Rethinking Vitali Klitschko's career

Mendoza · Aug 16, 2009

SuzieQ49 said: ↑

Yes I did. and I am giving him an applause. If he beats Arreola it will be the biggest victory of his career. Congrats to him. it does not exuse him for the fights he missed out on 1996-2003.
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And which fights are those? Names and dates please from 1996-2003. By the way I can't beleive you listed 1996 and 1997 as dates for big fights Vitali missed out on!

Regarding Arreola, he has not accomplished more than Johnson, Donald, Peter, Sanders, Gomez, or Hide. I do not think Arreola will rate as a top three win for Vitali, unless Arreola manages to come back and win a world title belt + make a few defenses of that belt.

As I mentioned before I'm up to a friendly wager of avatar rights for three months on the Vitali vs. Arreola fight. Care to take a chance? After all, the fight is in Arreola's back yard, he is un-defeated, and much younger

Quick Cash · Aug 16, 2009

If Arreola wins, then I completely misjudged him. I don't think he'll see the 6th. I'll be utterly shocked to see him go 9. Personally, I want Vitali to win, but if a loss actualizes into a showdown with Wlad then it wouldn't be so bad.

Rubber Warrior · Aug 16, 2009

mr. magoo said: ↑

I have always thought of Vitali Klitschko as being a legitimately strong force to be reckoned with in heavyweight boxing, and frankly still do. Even now at the age of 38 and after returning to the ring from a four year hiatus, he may very well be one of the best in the division.

After careful consideration however, I am also having some reservations on how good he really was. Statistically he is as good as almost anyone. But his competition and results against such opponents does not sit well with me these days. I do not think little of him as his detractors do, nor do i try to blow him up to the stars as his supporters often attempt. I think he is probably a better than average heavyweight who simply can't be considered great.

Taking a look at the pluses vs the minuses

POSITIVES

1. He has the highest win/ko ratio of pretty much any heavyweight champ.

2. Has lost the fewest number of rounds percentage wise, of any heavyweight champ.

3. Was never dominated, even in defeat.

4. Has claim to have won a world title after returning from a semi-retirement.

NEGATIVES

1. The Chris Byrd loss is viewed by some ( not necessarily me ) as a quit job that he should have gutted out for a bit longer.

2. He fought galantly, but still lost to a 38 year old Lennox Lewis who was off for a full year and showed up at a career high weight.

3. His comp list is very thin in terms of quality. He fought men who most fans would rate as being fair to good, but not very good or great.

CONCLUSION: I think Vitali Klitschko deserves to be considered as a worthy opponent for a lot of great fighters on a head to basis. His size, chin, strength and reasonable boxing ability would make him a formidable challenger. On the flipside, his legacy doesn't bare much weight, or at least not at the moment as it currently stands.

As far as I'm concerned, Vitali is 4-2 against world class opposition. The only reason I say that he has 4 wins at this level, is because I'm actually trying to be generous. Can we honestly say that Sam Peter, Herbie Hide, Kirk Johnson or Corrie Sanders were truly exceptional fighters? Sure they were worthy foes, but how well prepared were those men? It looks good on paper that he avenged his brother's loss against Corrie Sanders, but only after Corrie had spent 13 months outside the ring, gained weight and looked rather dreadful. i am still not quite certain if the incident in the first round was truly a slip or if he was indeed knocked down. On the surface, his win over Sam Peter looks great because he was 37 years old and coming out of retirement to beat a 28 year old champion who had never been stopped. The problem is that Peter showed up looking like he hadn't trained a day for that match ( and likely didn't. ) A similar case can be made for Kirk Johnson..

I like Vitali, but don't really know what to make of his rather controversial career anymore..
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For me this is easy. He had unfinished work with Byrd...when Byrd was a co-champ....but he did dick about it. And it doesn't matter that his brother finished Byrd up or that Vitali might very well have done a better job of it had he taken the rematch....he didn't and it's a black spot.

Before his retirment his resume was thin...with just about everyone annointing him as the best heavyweight on the planet (I didn't). They were too over zealous and such a distinction needs to be earned...hence the entire point of this sport. atsch

His comeback surprised me AND impressed me. Yeah, about a half dozen guys were waiting around to expose what I long held about Peter....but Lurch made Fatty-Pattaty quit after dominating every second of the encounter while winning the freeze-dried WBC Title that the WBC jumped through hoops in order to ensure their favorite son won (creating ridiculous mandates that they DON'T use for anybody else, etc.) :good

Then he beat down the underrated Juan Carlos Gomez - and impressive feat in its own right.

Truth is Vitali is doing terrific work now. I'm glad he's back and I hope he keeps busy and injury-free....but DON'T try to tell me he's accomplished near as much as his brother or is the best man in the division today. Wladimir has been doing all of the clean-up.....whether you like him or are like most...down on the guy.

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Rethinking Vitali Klitschko's career

Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

Quick Cash Well-Known Member Full Member

Rubber Warrior Resident ESB Soothsayer Full Member

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Rethinking Vitali Klitschko's career

Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

Quick Cash Well-Known Member Full Member

Rubber Warrior Resident ESB Soothsayer Full Member