Wladimir Klitschko Retires - Where Does He Rank ?

I'd say top 15.
The unbeaten run between the Brewster loss 2004 and losing to Fury in 2015 is very impressive.

 

Top Ten. An extremely lengthy domination of the division. During his prime, and under Steward's tutelage, he poses an extremely difficult head to head match-up with any heavyweight in history.

 

Top 10 lock.
- elite combination of longevity & dominance. I like the old timer-esque fight volume of 69 fights, too.
- ATG offensive capabilities- it's not an exaggeration to say he's got a top 5 straight right, left hook, & jab
- never avoided fighters, even if they had a stylistic advantage

Fun fact: This forum has a size complex, so I'll throw it out there that Wlad never lost to a HW lighter than 225.

He'd be a beast in any era.

 

Top 15. I've never been able to make up my mind which one of the Klitschko brothers merits being higher than the other. Only one place in it,I imagine.

Good luck to Wladimir in whatever he does next. He's made the right decision.

 

I'd say he makes the cut coming in at 10.

 

He probably falls between #9-#12

 

Just out side top ten. His style didn't exactly make for exciting watching but in fairness Larry Holmes could be classed the same. But he did have that long unbeaten run, which takes a lot of doing, especially for the heavy s. Maybe 20 to 30 years time he'll be seen differently again, as was Holmes. It wasn't a perfect career but not that far off.

 

Anything between 6-15 is arguable. He's in my top 10.

 

Not sure he can legitimately be placed outside of the top 10? I understand that many find/found him to be a conservative or boring fighter, but excitement and aggression are not prerequisites for greatness. I could see him between 5-8, and could see 9-12 without questioning it to much. I would probably say around 7 but that would involve reviewing my rankings that I have not evaluated in depth for about 3 years. Far from one of my favs but so so are a few others on my ATG list

 

I kinda saw this retirement coming, not what I wanted, but what I expected.

So I ranked him after the loss to Joshua.

1 Muhammad Ali
2 Joe Louis
3 Lennox Lewis
4 Wladimir Klitschko
5 Larry Holmes

I'm happy defending my ranking of anyone asks but it isn't up for debate right now.

 

10.

 

Nah , the top 10 will always be the top 10.

Ring have him #17. That sounds about right to me.

You can't lose badly , struggle and cheat to win in a very weak era and expect to crack the top 10 of all time.

And what about getting toy'd with by Tyson Fury. Lewis couldn't toy with Evander who was the same age. Something to think about.

 

Top 15 for me.

 

LOL