Vitali Klitschko's lineal claim and Chris Byrd issue according to The Ring

Ok I understand that I'm just saying that it's generally supposed to be about merit

 

So you are saying that Wlad would never beat Puritty?

 

I am saying:

1) Wlad fought Puritty.

2) Puritty won by KO.

3) For whatever reason, Wlad did not fight him again.

I assume we’re in agreement on these things?

That leaves us with your supposing that Wlad would win a rematch, but he and his promoters did not make a rematch happen … so that is just supposition and completely moot.

You pick Wlad to win the rematch. I’m assuming at the time you also would have picked Wlad to win when they actually did fight … and you’d have been wrong. So you’d be just as likely to be wrong if they had fought again and you picked Wlad.

 

No, I wouldn't. There's this little thing called "context" and you are missing it. The guy had 25 fights within the first 2 years of becoming a pro. That is a very fast pace that very few modern heavyweights have completed. This fight with Puritty was especially important to Wlad considering he was doing the promotions for this fight since it was his first in Ukraine. On to the fight itself, Wlad tried too hard to get the knock out and look good in his home debut. He could have easily not been so aggressive and boxed to an easy UD since he was winning almost every round. Wlad shot himself in the foot. This is not the Sanders' fight. Wlad gassed himself out and he has no one to blame, but himself. But you for some reason think Wladimir Klitschko is afraid of Ross "The Boss" Puritty and didn't think he could beat him. Wlad was trying to fight Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson.

 

If they were so sure, they could have thrown enough money at him for an immediate rematch. They didn’t (when they did make an offer it was after Wlad had seven more fights).

The context is that journeyman Ross absolutely won by KO. Wlad didn’t trip over the water bucket or get robbed by a ref who jumped in too soon … he got stopped. Period.

Again, you want to talk about what Wlad ‘could’ do instead of what he did do … lose.

Sorry Wlad didn’t fight the right fight, but there’s no way to know that Ross doesn’t stop him if he sticks and moves or does it however you think he should have. He fought the way he knew how and the result is the result.

To act like Wlad was some kind of neophyte who hadn’t learned to box yet when he was fighting for the fourth time in a scheduled 12-rounder (and had previously fought in scheduled 10s three other times) is intellectually dishonest. This isn’t a kid we’re talking about — it’s an Olympic gold medalist who also had nearly 150 amateur fights.

You want to make up excuses the A-side guy with every advantage, fighting in his hometown, with vast amateur experience, undefeated in 25 fights designed to prepare him to rise to the top of the game, with resources like world-class sparring to groom and elevate him — rather than the win-a-few-lose-a-few journeyman fighting halfway around the world from his home, lol.

Hey, maybe all of the guys Wlad beat also fought the wrong fight and were trying to hard. I bet they have excuses too, haha.

 

Here’s the actual fight. I hadn’t watched it in a while but if you actually look at it rather than Wlad’s excuses you’ll see that he’s sticking and moving most of the way far more than he is loading up trying to walk through Puritty or throwing some insane amount of leather setting a fast pace to get Ross out of there.

Mostly he’s circling and jabbing. Ross kept moving forward, throwing the occasional big bomb and some good body shots, which kept Wlad moving — that’s what wore Wlad out. Klitschko is absolutely not the aggressor for most of the fight; he threw more leather and sat down on some combos, but he’s mostly boxing and not loading up/slugging.

So now we have it: You’re saying if Wlad fought the way he actually DID fight, he would win. Except, of course, he lost.

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Purrity was never ranked and consistently lost to journeyman. Wlad didn't need his brother to take care of things because there was zero demand for a rematch. He was under no pressure to take a rematch to begin with.

 

Mayweather had a rotator cuff injury against Castillo 1

 

You've now doubled down on showing you don't understand shoulder injuries.

 

So Vitali didn’t fight (and beat) Puritty?

 

A Byrd–Klitschko rematch in 2004 would have been the more legitimate way to establish the true lineal champion, rather than Vitali’s 1st vs. 3rd (#1 Vitali vs #3 Sanders) bout.

 

I just watched this fight again. Ross took a hell of a beating. I can see why he probably wanted more money. Wlad just didn't hold / clinch enough. I honestly blame Fritz. I don't know why Wlad wasn't holding. He only starts holding (a little in the 9th) when he is totally exhausted. I wish they had compubox because the guy threw several hundred punches. He could have won the match with throwing 20 less punches per round. Those are the 2 things Wlad could have done to win the fight: 1) Throw less punches 2) Hold more.

 

When I saw the fight, I was really impressed by Wlad's fluidity and combinations.
He was even throwing uppercuts, something he rarely attempted when he was champion.