If Wlad Klitschko fought.......

[D4thincarnation]

Wlad sits at the top of the heavyweight tree at the moment and has done for some time now.

Some say this a weak heavyweight era and they may be right but has Wlad always taken on the best available?

And who are the fighters he should have fought along the way?

So Wlad started his pro career all the way back in 1996 but it wasn't until 2000 when he entered the ring heavyweight rankings and became WBO Heavyweight but never took on any of the big guns for over half the decade.



Lennox Lewis in 2002
Evander Holyfield in 2003
Ike Ibeabuchi in 2000
Nikolay Valuev in 2005
Mike Tyson 2000

How many of these doe Wlad lose if he fights them?

Poll coming!!!!!

[nomadman]

Wlad sits at the top of the heavyweight tree at the moment and has done for some time now.

Some say this a weak heavyweight era and they may be right but has Wlad always taken on the best available?

And who are the fighters he should have fought along the way?

So Wlad started his pro career all the way back in 1996 but it wasn't until 2000 when he entered the ring heavyweight rankings and became WBO Heavyweight but never took on any of the big guns for over half the decade.

I'd say he's consistently taken on the best fighters available during his reign, and didn't really duck anyone that I can think of before that. A Corrie Sanders rematch would have been nice though.

Lennox Lewis in 2002
Evander Holyfield in 2003
Ike Ibeabuchi in 2000
Nikolay Valuev in 2005
Mike Tyson 2000

How many of these doe Wlad lose if he fights them?

Loses to Lennox by knockout, beats Holyfield by decision, don't really know how he does against Ike, beats SNV by decision or maybe late knockout and decisions or TKOs Tyson in the years you set for those bouts.

[bojangles1987]

One complaint I don't have about Wlad is that he has fought whoever was there to fight for the most part. Lennox wasn't really an option, because Wlad was going through a rough patch when Lennox was at the end if I remember correctly. Ruiz and Holyfield were never more a threat than others Wlad beat.

Complaints about the division's talent are one thing, but Wlad has cleaned out just about everybody.

[Pugilistic™]

Wladimir ( and Vitali) have fought the best available fighters in the division especially recently.

Unfortunately for them, the competition at heavyweight isn't very good right now but they did what they had to and dominated them.


Going on to matchups you listed i see them going like this:

Wladimir vs Lewis - Lewis would stop him imo. It would be a highly competitive boxing match to begin with but Lewis was mentally tougher and i think as it progressed Wladimir would be discouraged with getting hit and eventually would fade.

Wladimir vs Holyfield - I think Wladimir would outbox that version of Holyfield. Holyfield had faded by that point and just wouldn't be able to get past Wladimir's jab and size advantage.

Wladimir vs Ike - I haven't seen alot of Ike so i can't comment on how he would perform against Wlad.

Wladimir vs Valuev - I think Wladimir could stop Valuev but he would keep his distance and opt to outbox him instead. Valuev was huge but really he's slow and he sucks. Wladimir is the way way better boxer and would use his better footwork, jab, etc to easily outbox him.

Wladimir vs Tyson - That version of Tyson was decent but probably not good enough to beat a boxer like Wladimir who has the significant size advantage, deadly jab and is excellent at stopping fighters getting any work done inside with his footwork and clinching. Tyson would have a punchers chance early but thats it. Otherwise Wladimir outboxs him to a decision win or stops him late.

[-Deal With It-]

Holy & Igor should be replaced by Toney & Tua.

But Wlad loses 4 out of 5.

Lewis gets Wlad out of there pretty early.

Wlad descisions or stops Holyfield late.

Ike runs thru Wlad like a drunk loose booty'd whore.

Valuev likely stops the '05 version of Wlad (Remember, Steward was still working out the kinks and his confidence was shot at the time coming off of 2 beatings.)

And Tyson KO's Wlad in 1-3.

[nomadman]

Holy & Igor should be replaced by Toney & Tua.

Any version of Wlad beats any version of Toney. Just too big, strong, fast and skilled to let Toney do his thing. Can see Toney reaching the finish line though, minus a few billion brain cells.

Tua? Depends on when they fought. Around 2000 Tua was a beast and still had his aggression and speed. If he came into the fight in really good shape, as he sometimes did, I can see him catching Wlad with one of those leaping left hooks, or something sharp on the inside (Wlad didn't clinch as much back then). Would have been a very tense affair.

And Tyson KO's Wlad in 1-3.

Come on. Tyson was struggling with Botha in 99, very unlikely he blitzes Wlad in 2000.

[JAB5239]

He'd only lose to Ike and Lewis. And Ibeabuchi is only guess work on my part based on his willingness to pressure and solid chin and work rate. Other than that I'd say he was unproven and in no way comparable to any great fighters.

[ßringer]

Wlad from 2000 against Ibeabuchi would last about 59 seconds before it was stopped.

That said, Ike was in jail at that time, so unless Wlad felt like making the trip to the big house to throw hands with him, there's no way in hell that fight could have happened.

Lewis would have won handily against any version of Wlad pre 2008, and even now I'd still favor a Lewis from 2002 over a 2012 Wlad. Lennox handled the bigger, stronger, harder hitting of the two on a night when he was in the worst shape of his career, so I see no way Wlad troubles him.

I think he would have beaten Valuev easily, at any point in their careers, though. Tyson? Ehh....Early Wlad was one chinny ****, so there's that off chance that Tyson could land something, but it's doubtful due to lack of any will on Mike's part to win a fight by that time. I think Wlad would have beaten him.

Holyfield would have given him a good fight, though.

[ßringer]

Historically, I think you can make the case that Wladimir Klitschko is the new Larry Holmes.