Vladimir Klitschko, Top Ten Worthy?

Nope, but I think he's making a case for being in the next tier.

 

butthurt?

 

By the time it's said and done, I think he'll have a better career than Holmes did and that's the ATG his career accomplishments mirror the closest. So, if you rate Holmes very highly, Wlad should be right there.

 

Holmes was undefeated until his late thirties and had beaten a future HOF heavyweight by the time he lost, and was defeated by a p4p great when it did happen. And he arguably deserved a win over the same man in a rematch. If you're doing no more than comparing reign-lengths, that's one thing, but I don't view them particularly closely at all as greats. You can say you thought Witherspoon took a narrow one over him but when you compare that to definitive losses against Puritty, Sanders and Brewster, this just shouldn't be considered even similar, in my opinion. I mean, I'm not trying to be confrontational about it, I'm just saying for me I can't reconcile that. But I've always rated Holmes very highly.

 

It's give and take. Can't just take the highlights from one and the lowlights from the other BE, you know better. :!::nono

Wlad's cons:
- hasn't beaten a HOF heavyweight
- KO'd 3 times on the way up by fighters he should've beaten.
- hasn't faced the #2 heavyweight

Holmes cons:
- never unified
- dropped a belt rather than face his #1 contender so he could fight Marvis Frazier
- never rematched his toughest opponents

Also, that p4p great was a cherry picked fight, although people don't like to admit it. Spinks was brought up to fight for the title in his very first fight at the weight so Holmes could match Marciano's record. He lost his title to a LHW moving up in his first fight. As good as Spinks was at LHW, that's not something that should be brought up as any sort of positive for Holmes.

Wlad's pros:
- has unified
- 20-2 against fighters who were ranked in the Ring top 10 at some point in their careers
- reign longevity - 7 years
- currently on a 9 year unbeaten streak after having his career essentially written off.

Holmes pros:

- has the bigger wins on the top end
- he didn't officially lose until late in his career. only really got blown out once.
- has longevity on his reign as well - 7 years
- 22-5 against fighters who were ranked in the Ring top 10 at some point
- dominated Butterbean

 

Wow, that's off the charts.:-(

Seriously?

I'm a big fan of Wlad's and I have him just barely inside the Top 10 Heavys of all time. He can move up with more defenses & especially if he can KO some more undefeated or not previously KO'd fighters. That's the bar I've set myself.

Also, if & when Vitali retires and Wlad gets that last WBC belt for full & total unification. That'd be my criteria anyway.

 

Larry Holmes did and is loved on ESB, why not vlad

 

Oh, and the threadstarter said Wlad didn't hold the WBA but he does, or did they strip him and I missed it? Last I heard Wlad is the WBA Super Championb whatever that's supposed to mean.

Povetkin is a manufactured champion who won't fight Wlad. :deal

 

It worked for Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Jack Johnson, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, etc. They all fought in supposedly weak eras and fought fighters that were past their prime or cherry picked their opponents.

 

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Holmes had a pretty large window of opportunity for some big $$$money fights with Tate, Thomas,Coetzee, Weaver, Dokes,Page(who he gave up a title to fight, while the top dogs picked each other off. I remember it clearly and laugh at all the revisionist who see it differently. Homes was carefully navigated and it is a shame because I THINK HE HAD THE TALENT TO beat most of these guys but I think his team was smart because he would have picked up a few loses along the way. Shame was they thought they had an easy fight against Michael Spinks because Mike never fought as heavyweight and he lost, Holmes also never rematched Norton, Witherspoon or Williams and they were all beatable, big difference with guys like Louis and Marciano and Ali, who always took the tougher fights, even Joe Frazier could have avoided Foreman for sometime, who did Foreman beat

 

Pretty impressed by your response. good work, fella

 

Vitali has the highest KO percentage of any heavyweight in heavyweight boxing history and Vlad is not far behind. I love to watch them fight. They are the best fighters in the world and will beat any fighter in the world today in any weight division which makes them the best.................

 

Almost something can happen before he retires that can change our minds

 

Holmes is loved for producing great all action fights that pleased the fans. He is greatly respected for having the heart and valor to face Mike Tyson in his prime and fought bravlely without holding on like most others were doing....... Wlad would retire tomorrow if he had to face a 19 year old Tyson..

 

Wlad is a great champ but no top 10 ATG. maybe late teens but that is only down to the lengh of his title reign.

however:

he never beat the number 1 contender when he was in his prime.

he never fought an ATG HW or even an elite HW

his era is weak and when the divison was stronger he was unable to make an impact at the top.

tag teamed the divison with his brother

too many other great HWs out there for him to get into the top 10.

I honestly believe if Wlad was ten years younger he would have been a top contender but not much more.