Would Wladimir Klitschko have gone as far without Vitali Klitschko?

1. If it seemed that way to you or others, then you and others who felt the same are idiots.

2. That second point... You can't say that without saying that you think one of the men Vitali fought would have beaten Vitali.

3. So, did any fighter ever sign on to fight one Klitschko but ultimately have to fight the other Klitschko? Please, enlighten us.

 

The Klitschko brothers never got all the credit they deserved.
I think both guys are close but they are both ATGs of the highest order.

 

"Would Wladimir Klitschko have gone as far without Vitali?"

...er...he did.

Wladimir's most successful spell in the division came after Vitali had retired in 2005.

Before 2005 Wlad had held the WBO Title once and defended it five times before being destroyed in under two rounds by Corrie Sanders, he then failed to win back the WBO Title when he fought Lamont Brewster for the vacant belt in 2004.

In September 2005 - just under two months before Vitali retired - Wlad embarked on his ten year unbeaten streak. He defeated Samuel Peter in that month of that year, won the IBF and IBO Titles off of Chris Byrd in the very next fight, successfully retained them against Brock, Austin and Brewster before picking up the WBO Title off of Ibragrimov. He then defended his IBF, WBO and IBO titles against Thompson and Rahman before picking up the Ring Title and becoming the Lineal Champion by defeating Chageav, then went on to defeat Chambers and Peter before picking up the WBA Title in a victory over Haye, thereafter holding all the relevent belts in the division except the WBC and remaining undefeated for four years before he lost to Fury.

Wlad was always the more successful Klitschko, with the stronger resume and more titles and successful defences to his name. With or without Vitali he'd likely have had the same success - in fact I'd argued that with Vitali around he was denied the chance to become the Undisputed Unified World Champion because he couldn't go after the WBC Belt between 2007 and 2014, and if Vitali had stayed retired he might have been able to get a unification fight sometime during that period.

 

The only 2 wins even worth mentioning there are Byrd/Holyfield and Rahman/Lewis. Byrd beating Holyfield was like Khan beating MAB; the shameful harvesting of the name of the ghost of a great fighter. As for Rahman, he got lucky; as soon as Lewis put down the bong and quit eating cheeseburgers and started going to camp instead of hanging around with Hollywood degenerates, it became clear that Hasim had no business in the ring with him.

So, yes. Wlad's resume is lots of nothing.