It's time to finally appreciate Wlad's class as the champion

I appreciate Wlad as one of the best HWs of all-time. I just wish he could fight Fury one more time for a belt so he could break Hopkins / Foreman's record.

 

Fair to point out that Vitali's stock was low at that juncture. But that was more his heart than his punch that was being questioned. There was a tendency in the States to write off non American HWs at the time but people here in the UK who saw him wipe out Herbie Hide knew he had something. My point really, that I stand by, was that Lewis was not widely perceived as ducking Byrd. And I don't really think he did. He just didn't have much fan or financial momentum behind him vs a guy who had just fought Tyson.

 

lewis definitely ducked a few. sanders and byrd.

 

Lol. Don't forget Gypsy John Fury.

 

On the other hand, Wlad never had the same opportunity as Lewis to be in such a massive money fight with Tyson, so we can’t really know what would have happened if he had.

 

The Haye fight was a big money fight with a lot of hype mostly because of Haye’s delusional fans that believed everything he said.

 

hard to duck a complete bum. the travesty would have been actually fighting him.

 

Not entirely true. Not a ton of people wanted to work with Don King, over his 'rights' clause that typically followed beating his guys. Nor was HBO interested in that fight at all.

 

He didn't have to. It was a legitimate stoppage win for Lewis. And with the reconstructive surgery and stitches Vitali required, who knows how long it would take for the rematch to actually take place.

 

No way in heck was Ray Austin on the level of Juan Carlos Gomez. If you actually believe that, I have to assume you aren't that familiar with Gomez too much. I don't mean that in a disrespectful manner BTW.

 

It didn't take that long.

 

You're right, he was back in the ring about 6 months later. With Kirk Johnson though. Might as well have been a tune up the way Johnson showed up..

 

The problem most of us had with the Klitschkos during that period was they were clearly the two best heavyweights. And they co-owned their promotional company, so it didn't matter to them who fought who. They both got paid as promoters through the promotional company, regardless of whose title was on the line.

So, you had two guys basically tag teaming the heavyweight title. They'd never fight each other. And, if one guy lost, the other just went over to cover for the brother who lost, and picked that belt back up for the promotional company.

Which meant neither really concerned themselves with winning rematches, especially if someone was a bad style matchup or whatever.

Both had their own strengths. So, if Wlad lost in two to Sanders, Vitali just beat Corrie next time. And after Corrie lost, Wlad didn't have to worry about it. Same with Byrd. Vitali loses to Byrd, Wlad just beats Byrd twice. Vitali doesn't have to worry about avenging anything. Again, good for them. Not so much for fans.

And if one brother avenged the loss, that was good enough for the German fans. So they both benefited from the partnership, whereas other greats would be picked at for not trying to avenge their own losses.

It would've been like if Ali and Frazier just decided to have their own promotional company and never fight each other. It sucked for fans, but it was great for the Klitschkos.

I mean, most fans today still hold it against Joshua and Wilder that they didn't fight when they were both on top. If they had been brothers, like Wlad and Vitali, and owned their own promotional company together, and nobody expected them to ever fight each other, fans would just look at their "combined" wins - like they do the Klits - and that whole part of their story (that people hold against them) wouldn't exist.

So, the Klitschkos greatly benefitted from ruling side-by-side, owning their promotional company, and having one another's backs if one faltered.

Back to the topic, though. Because Vitali ended up fighting Chisora, most fans are oblivious now that Wladimir Klitschko was scheduled to fight the unbeaten Derek Chisora twice. And Wlad pulled out of both fights.

The first time was in December 2010, and Wlad cancelled just days before the bout due to a rib injury. It was rescheduled for April 30, 2011. Wlad pulled out again, saying he hadn’t completely healed yet.

Wlad never got back to Chisora. Instead, Chisora chose to fight Tyson Fury (which resulted in Chisora’s first loss). Which is why Chisora spit water in Wlad’s face when the Klitschko brothers entered the ring for Chisora’s challenge of Vitali.

Chisora said later: “I trained for six months. Wasted so much money. Never got my money back. And they just pulled the fight when I got to Germany.”

But Chisora likely would've posed more problems for Wlad than he did for Vitali. Just like Arreola would've probably posed more problems for Wlad than he did for the iron-chinned Vitali. Arreola and Wlad sparred together, and Arreola always felt he could beat Wlad.

The Klitschkos may have believed that, too. So Vitali fought Chisora and Arreola. And nobody asks why Wlad didn't fight them, because his brother did and won.

Frankly, no matter how good Wlad and Vitali were, that was 10 years of madness for fans that I hope never happens again.

It hurts the sport when clearly the two best never fight and instead "share" the belts ... getting credit "subconsciously" for wins the other had, and receiving real paydays through their promotional company ... no matter who fought whom.