Wladimir Klitschko (prime) - Evander Holyfield (prime): Who wins?

2006 Klitschko vs. 1992 Holyfield

Holyfield TKO10.

 

I am not trolling. Look at the fighters Lewis fought vs. Wlad. Do you really believe Head to Head that those fighters were that much better? If so, explain why.

 

but you have to admit that past prime mercer did not have the chin of old. ****, not too long after shannon briggs knocked him out with a love tap. not the same mercer at all

 

No disrespect Beau but I disagree with the above comment! I believe that a "Prime" Vitali was a far tougher opponent than "Prime" Wlad and had "Prime" Wlad been in the ring with Lewis instead of Vitali, Wlad would have been stopped! Simply because I do not believe that Wlad could have taken the blows his iron chinned brother did! I appreciate that Wlad is not his brother, but that is my point! However highly most rank "Prime" Vitali, "Prime" Wlad (And we may be seeing the best of Wlad now) will always rank below his brother imo. I believe that "Prime" Lewis" is better than "Prime" Wlad and imo Lewis would comfortably defeat Wlad.

 

He beat Vitali for a start!

How the hell has Vlad cleaned out a division that has 3 champions in it! One of them being someone he will never fight!
The best name on Vlads resume is Sanders and he KTFO of Vlad!

Vlad has a pitiful resume!

 

fair enough. based on resumes i'll do lewis' and then you can do wlad's. best wins for lewis (in no particular order):

1.Prime Vitali-great chin, great power, great fighter. Lewis won by knock out

2.David Tua-everyone's agreed number 1 contender, thought to have a real shot and was completely dominated

3.Michael Grant-overrated sure but considered the number one prospect to take out lewis. A hype job that lewis destroyed in good order

4.Tommy Morrison-Former champion with an amazing left. Thought to be a good test for lewis. For my money, Lennox's greatest performance and picked morrison apart surgically

5.Shannon Briggs-Lineal champion, win over Foreman for the real championship. Lewis dissected him and destroyed him

6. Andrew Golota-Consider by many the number one heavy after the bowe fights. One round is all lewis took

7.Razor Ruddock-Two HARD hard fights against a near prime tyson he was the heavy favourite. He didn't last two rounds.

8.Hasim Rahman-Prime rahman, knockout of the decade. NOT the same one wlad took 3 rounds longer to beat

Also: Botha, Akinwande, Mercer, etc...

 

His beard may be better than he is given credit for, but he is not iron-chinned like his brother, no-one can argue that! I guess the fact is that because of the manner of his defeats, there seems to be a "Suggested vulnerability" about Wlad that may not be entirely justified. However, the fact remains that in a Wlad-vs-Evander match-up Wlad would be facing a great fighter who would have caused him all sorts of bother and tested his whiskers, on several occasions! Wlad may well have defeated Holyfield (Though I favour a Holyfield tko victory) but this would have been imo a hugely competitive fight and any vulnerability, exaggerated or otherwise could well have been a deciding factor!

 

No but his chin was dented by that time aswell as his reflexes,speed and defense.

He was not the same fighter.Saying otherwise is foolish.

 

:good The Frank Bruno win wasn't too bad either! Particularly when you consider todays "Contenders", nor was his victory over Tucker! Come to think of it his performances against an admittedly past-prime Holyfield are worthy of mention at least. After all, how would the '98,'99 of Evander have fared against todays "Contenders"? Pretty well is my guess!

 

:good I agree. The Mercer of old was practically unstoppable. The only way you were beating him was by decision.

 

Here are Wlad's best wins. I believe this list is comparable.

1. Chris Bryd - In dominating fashion by UD in 2000 when Bryd was considered top notch. Soon after this fight Bryd dominated Tua who had just lost to Lewis. Bryd also won by a wide margin over Holyfield in 2002.

2. Chris Bryd - by devastating KO in 2006, when Bryd held a title and had beaten many top heavyweights.

3. Sam Peter - by UD. When Peter was undefeated and thought to be the next dominant heavyweight. As good as Morrison.

4. Calvin Brock - devastating KO. Brock was a top prospect and consider to be an excellent boxer. As good as Morrison, Grant, or Akinwande on the Lewis resume.

5. Sultan Ibragimov - By wide margin. When Ibragimov was undefeated a title holder and had defeated Shannon Briggs easily. As good as Botha or Golota.

6. Ruslan Chagaev - by dominant stoppage. Chagaev considered to be the second or third best heavy at the time. Undefeated. Former world amateur champ. As good as Akinwande, Botha or Golota.

6. Tony Thompson - Very underrated. Wlad by KO. In my view, as good as Akinwande.

7. Jameel McCline - by KO. McCline in his prime and considered very dangerous at the time. Certainly as good as

Devastating KOs of Ray Austin, Derrick Jefferson, Lamon Brewster, Ray Mercer, Dannell Nicholson, Monte Barrett (when he was favored by many to win), and Botha round out a very strong resume.

Now it I do have to say the "wins" on Lewis's resume over Vitali and Mercer are very questionable. Could have gone either way in both cases.

That said, when compared head to head, Lewis did not have competition that was that much better and Wlad is not close to being finished with his career.

 

I'd say Prime Holyfield was when he was a cruiser, but let's go with him as a heavyweight.
He went the distance with two guys in their 40's. True they were former greats, but they were still helluva old. He lost 2 out of 3 against Riddick Bowe, a guy who aside from beating Evander was pretty much a chump. He lost to Michael Moorer.
Holyfield beat Mike Tyson, but Mike is a short dude. Evander was able to push him around and land lots of head butts. The point is Holyfield was very uneven. Sometime he looked great, sometimes he looked washed up. He always made fights harder then they had to be.

Anyone who says that Holyfield easily defeats Wladimir at his best is fooling themselves.

Evander went the distance with Lewis, and yes, Lewis was a way better fighter than Klitschko, but Holyfield was pretty damn infective against Lewis. In that first fight when Lewis just jabbed, Holyfield had no answers. In the next fight Lewis opened up a bit more, and that let Holyfield do a little better, but he still clearly lost. Does anyone think that Wlad would open up? Wlad doesn't do that anymore. He'll jab and grab.

I'm not saying that Holyfield can't win, but to say he does it easily is just delusional. It would have to be a rough fight if he were to win. He'd have to get in some of his patented head butts and that's not easy to do against a 6'6 inch power puncher.

 

hmmm, this is kinda my point. those wins still don't look that impressive.

the win over vitali stands. i know it was close but that alone is far better than anything on wlad's resume. byrd is a great fighter and two great wins. Peter MAY compare to morrison but i'd still put tommy higher. sultan was nowhere NEAR as good as golota but maybe he compares with botha. ruslan is, was and always will be an embarassment. tony thompson is ok, as is mccline (which is one of the more impressive wins)

overall i think wlad's list compares with lewis' domination of the 2nd tier heavies of the era. unfortunately, wlad doesn't have any of the top shelf (vitali, ruddock, prime mercer) wins. yet. and i mean YET. i honestly believe wlad will go down as an ATG but he needs some career definers first

 

mmmm i dont know man! Wlad has a powerful left hook and it may have droped him at anytime...:huh

 

Holyfield by late KO.