Wladimir Klitschko Vs. The ATG's: Their Opponent's Total Combined Wins and Losses.

No.

People remember who you competed against.

Nobody will remember Cesar Cuenca in 20 years, despite being 47-0. Because he didn't deserve much respect because he didn't beat anyone that will warrant his being remembered in history.

 

Everyone who knows that era know Bonavena, Ellis, Quarry, Shavers, etc.

It just goes to show you how most fans or followers nowadays weren't around or don't bother to know those things.

I don't value fighters or "wins against" on name recognition and popularity. I value them on accomplishments. Ideally, they go hand in hand. But fighters like Roman Gonzalez show that unfortunately they do not.

 

I am a Wlad fan, argue that he is ATG, and believe that he has surpassed such notable names as Holmes, Liston and Dempsey.

That being said, boxing is not a statistical sport like baseball. There are so few fights and fights are so selective that raw stats don't mean a lot.

Wlad is great, but he does not have the quality of wins to be a top five type. He has beaten an enormous host of good fighters, but does not have that one big, eye-catching marquee win, and there is no one out there to give it to him.

Depending on what counts as a titlist these days, he has beaten 8-10 others: Mercer, Botha, Byrd, Peter, Brewster, Rahman, Chagaev, Ibragmimov, Haye, Povetkin.

In addition, there are a few non-titlists that add to the legacy by the quality of their wins: Thompson...maybe Mcline and Barret.

Not at all a bad list, but it hardly compares to the super-elites like Ali, Holyfield, or Lewis.

I have Wlad at about 9-10. He can climb as high as 7-6 by unifying, surpassing Holmes in totally defenses, and cleaning out the division by beating his only credible challengers in Wilder and Fury. If he sticks around long enough to surpass Joe Louis...all bets are off and he breaks in the top 5 on the low end. Don't see that happening thought as he is already talking retirement.

To be number one or close, he would have to have a good series against someone, be it a re-surging Povetkin, Joshua, whatever.
It is a paradox that in boxing, losing helps you be remembered as great...but it is a true one. good fighters define each other: Ali-Frazier, Zale-Graziano, Louis-Schmeling, etc.

My opinion only.

 

Great data by CST80