I agree that the fight tonight doesn´t make Wlad the undisputed champ...I think most ppl do. But don´t give me the crap that the winner Chagaev/Ibragimov would be a more worthy candidate of that title. Neither of them are dry behind their ears since baptism in the HW division...so I´d say the division is still pretty open, but Klitschko stands out with his record.
I'd say Wlad is the best, but he isn't THE champ; unfortunately he's only A champ. He's probably had the best recent opponents (can't say defences!), but apart from possibly Peter those opponents were hardly enough to set the gold standard.
This has got to be the most ******ed post ever. By your logic the great, dominant heavyweight champion Larry Holmes can't be regarded as the best heavyweight of his time because he never unified the title and that was when there were only two belts to win; the WBA and WBC. Get a grip people. As Jim Lampley tried to make painfully clear tonight. The belts mean nothing. Ring performances do and Wlad stands head and shoulders over every other heavyweight fighter when it comes to accomplishments in the squared circle. He outboxes the K.O. machine Peter, K.O's the brilliant boxer Byrd, outboxes and outpunches the number 1 and undefeated Calvin Brock, K.O's 6ft. 6inch Austin without firing a single right hand, spanks his conquerer Brewster making him quit like a ***** and people are still arguing about who the best heavyweight is? I know it's fashionable to bash and discredit big, bad Wlad but this is getting embarassing. Wlad is the man at heavyweight. Deal with it!!!!
He's the man, but he's NOT undisputed champ. Most people recognize him as the best (including me), but 20 years from now our opinions won't mean jack if Wlad doesn't have the achievements to back up our claims that he was the best. He will go down as just another belt-holder and be forgotten if he doesn't achieve something tangible.
the winner of ibragamov and chagaev will hold a lineage of victory over wlad from wlads loss to Brewster. Thats what he needs, not the belts they hold.
Beating a guy coming off a draw, Austin, a shot guy coming off a loss and severe injury from over a year ago in Brewster, a nobody in Brock and a guy he beat before and who had gift decisions and bad performances in recent times in Byrd, that doesnt make great accomplishments. He didnt so much outbox peter as grab and clamp him all fight.
You can't be serious!!! "A guy coming off a draw'? Dude the guy Austin got a draw with is Sultan I. You know Sultan? The guy who won a title from the power-puncher, charismatic Shannon Briggs. "A nobody in Brock." You mean undefeated Brock and the best American heavyweight at the time AND number one ranked heavyweight contender, "a guy he beat before in Byrd", you do realize that Byrd like Jimmy Young of Ali's time was a master boxer of the highest order, Klitshko's victory over him was by no means foreordained. Yeah, I'll concede his victory over Peter was a little sloppy but as Wlad clinched too much Peter hit to the back of the head too much. Wlad Klitshko, especially off his victory tonight over one of his conquerors, Lamon Brewster has EARNED the right to be called the MAN at heavyweight.
Thank you for being the only intelligent poster to respond to my thread. As these idiots post Wlad is the best, but he's not the champ? WTF!? As long as one fighter has to hold all 4 belts at the same time we will never have an undiputed champ, because of mandatories fighters will never be able to keep their belts while they await another fighter to defend their belts and so on. But I have to share this board with a bunch of children and trolls. So I get one intelligent response out of like 40 posts. Anyway, as I said before Wlad is already the UNDISPUTED champ. Final!!
Err.... no he isn't. I'm pretty sure Maskaev, Ibragimov and Chagaev dispute it. Therefore he is NOT undisputed. Also, take a look at what WLAD HIMSELF says on the subject in any of his recent interviews. He says himself he is A champ, not THE champ. :deal
There is a reason we actually hold the fights. Besides, no one knows how good Chag or Sultan really is at this point.