Vitali Klitschko vs Jersey Joe Walcott

I used to be a big Vitali fan, even attended his fight vs Chris Arreola in LA a few years back.

But I lost so much respect for him in the Chisora fight after Chisora open hand slapped him in his dressing room before the fight. I was expecting Vitali to come out for blood and to stop (or at least beat up) the durable but limited Chisora....
Especially considering how in his very next fight, HW pretender David Haye knocked Chisora out in brutal fashion...

But not Vitali. He went out and fought timid and overly cautious despite winning a virtual shutout.
Never have I been so disappointed in a HW performance.

For this reason I would pick the much smaller Walcott in such a match against Vitali. Wether or not Walcott slaps him in the dressing pre fight is irrelevant. Vitali did not like getting touched in the face, you could tell how much it bothered him, and how uncomfortable it made him.

Walcott was a different breed. He did what he had to do to win, wether or not he had to take punishment or not. I see Walcott KOing Vitali much like he did to Ezzard Charles. Just calmly walking across the ring and leveling him with a single right hand. I just don't see the fire in his belly to compete with a warrior like Walcott, I just dont

 

Walcott tricks and wheels his way to a split decision.

 

Walcott by close decision.He probably too sophisticated for the robotic Klitschko

 

Head to head Vitali is way too big and powerful. Walcott at his best would struggle with just those aspects, and nevermind the inconsistent form that he often displayed in his career. I find it hard to make an argument for small men beating Vitali and Walcott is no exception. Let's not forget that Vits has 2 losses (both due to freak injuries) and Walcott has like twenty. Vitali has been metronomically consistent in his career.

 

Tricks and wheels his way onto a stretcher,you mean.

 

Walcott has a deeper and stronger resume, and I rate him higher in a P4P sense, but Klitschko as a heavyweight has too many advantages h2h imo. I can see Jersey Joe being defensively good enough to go the distance and he'll have his moments, but barring some injury, VK likely wins a decision in the end.

 

If the Chris Byrd fight had never happened I'd confidently pick Vitali by TKO or wide decision but the Byrd fight did happen so while I'll still go with VK it's not a foregone conclusion by any means.

 

Vitali has every advantage, primarily being he was a more effective boxer. You add in the enormous physical advantages and iron jaw... This is a walkover.

 

LOL @ the 1 punch Walcott knockout

There's always that one guy

 

he lost against Byrd

 

Byrd lost every round and Vitali injured his shoulder in round 3. Byrd did not beat him

 

Walcott as good as he is, gets destroyed in about 6 rounds.

Vitali gets the range and just starts hammering him with the jab, finishing him with a right hand. JJW will try just about everything in the book, yet all his skills are not going to stop Vitali for long.

Brutal KO

 

Joe lost almost every third time he entered the ring.