Wladimir Klitscko - ATG?

I don't see it as far fetched.
Marciano and Louis were dropped by men who didn't hit anywhere near as hard as Wlad.
If Wlad lands a clean power punch, it's all over.

 

What do you mean "definitely top 10" ? As in your own personal top 10 or a consensus top 10? If its the latter then can I see it?

Counter argument , there's no way anybody can be regarded as an ATG based on the following career calamities

- Destroyed by past prime Sanders and ducked a rematch
- Destroyed by an inactive Brewster and dodged an immediate rematch
- Went life and death and held on for dear life against Sam Peter. Hugged and fouled his way to victory in the rematch when Peter was shot to bits
-Hugged and fouled his way to victory against old man Tony Thompson
-Hugged and fouled his way to victory against novice Bryan Jennings
-Hugged and fouled Povetkin worse than any other boxer in the history of the sport
- Used an illegal spongy canvas against Pulev and tried to do the same against Tyson Fury. Ended up getting clowned by an inexperienced Fury who was on the cusp of a mental breakdown.

Thats just a very basic glossary of all the illegal help Klitschko needed to keep his belts during the worst HW era known to man.

 

This thread is like the booty alarm on Epstein's island for some posters.

 

destroy in prime by Sanders & Brewster
but good long run of winning over decade until the with Fury fight

 

And let's face it, Fury didn't look great doing it.

 

He's a grinder of an ATG but he gets there.

 

I agree with how high you rate him,10-15

 

Haha! Very good

 

Yes absolutely without question he is

 

No one can reign that long without being considered so. I also want to note I can’t think of another great that probably should have retired due to chin issues but somehow come back from that to have one of the longest reigns ever. I thought Wlads career was over after Brewster.

 

The thing that reigns me in, and it's not his fault, is that for virtually all of his career his brother was present or could have been present. Now i can understand why they didn't fight, absolutely, but having the best or second best heavyweight out there all that time and never being able to show you are the better man makes for one gigantic asterix for me. It's unfair and harsh but it happened. Now the slipside is that (in different circs) they may have had a trilogy and both actually enhanced their legacy but it just didn't happen obviously.

So i'm torn. Imagine SRL and Hearns staying at welterweight for plenty more years than they did and never ever fighting.

For a lesser time we saw Sanchez and Pedroza bossing the same division and both have their supporters. Sanchez was higher profile and died young while Wlad is the higher profile Klit but both matches are very debatable. To a shorter extent again Chandler and Pintor.

i'm not ragging them for not fighting but i just can't totally get past it. This puts Wlad a little out of the 10 for me. I have no problem with others totally ignoring it and having him inside the 10. It puts me on edge as to whether he was a bonafide ATG too. Perhaps pedantic but again i have no problem with peeps proclaiming him an ATG.

 

Without a doubt an ATG. Actually better than many fighters people rate as ATG above him. I understand his personality as a good guy was boring and his fights were non competitive many times. And also boring. But you can’t ask for more. 23 title fight wins. 18 consecutive wins. 11 year reign. Unified. Even at age 39 and 41 lost to the two best heavies of the next generation in extremely close fights. A stinker of a chess match with Fury and an epic showdown vs Joshua a poor man’s version of himself at 41.
Name some other heavy fighters doing that at 39 and 41? I’ll wait.
Guy is lock top 10. And on my list he can go anywhere from 3 to 7.