So Vitali Klitschko has retired. First thoughts on his historical ranking and legacy?

forever is a big call, particularly when during his career, he was the man who knocked out two of the fighters that knocked out Wlad. I think that either way, Vitali's standing and legacy depends quite a bit on what ends up happening with Wlad, so it will be up in the air quite a bit. As things stand now, no matter what your thoughts, you have to rate Vitali somewhere near Wlad, but behind Lewis. Obviously he ranks ahead of McCall, Rahman and others. Despite losing to him, i do think it almost certain that he also rates ahead of Chris Byrd, although a huge byrd fan might make an argument, i suppose.

Hypothetically, if Hasim Rahman was to beat Povetkin and then unify with Wlad, it would make things very, very interesting legacy wise.

 

Would have liked to have seen a haye fight but its not going to affect his legacy any that he retired without having that fight. I am glad he has retired in one way as he seemed to be losing interest and it would have been sad to see him lose the title to someone he should beat. But his retirement makes the division look weaker than ever. It would have been nice to know some or even one exciting young fighters were about to come through and take his place.

His record is very good and for me he should be at least top 20.

 

3 names: Tunney, Bowe, Norton.

Where does Vitali rank in relation to them? Once you get to the 20-25 range, those are the kind of names I've seen around there.

 

How does your top20 look like?

 

The judges were paid by Vitali's promoter, it doesn't matter where they were from, they score for the hometown guy

I've seen the fight, Byrd was walking down, backing him up with better punches, making Vitali miss and winning rounds.

Blame it on his shoulder but don't pretend Vitali was dominating the fight before he quite, he was getting walked down

This maybe true, although the bias in your other post makes me not totally trust you as a source

 

By the way there was a big talk of Vitali rematching Byrd in 2004.

 

Hey, look, Byrd has a good resume and made a few dollars as IBF champ from '02 to '06.... However, he is not in the league or class of the K-bros... Not even close.... Byrd is already forgotten in the states, but the Klit brothers are Gods' in Europe, Ukraine and Russia, etc...... And, yes, hardcore boxing fans in the USA know they are the goods, too....

MR.BILL

 

Uhhh, Vitali hasn't retired.

 

hu

 

Byrd obviously was in Vitali's class as anyone watching the fight can easily deduce. P4p he was miles superior to Vitali.

He also has the better resume with victories over Vitali, Holyfield, Tua and Mccline.

It's achievements where Vitali gets his dues. He effectively unified the wbc, wbo and ring titles. He also has the best hw comeback in history. Plus the autistic stats do look good.

 

Leaving aside his size, in terms of boxing fundamentals he ranks below Ann Wolfe,imo.

 

Mendoza says:

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More bigoted comments. Sure, Vitlai completely lacks skills!. He really doesn't out land the other guy, its just fabrication in your pathetic mind!.

 

:yep

 

I was mistaken about Gomez ,he was only 36 to Louis's 37. Gomez best weight, during his prime years as a cruiser was under 190lbs, he scaled over 40lbs more for the Vitali fight.

See how easy it is to admit when you are in error ?

You should try it sometime, but then it would take up your whole day wouldn't it?


We know why you love Vitali ,its for the same reason you worship Jeffries .

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How can you get the spelling of a five letter name wrong? It's VITALI, not VITLAI.
**** me Rainman.


Ps Still waiting for all those primary sources to back up your lies.