Regarding Holes In Legacies?

No sure he really "missed" most of these… as almost all were shot (Holy, Tyson, Ruiz, Grant) or just not that good over the last ten years (Boytsov).

Helenius and Adamek never quite rose to top 3 contender status. At some point, the onus is on the opponent to make a good enough case for challenging the top dog.

 

You forgot to add Wlad to Vitali's and vice versa!

 

Yeah this pretty much makes Lennox's Lewis's record look like the Mercedes Benz of Legacies.

 

He fought Johnson cause he thought beating Johnson would secure a rematch with Lewis. So fight 2 was for the belt. Fight 3 would have been Tyson but he couldn't get by Williams who Vitali fought

He was going to face Rahman but got injured and retired

It's not like he didn't try to fight Lennox again or Tyson

Minus the injury he would have fought Rahman who posed a minor threat and most likely would have continued on vs the best

 

The few heavies who had long reigns all had filler. He had Brock, Iggy, Haye, Povetkin and Pulev… add Chambers and Byrd and that's a decent balance. No one in that division placed a murderer's row from start to finish of a longer reign.

 

:think:think:think
Some Wlad never got around to

Mike Tyson-Done in 2002
Evander Holyfield-Lost to Byrd, Sultan, who Wlad beat.
Michael Grant-blew out by McCline who Wlad beat.
David Tua-Done in 2003
Fres Oquendo-never held a title, never above top 5.
John Ruiz-Lost to Chageav whom Wlad beat.
Chris Arreola-after Vitali, went into rebuilding mode for years before getting knocked out by Stiverne.
Siarhei Liakovich-Wlad beat the guy who beat him.
Nicolai Valuev-ducked Wlad, lost to Chageav who Wlad beat.
Denis Boytsov-lost to Leapai who Wlad beat.
Robert Helenius-beat up by Chisora and apparently quit.
Tomas Adamek-only guy Wlad missed but never rated above the top 3.

Wlad is the first undisputed Champion to make multiple successful defenses against the RING #1 contender since Ali.

# of titles vacated by Wlad: 0

 

Yes, much like JP Coopman or Leon Spinks not being top 3. Every long reigning champ has filler. Legacy is based on their important wins and if they in fact ducked a leading contender.

 

Vitali's resume is pretty bloody poor.

 

McVey is clueless. Wlad left Barrett face down in a pool of blood. This thread is an obvious reaction to a fair question on the Lewis ( who I rank highly ) legacy thread. Should Lewis be downgraded a bit for missing key fights, not offering re-matches to those who gave him a tough go, and catching Tyson when he was essentially done. Holy was past his best.

The Klitschko's have ruined McVey's viewing of the heavyweight division for over a decade. :happy Wlad is still going strong. :happy McVey say the Klitschko's are boring. He also said Jack Johnson's style makes his **** boil, but defends him. Logic on what he says obviously does not apply to his bias.

 

Misleading. Vitali focused on politics for a while. Better put was Vitlai had 13 fights post Lewis. Ranked contenders like Haye and Valuev ducked his offers! That's a fact.

Sanders ( #3 ) Peter ( #2 ), Gomez, Arreola, Solis, and Adamek ( #2 or #3 )were in all the top ten when Vitali beat them.

Vitali was going to beat up Tyson, but Williams upset Tyson. Vitali did not make his legacy beating on former champions outside of Briggs and he nearly killed him. Could you imagine Holyfield vs Vitali? The ref and ring doctor would have to be very careful as Holy would not quit and would be badly battered.

Vitali wanted to re-match Lewis. Lewis declined.

 

In all fairness, Wlad has had some opponents that straight out didn't want to negotiate, or atleast his people have made it out this way over the years.

Now this isn't all his fault, but I'm sure some of the contracts offered contracts have included a rematch clause, as well as a clause to fight his brother as well.

I don't have any evidence on me to back this up, but I've followed the Klitschkos reign since I started watching boxing around 6/7 years ago and I've seen more than one fighter come out and ridicule these slave like contracts.