Wladimir Klitschko is now the greatest heavyweight who ever lived, according to Boxrec.

The Monte Barrett fight in 2000 is also a good one to see.

 

Mayweather before he moved up to Welterweight and had bad hands had many exciting fights.

DeMarcus Corley
Jesus Chavez
Phillip Ndou
Angel Manfredy
Jose Luis Castillo 1
Arturo Gatti

And in a few of those fights Mayweather was in the pocket trading punches unlike Wladimir.

Mayweather at his best is leaps and bounds more exciting than Wladimir.

 

Without the context that Wladimir fought a past it Mercer in 2002 6 years after Lewis in which Mercer had been inactive only fighting 7 times in 6 years not to mention being 41 years old vs Wladimir.

I guess you give Joshua alot of credit for beating a 41 year old version of Wladimir aswell right ? If we're applying the same logic.

 

His fights with hatton and cotto where also more exciting than wlads dull affairs
Other than Joshua, wlads only excitement wss him getting punched around the ring early on his career

 

What people forget is that Mayweather in the lower weight classes had power and was stopping plenty of fighters and fought in a exciting skillful way that was pleasing on the eye.

Before moving up to Welterweight Mayweather had 14 championship fights and in 9 of those championship fights had stoppages.

 

No, they weren't.

 

Byrd, at his best, couldn't outpoint Andrew Golota, and arguably lost to Oquendo, McCline and Williamson, too. He wasn't nearly as good as some here suggest. And the moment he stopped taking PEDS, he got wiped out by Shawn George.

Now, in retirement, his body is ravaged by all the PEDs he took as a pro.

It is what it is.

 

It has nothing to do with being "convenient." If a world drug testing organization says any fighter's wins for the better part of a decade should be wiped off his record because he was a major drug cheat (like they did with Povetkin), I will certainly take notice.

There's no poo-pooing that and just dismissing that with a wave of the hand.

And I'm no James Toney fan. That guy took everything he could to try to stay relevant. He was banned multiple times, as well. He's no great to me.

 

I'm talking bollocks but yet you can't confirm Wlad's earnings
You absolute plum

I've checked and dont see anything saying otherwise

 

So let me get this straight, you're willing to believe Byrd was on PEDs, despite him never testing positive, never being accused during his career, and competing in an era with actual drug testing, including the Olympics. But you’re giving a free pass to '70s and '80s heavyweights, who fought in an era with zero testing, and where steroid use was widespread and undocumented? That’s a massive double standard.

As for Byrd’s resume, you're cherry-picking close fights he won. Yes, he had tight decisions. You know why? Because he was a natural middleweight fighting guys who were 6'5", 230–250 lbs and still consistently beating them. That’s not a knock, that’s a testament to his skill. He outboxed Tua, beat Holyfield, took a win from Vitali, and was a reigning champ with 4 title defenses before he lost to Wlad.

And Golota? That was a draw. And guess what that same Golota arguably beat John Ruiz and gave Bowe hell twice. So let’s not pretend he was some pushover. Byrd held his own against giants in the era of SHWs and made multiple title defenses.

If Byrd's late-career loss to Shawn George invalidates everything he did, then what does Larry Holmes' loss to Brian Nielsen mean? What about Ali vs. Berbick? Joe Louis vs. Marciano? You wouldn’t dare use those late-career fights to discredit them but you’re doing it to Byrd because he had an awkward style you didn’t enjoy.

The truth is, Byrd was one of the most technically sound, intelligent, and defensively gifted heavyweights of his era. If you can’t acknowledge that because you’re hung up on how “watchable” his fights were, that says more about your preferences than his quality as a fighter.

 

You're blowing Povetkin’s situation way out of proportion:
Yes, he had two PED violations in 2016 one for meldonium, which was added to the banned list just months prior and was found in trace amounts, and one for ostarine, which led to a temporary suspension and fine. Those are serious, no doubt. But let’s be accurate here:

• No world drug testing agency, including WADA or VADA, ever recommended that Povetkin’s wins for a decade be erased.
  
  
• The WBC suspended and fined him, and temporarily removed him from the rankings which is standard.
  
  
• His KO over Duhaupas was briefly ruled a no-contest, then reinstated.
  
  
• His official record was never stripped, and his major wins, Chagaev, Huck, Takam, Whyte, all stand.
  

If you're going to say his career should be erased because of two failed tests, then you better be ready to wipe out Toney, Holyfield, Mosley, and a long list of guys from untested eras who were likely juicing with zero consequences. You can't apply modern purity tests selectively just because you don’t like a fighter or the era he fought in.

And here’s the kicker: if Povetkin was “juiced to the gills”, as you said, and Wlad still dominated him cleanly then that win becomes even more impressive, not less. Beating a top contender who was on PEDs shows how dominant Wlad really was.

So if you're going to invoke PEDs as a disqualifier, at least get the facts straight. Don't rewrite history with fan-fiction penalties that were never imposed.

 

NOPE. Not blowing it out of proportion. Not FAN FICTION. WADA Intelligence Investigation Department results were the source. All his wins, beginning with the KO over Carlos Takam (where he tested positive for Ostarine), are being tossed. And Povetkin was notified and he told them he wouldn't challenge the results.

(The dorks at boxrec just haven't gotten around to changing the results yet.)

https://ita.sport/news/the-ita-repo...tioned-with-a-4-year-period-of-ineligibility/

The case, which is part of a broader probe into systematic doping in Russian sports, is being led by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for the International Boxing Association (IBA) and the evidence retrieved from the Moscow Laboratory by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Intelligence Investigations Department.

In addition, the athlete’s results from 25 October 2014 until the start of the athlete’s provisional suspension on 21 October 2024 have been disqualified, including the results obtained during a boxing match held on the night of 24/25 October 2014 in accordance with Articles 9 and 10.8 of the IBA ADR.

After being notified of the case and informed of his procedural rights, the athlete decided not to challenge the ADRV.

https://www.*******.com/articles/al...ter-the-discovery-of-unreported-ped-violation

https://www.marca.com/en/boxing/2025/02/04/67a276ca46163f482c8b459f.html

 

There was steroid/ped testing in the Olympics beginning in 1968. Weight training played virtually no role in boxing training until well into the 1980s.

And Chris Byrd suffers from widespread nerve damage in all his appendages. It's the same thing that happened to athletes who rigorously abused steroids in the 70s suffered from.

You can claim you're a virgin and never slept with whores, but if you suffer from siphilis and gonorrhea, people aren't likely to believe you.

 

Alright, now that we have the facts straight yes the ITA disqualified Povetkin’s results from October 25, 2014, to October 21, 2024.
But here’s what that doesn’t change:

• Wladimir Klitschko beat Povetkin in 2013 before the disqualified period even begins. That win remains fully legitimate and, frankly, looks even better now knowing Povetkin was later sanctioned and still couldn’t lay a glove on Wlad.
  
  
• These rulings don’t erase what we saw in the ring. Povetkin was a dangerous, elite-level fighter, Olympic gold, wins over Chagaev, Takam, Whyte, Huck, and remained top 10 for over a decade. He was tested, suspended, and came back under regulation and still competed at a high level.
  
  
• If we're wiping out entire resumes for PED use, then let’s be consistent: James Toney? Gone. Evander Holyfield? Gone. Virtually all of the untested '70s and '80s heavyweights? Questionable at best. But we don't do that, because we understand the sport has never been clean, and we judge fighters by how they performed in context.
  

So yes Povetkin’s record will might have some no contestants. But if you're now arguing that Wlad’s resume is weaker because he beat a guy who later got exposed as a long-term PED user, you’re just making his dominance even more impressive.

You can’t have it both ways either PED use invalidates greatness across the board, or we evaluate fighters fairly by what they did under the conditions they fought in.