pauha?
Vitlai? Sounds like a low calorie health spread.
Take your time ,you know you make these faux pas when you get excited

 

Where did I suggest they were?
I included some examples of both their title challengers to illustrate the lack of quality among them.

 

F.O.
:fire

 

Spurious and indefensible logic. Good day, sir.

 

Bill, you're a solid poster but you rate Vitali based on emotion and speculative H2H (Which you overcompensate for because Vitali can't be exposed by worthless comp that doesn't test him). Even some the bad Klit fanatics don't claim Vitali is a top 20 HW because they know they really can't do so. But you rank him #6 or #7... something absolutely insane. How is he ahead of his brother? How can you defend this? What has gone wrong in that head of yours?

Vitali isn't even top 7 based purely on H2H.

 

I remember a good discussion on whether or not Lewis ducked Ruiz and Byrd and I think some more besides.

 

The big differences between Golota and Vitali: avoiding uppercuts on the inside, swift foot movement, high hands and bodyshots. This was a key part of my argument, so I don't see why you're creating a strawman of it purely being about Bowe being shot...

 

There's no conceivable way Vitali Klitschko's an all-time great.
His resume is very weak.
His claim to being champion is very weak - in 2004 it was a stronger claim but he only beat Corrie Sanders (& Danny Williams!).
His comeback was an impressive feat, relatively speaking. But we have been living through an era where several average fighters have claimed heavyweight titles.

 

Jones has great career-defining wins over superb boxers like Bernard Hopkins and James Toney.
Whitaker fought against JC Chavez when the Mexican had a 87-0 record, and not only beat, but totally schooled him (then got robbed in the decision). He also had a great win over Azumah Nelson. Calzaghe has a thin resume, but he did win all his fights.

Winning against quality opponents as well as journeymen is the biggest factor in rating someone IMHO. This is where Vitali, whilst very good, is a little behind the all-time greats - he lost the one fight against a great, and hasn't beaten anyone else great. IMO he would need to make either lots more defences against journeymen, or beat one or two ATGs to qualify as one himself.