A legitimate argument. I also agree Wlad needs to remove all doubt and become the unified champion. With the current alphabet belts this is much more difficult than it was 50 years ago, hell even 20 years ago. I see people as ranking Wlad outside of the top 100 right now and these people are just haters as they make no defense of their rating. Just eyeing other peoples lists I think Wlad is somewhere around 28-35 on the all time list IMO.
These other fighters did'nt have to deal with mandatories etc of 4 recognized titles. That is not the fault of modern fighters. Vlad is the #1 Heavy in the World on every thinking mans list. That alone makes him the Heavyweight Champ. He hold 2 of the 4 belts. Vitali come lately holds 1 and the no count Sasquatch hold the other. Vlad is the #1 rated Heavy in the World!!!!!!!!! There are tons of guys on your list that can't carry either Klitschko brothers jock strap. How the hell in your mind does Ron Lyle and Jerry Quarry rate several spots above Vlad? They fought in a better era but they lost to the top guys. Vlad beats his mandatories with relative ease and would slap around the above mentioned fighters who never had a version of any title.
Don't forget that while guys like Quarry and Lyle lost to guys like Ali, Frazier and Foreman, Wlad has lost to Correy Sanders, Lamon Brewster and Ross Purrity!!! I think over the long haul he moves up, but right now the strength of the competition those guys faced, and Wlad's losses to lesser fighters and the disputed nature of his reign, works against him in assessing where he stands right now. Is he a better fighter than those guys?? Sure. Does he have a better legacy yet? No.
Maybe Ibeabuchi isn't an ATG, but he sure as hell would have KTFO of Wlad. Coronacards pretty much has it right in my book, Wlad has been ****ed up by too many third tier fighters to be ranked highly just yet. Man, the guy was scared to throw a right hand against a smallish Ibragimov, was floored 3 times against Peter, who JAMES TONEY a former middleweight fought without being in danger of being stopped. If there is a Klitchko who deserves some of this ATG thinking its Vitali.
niether did wlad, HE HAS NEVER BEEN KNOCKED COLD only tkod, wlads never been on the ground for 10.. He lost 2 out of 3 because exhaustion, and he was in his mid to late 20's not in his prime... he began his prime LIKE MOST HEAVYS at 30 This is something that is never brought up: WLAD HAS NEVER LOST A DECISION...EVER!!! So wlad has never lost the majority of any fight, he was dominating in the two fights he lost from being exhausted (he literally punched himself out) Another thing is: Wlad has improved his defence and stamina issues, so he is ALOT HARDER to beat now that he is truelly in his prime; he destroyed one of the guys that beat him(brewster) and would kill the other two easily. So its not like he lost to a guys he cant beat now. By the way there are ALOT of guys on that list that has been KOd in their primes, some even by the underdogs. Its to early to judge wlads career at the moment, but he is already a solid top 30, and if he goes the next few years undefeated he should be a top 10-15..... If some real competition comes along like 2-3 bada$$es, and he beats them, he could get in the top 5 head to head greats... SINCE TURNING 30, WLAD HAS BEAT: BYRD (LONGEST REIGNING CHAMP, WBA, IBO, KOD 7TH 5-INCH CUT); BROCK (UNDEFEATED, #1 IBF/WBC CONTENDER, KOD BY DEVASTATING ONE-PUNCH IN 7TH); AUSTIN (6'6, IBF #1, KOD IN SECOND WITHOUT WLAD THROWING A RIGHT); BREWSTER (FORMER WBO CHAMP, DEFEATED WLAD; WLAD HAMMERED HIM EVERY ROUND AND BREWSTER QUIT AFTER ONLY 6 ROUNDS); SULTAN (WBO REIGNING CHAMP, RAN FROM WLAD MAKING A BORING FIGHT, WLAD WON EVERY ROUND IN THEIR UNIFICATION BOUT); THOMPSON (ALOT OF KNOWLEDGABLE PEOPLE THOUGHT THE BIG VETEREN WOULD GIVE WLAD ALOT OF PROBLEMS, KOD BY ANOTHER ONE-PUNCH STEELHAMMER, ROUND 11) RACHMAN, (KOD LEWIS, MULTIPLE WORLD CHAMP, WLAD COMPLETLY DOMINATED HIM AND TKOD RACHMAN IN THE 7TH AFTER GETTING KNOCKED DOWN IN THE 6TH) Since turning 30, wlad has lost only about 6 ROUNDS in his last 7 FIGHTS AGAINST TOP 10 hw's and won two world tiltes... That is why he is concidered better than vitali....
Name a fighter today, thats last name isnt klitschko, that wlad couldnt destroy!!! Since he is so horrible.
Wlad would have gotten KOd at 26 by Ike but a 32 year old wlad controls ike with his jab before setting up the right to KO him.... there is no way Ike is any better than brewster or peter and a 32 yr prime wlad destroyes them all... just like he already did to peter and brewster
Yeah, he really "destroyed" Brewster in that 1st fight didn't he? And he also showed absolute dominance in there against Peter by falling down 3 times huh?
wlad won every round of the wlad/brewster first fight before getting knocked down and the BS ref called it AFTER THE DAMN BELL RANG..... AND WLAD COMPLETELY DOMINATED BREWSTER IN THEIR SECOND FIGHT....COMPLETELY DOMINATED..... WHO WON THE PETER-WLAD FIGHT???? WLAD WON 9 OUT OF 12 ROUNDS ROCKING PETER IN THE 11TH AND 12TH ROUNDS AFTER GETTING OFF THE MAT EARLY IN THE FIGHT... THATS PRETTY DOMINATE!! :good SO ANSWER MY QUESTION.... SINCE WLAD SUCKS SO BAD, NAME A CURRENT BOXER, NOT NAMED KLITSCHKO, THAT WLAD CANT BEAT!!!!
Best ways for Wlad to boost his rating : 1. Unify the belts. Means even more these days since it's so difficult to do. 2. Fight the winner of Vitali/Haye if it happens. Whoever wins will be seen as the top contender. 3. Go unbeaten for another 3-4 years, including wins over the 'next generation' guys like Povetkin, Dimitrenko, Arreola et al. Just one of those would be a boost, all three would be very big.
Tyson was brilliant In his prime but he fizzed out too soon and didn't last longer to be In the top 5.
I'm not bashing Ron. I know him personally but that does'nt excuse the fact that Vlad has beaten better fighters. Ron beat: This content is protected Was a good light heavy but only moved up to heavy after Bob Foster stopped him in 2. He fought Lyle at his first stop at heavy and went 3 -9 over the 175 lb mark. This is a poor win at best. This content is protected Was once a decent fighter but after Frazier knocked him out he was seriously on the slide. He was 4-13-1 after the Frazier fight leading into his bout with Lyle. Manuel was so shot when he fought Lyle that he never won another fight in his career going 0-9. In fact this fighter only won 1 of his last 20 fights. This is a **** win at best! This content is protected Was once a B level fighter but was at the tail end of his career. Vlad has loads of guys on his resume that are better than Bonovena. This content is protected I enjoyed his performace against Foreman in the Garden. I liked his movement and activity but he was a pretty small heavy. Pretty good fighter I would say but again Lyle caught him in the last 6 months of his career. They fought twice and Lyle won the first and drew in Peralta's farewell fight. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected