Although I think Vitali is a stronger and more dangerous fighter than Wlad, I have to say Wlad is #1 in the HW division as of this moment..
I'd say by round 6 or 7 Wald eats the right hand that puts him to sleep.....and I say round 7 only b/c Wald is Vits brother and would probably be going easy on him.
The better fighter is Wladimir... The better chin belongs to Vitali... Chins don't win fights though, skills do and as long as Wlad is winning and not getting stopped or knocked out he is the more exciting and gifted.. Vitali is dull and never exerts himself , he just does enough.. I would pay to watch Wlad , i hate to say it, Vitali is too ridgid and looks like a robot , he is very unnapealing in a world of showmanship and theatre.. Povetkin has to throw his hat into the ring yet........... Haye , Chambers , Barrett, Johnson, Arreola have to provide us with more answers too..???? They may aspire to become somebodies too..
I would go with Wlad But, (this is where I get it from all the wlad-getarians) I believe Wlad has faced a group of carefully chosen opponents. Primarly avoiding punchers. I know, I know he faced all his manditories! Well consider Povetkin and Chambers that fought for the right to meet Wlad weren't even in the to ten when the elmination tourney began to find a manditory. The other two chosen were the inactive Byrd and Brock that were in the top ten(Both light punchers were ko'd by Wlad already and offered no challenge to do better again). Byrd won once in the previous two years and hasn't looked good for several years. Brock in the bout previous to the tourney was floored by the often ko'd cruiserweight Alex Gonzalez, sure he got up and won a decision but... I ask if the only two fighters Wlad's camp approved for the elimination tourney that were in the top ten were light punching Brock and Byrd. What happened to the other nine fighters ranked above Povetkin and Chambers? They were not even offered a spot! So now we get Povetkin whom I like and consider a great prospect but has little chance this early in his career. And when Wlad beats him as he should, Wlad-getarians will proclaim how great he is.
I think Wlad still has a slight edge right now -- wait for Wlad and VK to have one more fight and ask this question again! Wlad does have a dangerous fight coming up and hopefully VK will take on the huge, but limited Valuev.