Who could beat Vitali?

So why was it not more of a difference in their fights with sanders then?

 

David Haye. That's why Vitali ducked him and retired

 

Vitali Klitschko at his best is tough to beat. 45-2 (41) overall and 15-2 (12) in HW World Title Fights. He went 3-2 (3) in HW World Title fights before winning the last 13 fights of his career. He went 12-0 (9) in HW World Title fights after his loss to Lennox Lewis. He was well ahead on points at the time of the 9th round TKO he suffered vs. Chris Byrd (shoulder injury, he quit) in April of 2000. He was winning 4 round to 2 when the fight was stopped vs. Lennox Lewis in June of 2003 (cuts, he wanted to continue).

6'7" with an 80" reach and a solid 250 Lber. He was never down as a pro and never behind on points (47 fights). Yes, he has two losses by TKO but never came close to going down in either fight.

I believe he gained a lot of experience and answered a lot of questions in the Lewis fight. Lewis decided to retire instead of go thru another tough fight with Vitali. With Lewis retired Klitschko was clearly the best HW on the planet. He beat Kirk Johnson (KO2) for a shot at a World Title. Johnson was supposed to fight Lewis but got injured, that's when Vitali stepped in. Vitali stopped Corrie Sanders in the 11th round (who had stopped Wladimir Klitschko in the 2nd round for the WBO HW belt) for the vacant WBC HW belt. The fight with Sanders was seen as a very important fight and when Vitali won he was named "The" HW Champ by The Ring magazine. Chris Byrd had lost to Wladimir Klitschko, struggled with Oquendo, and drew with Andrew Golota a week prior to Vitali's win over Sanders. Vitali was clearly the man at this point. He stopped Danny Williams but did not fight for 4 years after this fight. In a sense retiring as "Lineal" HW Champ. When he came back it looked like he was better than ever in his KO win over Sam Peter (who had given Wladimir so much trouble). He won 9 more fights, 7 by KO, and then retired for good... he was not considered the Lineal HW Champ at this point though.

Vitali at his best was after the Lewis fight in my opinion. He beat Johnson, Sanders, and Williams all by KO and then took a 4 year break. He may have been at his best during that 3 fight stretch. He looked great vs. Sam Peter and continued to look as good in the fights that followed but seemed like he was fading slightly in his last couple of fights. I think sometime between Kirk Johnson and Shannon Briggs was the best possible version of Vitali. Who could beat him?

I'd say-

Ali
Holmes
Foreman
Lewis (obvious choice)

A good chance-

Holyfield
Tyson
Bowe
W. Klitschko

Maybe-

Frazier
Louis
Liston

Probably not, as much as I want it to be true-

Marciano
Charles
Walcott
Tunney
Dempsey
Johnson

Who else could you really say?

Sullivan, Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, Hart, Burns, Willard, Schmeling, Sharkey, Carnera, Baer, Braddock, Patterson, Johansson, Terrell, Ellis, L. Spinks, Norton, Tate, Weaver, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Tubbs, Witherspoon, Smith, Thomas, Berbick, M. Spinks, Tucker, Douglas, Moorer, McCall, Bruno, Rahman, Maskaev, Ruiz, Valuev, Mercer, Morrison, Akinwande, Haye, or anyone else who ever had a world title belt at HW. I don't think any of them could beat V. Klitschko. Byrd did beat him but I think Vitali would have beat him had they fought again.

How about guys like Langford, Wills, Jeanette, and McVea? I say no, might be interesting though. How about Moore, Machen, Folley, Young, Quarry, Lyle, Shavers, Chuvalo, and Bugner? Again, I say no.

 

Gary Cornish

 

Training camp.

 

Wake up, it's not 2005 anymore

 

Nobody.....................a Vitali as his peak could beat anyone, his chin was made of granite.............................great defense, feared nobody, timing fantastic, just a natural...................

 

That's ridiculous! There were many who could beat Vitali at his prime. Lennox Lewis was one of them. He broke Vitali face like tearing a paper.

 

Fury and Wilder could get rid of him for good.

 

It's true though.

Training camp KTFO Dr Glassbody.