Vitali Klitschko vs. Frank Bruno

It's not his fault that the HW era is so bad right now.

 

He lost to Byrd. Despite being well placed to win. He lost to Lewis. Despite having sustained success early. Who are his best wins, a semi-retired Corrie Sanders and a brainless Herbie Hide?

He has a raft of soft, unmotivated, mediocrity on his record.

In the same way Valuev did, and nobody rated him.

http://boxingwriter.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/klitschko-no-longer-vital/

For a fuller view on his return.

 

It's hard to avoid a brawl with a 6'8" guy with decent handspeed, which is why I'd pick VitKlit to trouble or beat some of the ATG - you need chin and toughness to beat him, which Bruno didn't have.

 

True, but you can say exactly the same about Vitali.

Yeah but he still lost every round.

That's true - although he offered Toney a shot when Toney started Golota-ing and needed a shot badly; Toney turned it down while saying he'd beat both Klitschko's on the same night. Peter came along after Vitali retired. Ibeabuchi had a lot of trouble outside of the ring, he was already in prison for a ridiculous short amount of time for some punk act, some time between 1999 and 2001. Holyfield was pretty much done when Vitali came into the picture and Valuev fought nobodies untill 2005; again, after Vitali was retired.
So the only ones of that list that he should've fought to establish himself are Tua, Ruiz and Rahman. Fair enough (he was scheduled to fight Rahman in 2005 by the way, but got injured... again).

30lbs overweight? That is a huge exxagaration. Sanders is a tall (6'4"), very wide shouldered guy; his prime weight was about 225lbs. Against Vitali he was 235lbs, which is 10lbs overweight. If you factor in that the body naturally stores more fat (slower metabolism) past 32, you're at only 5 or so lbs too much.
And the Sander that fought Rahman still gassed after 4-5 rounds; his stamina has always been a problem.

Agreed. Well, they're close.

Yes, but he redeemed himself in the Lewis fight in the best way possible. And it's still impressive to dominate Byrd for the period that he did.

Yes i did, my bad. Witherspoon and Smith were good, no doubt about it.

Well by "weak chin" i didn't mean that if you hit him, he goes down easy. But instead, if you hit him with a good shot, he sort of freezes, stops body movement, legs are gone and he's just a sitting duck untill the referee stops it.

 

Where did i say he was a top line champion?

 

Yup, he's just below par with Shavers.

 

1. Yep, goto give Vitali that to an extent
2. Most did against Tyson
3./4. Excuses a side Vitali didnt face top opposition and its at least partly his fault. He took forever to step up and was calculated. Ducking Rahman/Maskeev with 'injuries' is very ironic after he talked so much about Lennox
5. NO NO NO, I'm a nutritionist and its a FACT SANDERS WAS 30LBS over optimum fighting weight against Vitali. He probably had 40lbs of fat on his body. He shouldnt have weighed over 205lbs with his lack of muscle. And as you say Sanders always gassed - he was never in shape and was always a front runner. Although credit has to be given to Rahman - did you see that fight? It was a good 1.
6. Redeemed himself against Lewis? Yes and no. He lost afterall but made a good fight of it. Lewis was 37, slowing, at a career high weight, and looked worse than when he lost to Rahman. So he was there for the taking to some extent.
7. TBH if the Bruno who fought Lennox/McCall got hold of Bowe he may have pulled that 1 out and done what Golotta nearly did do.
8. Brunos chin was actually top quality but he panicked when hit. It took some punchers to put Bruno away though and he got past some big punchers too - McCall is no doubt a banger.

I think its a fight that could go either way, Bruno definately had the better jab, power and strength. Vitali has the better intangibles. Both have stamina issues (before Vitali gets hyped I'll point to his open mouthed gasping for air and his quiting against Byrd late on), Bruno has more stamina issues. I don't think theres much in the defense/boxing skill/speed. Both could score the KO, yes I'm not sold on Vitalis chin

 

I think Lewis and Byrd wanted no part of Vitlai in a re-match. Who's fault was this? Neither Lewis nor Byrd had injury issues.

30 lbs over weight? Sanders best weight was in the low 220's.

Vitlai was stronger, taller, had more stamina, better defense, more confidence, and a better chin. You not sold on Vitlai's chin? Why not? he was never knocked down, and took some hard shots along the way.

 

1. And who says Vitali had injury issues? It sounds like an excuse. Why didnt Vitali fight the top contenders like Ibeauchi, Tua, Peter, Rahman, Tyson, Golota, Holyfield, Toney, Ruiz, RJJ, Valuev. Yes some avoided him (RJJ did) but he should of made the big fights and he never did. Lets not forget Byrd was Ibeauchi leftovers and Sanders was Rahman leftovers. Vitali could have really built a legacy if he fought the big fish after he had the WBC belt - he never did though.

2. Sanders was fat at 220lbs - he was 220lbs against Wlad and VERY FAT. HE probably was 20% bodyfat against Wlad. Even at 210 he was about 15% bodyfat. A fighter should be 10% bodyfat at most

3. Actually Bruno was a beast and the stronger man. Had the better jab and far far better power. Better chin? Vitali was shaken to his boots by old out of shape versions of Lennox and Sanders. What if the hard hitting Bruno hit him more often? That could translate to a KO.

 

Vitlai had documented surgeries to repair his knee, sholder and back. This is not an exucse. It is fact. Vitali was supposed to fight Tyson. There was good promtoion in Europe for this match, but Willaims defeated him, so he fought Williams instead. Don King would never match Ruiz, Holyfield, Goltoa, or Toney vs Vitlai. Never ever. He matched men he had under contract with each other. It was a win - win for King that produced many boring fights. Ike was in jail. Tua was in-active. Valuev did not win a title until Vitlai was in-active.Who could Vitlai really fight? Just Rahman, and its only because King wanted the belt Vitlai had. Vitlai says he wants Maskev or Peter next. The winner here might be #2 behind Wlad.

Byrd was the #1 guy for a while, and so was Lewis. Thought Vitlai lost these matches, an injury and a cut is to blame. He was up on points in both matches. I say again, why did Lewis avoid the re-match? Why did Byrd avoid a re-match? Part of Vitali's legacy is the best did not want to try their luck vs him again. The other part is whiping everyone else.

Sanders best weigt is 220-225. I can say most fighters are 10 pounds over weight, which puts Sanders at 230-235.

I don't think Burno was the strogner man. I don't think Bruno hit harder than Lewis or Sanders. I tend to doubt Burno has the stamina to keep Vitlai or the chin to take much of the in-comming. Bruno was a mentally weak fighter who doubted himself. Vitlai's stare and towering size alone might make Bruno unsure of himself in the ring.