In of history, there have been four occasions when a former heavyweight champion ended a retirement by immediately challenging for a title. James J. Jeffries lost to Jack Johnson after being out of the game for 71 months. Joe Louis lost convincingly to Ezzard Charles following a 27-month retirement. Ali got stopped by Larry Holmes after being off 25 months. And Holmes was abused by Mike Tyson when he came back after a 21-month absence. And just last months after a year off Vladimir Virchis lost. Forty-six months is a long time. And history is not on Klitschko's side. 37 year olds in general have losing record against younger oponents. Why Klitschko is not taking a warmup fight is beyond me and gives Peter a huge edge early IMO. More here: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=raskin_eric&id=3626132
You're a moron. This is you, same guy who says Floyd mayweather would lose to anyone in the top 10 at WW :nut and your signature is ****ing ******ed.
Jefferies had to lose 100 pounds Ali already had the beginning stages of parkinsons not to mention he had to lose a lot of weight Holmes again had to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time See a common denominator here? Klitschko does not abuse or let himself turn into a fat slob. the other guys were fighting ELITE fighters for the Championship in Johnson, Tyson, Holmes etc. Vitali is fighting Sam Peter who has no skill. The only thing that is true here is Klitschko was away 4 years. You are not comparing apples with apples.
the poster does have a good point about the huge absence Vitali has taken away from boxing but at the same time he is not coming back against Jack Johnson, Larry Holmes or Mike Tyson. I personally believe this is a pick em fight that will all come down to conditioning and dirty tactics
But history also shows that Shitali beats overweight fighters who aren't ATGs (Lewis), and there's a decent chance that Peter will be overweight.
so is your response. stop being a ***** and put yourself on the line. i really hate lame dick cheapshots like this from people who can't do any better. EDIT: by the way i agree with the floyd welter argument but if you can't reply to someone better than that you don't deserve a response.
that was my first thought exactly. we're not talking about a high profile champion who will be remembered - peter is a powerhouse who has yet to prove himself and is seen as limited.
You're a newbie anyway, no one cares if you post again. Furthermore, the bookies know way better than you who the favorite is, and that is Vitali.
First of all Vladimir Virchis was never the world champion so that is meaningless. Secondly all of those previous fighters were formerly the best heavyweight champion taking on the best heavyweight in the world at that time. Vitali was considered the best heavyweight champion when he retired and he is fighting Sam Peter not his brother Wlad. In previous times Sam Peter would be considered a contender not a champion. So in reality we have someone who used to be the best heavyweight in the world coming back to fight a top heavyweight contender in his first fight. The only time in history that that has ever happened was when Ali came back after 3 years and 7 months against top contender Quarry and KOed his ass. Vitali is fighting Peter after 3 years and 10 months of retirement. Sorry but history says that Ali has already done that and won in the only time that it has ever been attempted by a heavyweight. History is actually on Vitali's side.:deal