Vitali's quality of opposition since his return from retirement

Here are the fighters VK has beaten that were ranked in the top 50. Its not a great resume and to be honest, VK did pretty good with Lennox and was miles ahead before his injury with Byrd. He has just never won a defining fight.

Kevin Johnson ranked 42 had never ever faced anyone in the top 50
Chris Arreola ranked 20 not fought anyone in the top 36
Juan Carlos Gomez ranked 10
Sam Peter ranked 4
Danny Wiliams ranked 28 good puncher, but hot and cold
Corrie Sanders ranked 4 good puncher
Kirk Johnson ranked 5 quite slick but VK dominated him
Larry Donald ranked 10 good boxer not much of a punch VK dominated
Orlin Norris ranked 13, was a very small heavyweight
Obed Sullivan ranked 34 another easy defence
Ed Mahone ranked 38 very easy defence
Herbie Hide ranked 10 even though he was the WBO champ
Jose Ribata ranked 48 well past his best

 

I like Vitali, always have, but he was just unlucky to be injured then return to an era with such weak opponants, nothin against the man just i feel his resume is allways going to let him down when people talk about heavyweight greats

 

He like his brother wlad are very fortunate to be fighting is this era of lame competition.But there are some very gifted up and coming heavies that'll surely dethrone the two sisters.

 

No I'm just sick of people like you trying to make them look worse than they are moron!

 

Calm down dude.:nono You're right, the Leonard victory over Hagler was more significant than Vitali's destruction of Peter but remember Leonard had nowhere near the physical problems of Vitali and was much the younger man when he attempted his comeback. The Peter victory was no joke either. Al Bernstein, who most people respect, was describing the powerpunching African as the number one heavyweight going into the Mcline fight. Vitali butchered a live dog in Peter and most felt the old, injured Vitali would lose that fight. He then proceeds to wipe the floor with three more top ranked heavy's in just over a year including the two best American fighters. Arreola has a great amateur resume and Vitali showed his ability to switch up his style when the fast-handed and powerful mexican-american just kept piling on the pressure to make the old guy break. As Chris said, "Whatever I did He had an answer for." Once again, I'm not diminishing the great Larry Holmes by simply pointing out that he, like all the great champions, faced several no-hopers during their storied careers.

 

Don't you dare sarcastically insult the brilliance and greatness that is Tye Fiellllldssss!!!:fire:fire:fire:fire:twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted:

 

And you're misreading what I said ******. If you know how to read, I said Vitali hasn't been tested since he came back and the quality of his opposition were below average. And I specifically named the opponents that can test him and possibly beat him.

 

Juan Carlos Gomez who was past his prime and who's offense consistent of throwing weak flurries. And JCG is not even in Chambers league....maybe in his prime.

 

So he should have turned pro earlier. :roll:

It's still his own fault.

 

I think the Sam Peter was a good win, when you consider the break VK had. I think Sam Peter on hindsight might not have been as good as we thought though. He beat Maskaev, but Oleg just got knocked out in a round by a very inexperienced fighter, Maskaev has lost six times all inside. It only reinforces that there is not much real quality around at the moment. If VK beat David Haye, its a unification fight but it woud hardly be a great win. DH beat Valuev, who had lost to Chagaev and almost got overturned by a Holyfield perhaps 15 years past his best.

 

What is Chambers league exactly?

 

He's a much better boxer than JCG, that's for sure.

 

All a fighter can do is fight who is out there, and Vitali, if he continues to dominate EVERYone as he's doing now, for a couple more years will certainly put him on some ATG list.


Had he, along with his brother, not had been as dominant as they are, maybe the opposition would not have been seen as so lackluster. Just cause they opposition is on a level below the brothers does not mean the opposition is lack luster.

Maybe it means that the brothers are that good. ???? Maybe they didn't come along in a weak era, but they, themselves, and superior in skill and size, and those assets are what make the opposition to appear to be weaker than average, when compared to the dominating brothers.



I don't get why some seem to think it rediculous to deem Vitali an all time great heavyweight.

 

Than what does that make the Lennox Lewis he lost to? The greatest ever?
He should be singled out as a dominant champion for this era but you must consider past era's and who he lost to when classifying him as an ATG in my opinion.

 

That is absloutely true when judging a fighter against the rest of his era.

When judging against other eras though, quality of opposition HAS to be considered.


You're right that the weakness of the division is not his fault, but it counts against his all-time rating.

That's just the way it is, unfortunately.