Vitalis comeback title reign 2008-2012

He was slower in the come back but still very intimidating and never looked like losing.

 

I'm not entirely sold on that.. About the only thing there is to compare them on is their performance against a common opponent named Sam peter.. Vitali beat the living dog snot out of him despite being fresh out of a four year retirement while wlad had struggled with him in the first meeting and still took longer than Vitali in dispatching him in the second. Of course this never tells the whole story but at least it's something.. And I'm not overly impressed with wlad beating haye, chambers or chagaev.. No one would pick those guys to beat Vitali and in truth all three of them were happier to face wlad.

 

Why is Wlad a better head to head fighter than Vitali?

The only reason why Wlad will rightly go down as a better fighter, is because he's had a longer career, which make his statistics a lot better. He's fought more guys, made more defences, and has acquired more belts etc. But that doesn't tell the whole story does it? Vitali has helped Wlad both in and out of the ring, and he retired 2004-2008, and then permanently in 2012. But like I've mentioned in my previous posts, had Vitali prolonged his career, Wlad's resume could look very different today.

I'm not taking anything away from Wlad, but he's vulnerable, and Manny has made him ultra cautious. He showed much more variation in his work when he was younger, until he suffered with those bad knockouts. Since then he's given us some very dull fights. I think Vitali was much more of a formidable fighter head to head. He had a great chin, and supreme confidence. He broke guys down. And I don't believe for a second that Haye would rather have fought Vitali. Also, according to Wlad, he and Vitali had a long chat, and they both wanted to take on Haye. And in the end, Bernard Boente simply tossed a coin to see who'd fight him, and Wlad won. Haye is probably one of Wlad's best wins, if not his best win. Which again emphasises my early point. If Vitali had fought him and beaten him, and he'd have remained active, it would have enhanced his own resume and made Wlad's weaker. But because of his two retirements, it was vice versa.

 

The Major Of Kiev? Very impressive, who is the Minor?

 

Are those excuses anything like the one that Wlad fans make about him not having Steward in his corner when he lost to Sanders?

I've watched the fights live and he wasn't doing anything differently in 2004 against Brewster, Williamson or Peter than he was in 2007,08,09 or 10. He had Steward in his corner for those fights, was in his late twenties, with over 40 pro bouts and a physical advantage over about 99% of the division. The only reason he looked better against Brewster and Peter in the rematches was because those guys had diminished and not because Wlad magically became an unbeatable force in his thirties.

Yes against a man who Vitali had already beaten the snot out of and who's last days as a pro were abruptly coming.

Give me a break. Are you really trying to build a case for Wlad deserving more credit for beating a man that Vitali had already dispatched despite being 37 years of age and RETIRED for FOUR years?

Again, the man wasn't responsible for those guys side stepping him to go for the gold and in addition to those "bottom feeders" he also beat Peter and Adamek when they were viewed as being every bit as good as those guys at the time. Odlanier Solis flopped as a pro but was highly touted in the beginning. Chris Arreola was looking rather menacing before Vitali destroyed him.. Hindsight shouldn't change the perception at the time.

Naturally its always more appealing to fight the "champ" and for more money but that shouldn't be held over Vitali's head for not fighting them.

David Haye said a lot of things and among one of his more famous quotes was " I'm gonna SAVE boxing." He then proceeded to do this by taking the easy path to the title, fighting a string of has beens' and on the night of truth showed virtually no heart against Klit.. He never lived up to the hype above 200 lbs, and Vitali challenged him with no answer except the usual talk.

Yes so much to the extent where he needed his brother to avenge two of his defeats, a convenient fact that seems to have been forgotten.

.

I agree about the longevity part. I disagree that they were much tougher. He simply fought a longer list of either comparable or lesser men, but in most cases not any better. Nevertheless his longevity and claim to lineage is why I rate him higher legacy wise on an all time list, but not necessarily head to head.

 

Great post!


:good

 

Thanks. I'd say we're about finished here

 

Wlad's post 2005 run is better than Vitali's whole career?

Why do you keep mentioning Pulev?

Pulev isn't a great fighter.

Once again, the brothers had a coin toss to decide who fought Haye. Although personally, I don't believe Haye would ever have fough him.

 

vitali swears it isn't his.

but wait till he starts to sprout tall.

 

Again, what has Pulev done?

Fury wasn't around was he? But how many top ranked guys who were Fury's height, were there for Vitali to fight?

I know I keep repeating myself, but again, it all comes down to circumstances. If Vitali hadn't have retired for 4 years, and he'd got to Haye/Valuev first, Wlad's resume would now look completely different.

Wlad wasn't a more formidable opponent. He's just had a longer career.

Wlad has fought 67 times.

Vitali has fought 47 times.

That's obviously a difference of 20 fights, which is absolutely huge.

If Vitali had fought another 20 opponents, things would look very different to what they do today.