Will the fact that Wlad K never avenged his loss to Purity and Sanders hurt his legas

Yeah but we ain't on about championship status, we're on about failure to avenge prime defeats.

 

To be fair, Wlad did seek an immediate rematch with Sanders, who refused and fought Vitali for the WBC belt instead. By refusing to rematch the younger Klit, Sanders was stripped of the WBO belt; Wlad and Brewster then fought for the vacant WBO title.

 

Losing to a bum like Purity in the first place is a real issue really. Losing by KO in a laughable manner three times is also a huge black mark. No other heavyweight champion, rated as an all time great, has three losses like this on their resume. Its beyond a strong indication that Wlad lacks an all time great chin or toughness. Chin and toughness are characteristics of an all time great fighter.

 

Yeah noone can blame wlad for the rematch not happening. Sanders vacated the belt to take the bigger fight with vitali and then retired.

Doesn't change that wlad has an unavenged loss against him though.

 

I didn't know that Chris. I think it would have redeemed his legacy somewhat if he had fought Sanders again..but you know, Sanders was on the cusp of his career when he knocked out Wlad..and I don't think the beating he took as a paunchy, yet still dangerous parttime golfer did him any good. Sanders was basically finished after Vitali...so an opportunity to avenge himself was lost forever for Wlad...and I say an opportunity...because I don't know if an immediate rematch would have been any different in it's result. Maybe Wlad would have had to have a few confidence building fights before attempting to fight Sanders again. I'm sure Sanders would have had a soaring, sky high confidence in repeating his ko.

 

I don't think so. It is the lack of good fighters in his era which has hurt him alittle, and his size. His size has made him so dominant he has not had many challenges where he was hurt and then had to fight back and prove what he has..

 

Just saying'.

 

In a way, I think the Brewster loss is most damaging, even if he avenged it. You could say Purity and Sanders were part of a learning curve. Against Brewster, he was displaying arguably the best offensive arsenal of his career. Then suddenly he's gone, not even after a significant punch landing from Brewster. Freaky stuff. Steward wasn't his full trainer yet (though he was in the corner), word went around that Fritz Sdunek never had him spar more than 4 consecutive rounds, and a lot of weight training. Or maybe it was a panic attack, I don't know. I find it strange, after knocking Brewster down for the first time, and giving him the most one-sided beating, even to date.

 

Just a tiny amount. Very few fighters beat every man they fought. The losses are very different. The Purity loss was partially a mistake in management and by Wlad’s corner. Wlad did not have experience on a 12 round distance fight, and his corner should have told him to stop going for the KO in the later rounds. Stopping Purity is a difficult proposition. Had Steward been in Wlad’s corner that day, I personally think Wlad takes the decision.

Sanders was an explosive puncher and just caught him early.