Now that the dust has settled... where does Wlad belongs ?

Haye had faster hands than both Sanders and Wlad, but, remarkably for such a big man, Wlad had faster feet than Haye.

Footwork was the big difference from the Wlad of the Haye fight and Wlad from the Sanders fight.

 

Sanders beats Wlad again in a rematch based on how he couldn't keep Tony Thompson on the outside and repeatably got touched up in an ugly fight full of spoiling
Is a guy who got decimated by past prime Sanders and fought Edwardo Moli instead of the rematch deserving of a place in the top 10 off all time? He failed 2 opportunities to beat past prime Sanders.

 

Awesome post!

 

His longevity at the top and number of title fight wins gives him a strong argument for top 10. But I can’t see him making top 5. He sustained some bad losses during a time in his career when he could have been considered prime or at least let’s compromise by saying that he was at the point where he should have beat those men even if you think he hadn’t peaked. Furthermore there was a good portion of his career where he more or less “ shared “ the title with his brother and together they picked off opponents that were unpalatable to the other or even avenged the other’s losses. In addition Wlad’s fighting style was questionable in terms of whether or not it was legitimately within the rules as he did an excessive amount of holding. Needless to say it was on the border of being an infraction at best and yet he often got away with it. Continuing on, I’m not sure if any of his 64 victims ever made the hall of fame or ever will. And unless I’ve missed somebody, the only linear claimant he ever beat was Hasim Rahman who was beyond shot by that point .. I know all this sounds harsh and I’ll probably get some blow back for it. But I’m not saying anything different from what numerous people have said all along. But ending things on a positive note, he did show heart in coming back from some severe defeats and establishing just about the longest reign in heavyweight history. For that he has a case for greatness

 

True. And Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Muhammad Ali weren’t always totally clean either. I guess it’s just part of the game sometimes

 

Leroy Jones had to retire after the Holmes fight due to a damaged retina from Larry thumbing him in the eye. I’m inclined to thinking it might have been accidental though.

 

Nice to see a top 20 All Time HW ranking without Tyson Fury. Well done, sir.

 

Haye was far less aggressive than Sanders, agreed.

Wlad definitely made a substantial adjustment to his style and his conditioning post his losses to Sanders and Brewster. He simultaneously became far more boring and far more effective at avoiding being beaten, by using his feet and jab to avoid his opponent getting into range regularly and clinching when they did.

 

Well there's a post of the week if ever I've seen one - a joy to read and extremely insightful and balanced.

 

Has the dust settled?

He's only been retired for 6.5 years and the post-Klitschko era is still ongoing. Two of the five fighters who beat Wlad are still active.

 

This entire post was outstanding, absolutely nailed the pros and cons of where to rate Wlad. Nice one TR.*



* Although he's top 10 for me.