Is Vitali really an H2H monster?

Yes. Chin. Engine. Heart. Unorthodox style. Attitude. Vitali is one of my top H2H picks. Sure, someone will come along and question his 'win list', his losses, whatever but he passes my 'eye test' just as another great Ukranian, Usyk, does. I don't have Usyk anywhere near my top ten heavyweights, but he is close to Vitali on my H2H list...

 

No lol

 

Overrated H2H. You will have read the reasons in here 1000 times.

 

Not exactly.
He was quite unique and awkward—a nightmare for many opponents. I can imagine him beating the likes of Ali, Tyson, Frazier, Ike, Holyfield, and Usyk. At the same time, due to his very specific defensive style, he could have been knocked out or cut by fighters like Foreman, Lewis, Witherspoon, or Wilder—men who were nightmares for him because their reach rendered his defense completely useless. He was unlucky that his most famous rival was someone who was his "kryptonite," rather than, say, Holyfield. Had he faced Evander in 1999 instead of Lewis, I think he would have won decisively—while still losing to Lewis, which is exactly what happened.

It’s hard to say when Klitschko was in his prime. At 40, he seemed better than he was at 30. Yet, he didn't have one single, standout peak.

 

He was indeed one of the biggest H2H monsters of this century so far. I would put his brother,Wladimir ahead of him due to his longevity and his title defenses but H2H prime for prime I would back the older sibling to win.

 

He would be a problem for alot of Heavyweights due to his size, chin, stamina.

And I also give him credit for barely losing any rounds in his career even if they weren't against upper echelon Heavyweights.

But again consistency is still a good asset to have. And you've seen plenty of Heavyweights lose to opponents that on paper that they shouldn't lose to so credit to Vitali there.

But on the flipside people assume he would beat alot of great Heavyweights. When his resume is quite uninspiring then I think that's quite a big assumption to make.

Especially when Vitali's best win is arguably a 38 year old Corrie Sanders who was out of shape.

And also the fact Vitali had very good opportunities to beat his 2 best opponents.

Lewis was out of shape and coming towards the end of his career.

Byrd had a weeks notice and he was fighting in Vitali's backyard in Germany.

And Vitali failed in both of these fights no matter what excuses you think are valid he still lost.

So in that regard yes I think Vitali is a bit overrated.

But I do still think objectively you can say no one would beat him easy.

 

Good post, I think one of his greatest strengths was his consistency in fights, he rarely lost rounds, and even in the 2 that he lost he was up on the scorecards.

 

Against the guys of his time, absolutely.
He had the chin and power to beat more or less every one in front of him.
But against the best names of the past 50 - 60 years, imo not so much.
He reigned well in a weak era.

 

He's absolutely a H2H monster. Tall, heavy but always in shape. He had his own unique and somewhat janky style, which makes gameplanning for him really hard. Between his rising jab and his chopping right he has a ridiculous KO percentage. People say that his KO percentage doesn't reflect how hard he really hit. That actually Vitali was an arm puncher.

Well, yeah, but that's a feature, not a bug. His oddball defensive style means that he was always swaying back and forth, not really planting his feet to generate power but always ready to clobber a guy reaching for him. And Vitali could throw those arm punches all night long without getting tired. I remember tha Frazier / Vitali thread where people were sayign Frazier outworks Vitali. Uh-huh in fact the stats say that Vitali had a higher workrate than Frazier.

He utilized his height very well, to bait guys to try nail his iron chin (a waste of time since he's got one of boxing's ATG chins) and then swaying back, making them miss by inches and clobbering them in turn. His timing was magnificent.

Vitali is kind of a unique prospect as a foe and there's a reason why people think he's a H2H stud.

 

He lost 10 rounds officially. Some might say Byrd and Chisora deserved more rounds each but that would still leave it under 15.

 

No.

 

Not sure what a head to head monster is . If it means that he should be favored over Muhammad Ali or a prime Lennox Lewis then no….. he’s not. If it means that he would be a hard opponent to beat for a lot of fighters who range from good to excellent then yes. I can see a case being made. Vitali Klitschko is a very large and strong heavyweight with a durable chin, decent power and reasonably good skills . Quickness is about the only category he lacks in. As for the other categories I don’t give him an “ A” grade for any of them but probably a B+ for all of them. He’d have a good chance of beating most or all of the 80s alphabet champions. Mike Tyson and Larry Holmes would have my vote to beat him but they’d receive tough fights . In Vitali’s defense, I don’t use his two losses as gauge for how he’d do in EVERY fantasy fight as some regularly do. In one of those fights he suffered a torn rotator cuff. In another he sustained a very severe cut. In both cases he was winning up to those points . And these things only happened once each in like 45 pro bouts which is hardly enough to establish any kind of Pattern.

 

So many contrarians in here. Of course he was.

1) Never knocked down.
2) Had the highest KO % at one point (HW champs).
3) Lost very few rounds.

These attributes are for a boxer you create in Fight Night - not real life.