Wladimir Klitschko...does he deserve to be considered a top 10 all-time heavyweight?

[CHOWWOKKA]

Jimmy told me that the Klitschkos pretty much have only fought chimps. After taking this into consideration, I have to vote no.

[jimmy1569]

No one gives a damn about how many rounds you won at Heavyweight. To give you an idea of how irrelevant round-winning is, Lennox WON 4 out of the 5 completed rounds in his losses to Mccall and Rahman.



Majority of the time its the man who causes the most damage who wins the fight. Scorecards are for figure skaters and ping-pong tournaments.
[CENTER]

See... now you're bringing it but as much as the scorecard scenario is similar it's better to go out with an asthma inhaler while having both ko losses go 15 rds while losing a rd.. than it is to go out on your back twice in 5 rds & twice with one shot.... so I CAN SEE how you have disdain for the scorecard system as they Don't PROTECT the fighter when glass jaws are involved.. you guys all act like the Klitschko losses (except sAnders) ARE somehow equivalent to a Mccall or Rahman righthanded hayemakers... trust me on this i'd rather go out with half my eye dangling & my shoulder separated while i'm crying than to lose by two punches while the ref looks into my eyes while i get up from my coma & says no mas son.

[FightingWords]

Negative. Maybe some where in the 20's. Even with today's era of heavyweights, he still managed to have knockout loses.

[-Antonio-]

If guys like Dempsey and Johnson didn't get guaranteed spots on the list for historical reasons then Wlad or Vitali would be really close. They are both in the top 20.

Wlad's gotta get in there at some point right? He's beating everyone at this point. It's reasonable to believe he's better right now than he's ever been. He's learned how to overcome his weaknesses. Joe Louis really did not beat any great fighters. His auroa is heavily based on his bum of the month tour, millitary tour, black history, etc. Wlad's run of defenses is arguably better than Joe's, and say he wins 5 more fights it will be better for sure.

[StarshipTrooper]

Marciano's best win is over a washed up Joe Louis....go figure anybodys resume can be picked to pieces....Klitschko has beaten more top ten heavyweights of his time than everyone besides Louis or maybe Ali

I'd say his best win was Ezzard Charles (either fight). While past it, Ezzard was still much closer to prime than Louis was when Rocky fought him.

Poet

[StarshipTrooper]

As to the actual question in the thread title: In a word, NO.

[Danieltapia]

Definitely top 30, I wouldn't put him in the top 20 though.

[yoz]

No higher than 15.

[Ryn0]

He's been stopped 3 times and not by significant fighters and only avenged one of the fights. The HW division is as bad as it was in the Primo Carnera era, not to say Wlad is a bad fighter but 90-95% of the fighters come in the ring overweight and looking for a pay check, don't mean to say Wlad is a bad fighter he's very good in fact but..

The eras of Joe Louis, Holmes and Marciano were poor but at least the fighters in that era come in shape and to fight.

Wlad's best win is probably Chris Byrd or David Haye, but he has wins over Chagaev and Ibragimov as well as a past it Mercer, Sam Peter.

Joe Louis had wins over Max Baer, a past it Joe Walcott, Billy Conn, Max Schmeling, Jim Braddock, Primo Carnera, Jack Sharkey. None of them we're ATG heavyweight (but quite a few are in the HOF) but Baer, Carnera, Schmeling, Braddock and Sharkey all held th Heavyweight belt at a time when there was only one heavyweight belt, you couldn't run around collecting IBF's and call yourself a champion.

Interesting you bring up Lennox Lewis, I'd argue his win (and it is a win) over Vitali is a win over a prime great heavyweight, he has Holyfield, Bruno, Mercer, Rahman, Tua, Grant, McCall, Akinwande, Tucker, Ruddock. Definately stronger than Wlad's and quite a decent resume I'd say.

The hardest to argue for is Marciano since there is a derth of names on his resume but his undefeated record in some ways atones for that because you can only beat who is in your era and he didn't lose but Lastarza (who he had a controvertial decision against in their first fight), Charles, Walcott, Moore, Louis are all recognizable if a bit old, but in perspective he was a tiny heavyweight.

[Ryn0]

See... now you're bringing it but as much as the scorecard scenario is similar it's better to go out with an asthma inhaler while having both ko losses go 15 rds while losing a rd.. than it is to go out on your back twice in 5 rds & twice with one shot.... so I CAN SEE how you have disdain for the scorecard system as they Don't PROTECT the fighter when glass jaws are involved.. you guys all act like the Klitschko losses (except sAnders) ARE somehow equivalent to a Mccall or Rahman righthanded hayemakers... trust me on this i'd rather go out with half my eye dangling & my shoulder separated while i'm crying than to lose by two punches while the ref looks into my eyes while i get up from my coma & says no mas son.

Don't know why you're talking abotu Klitschkos as if their one person. Their legacies are seperate, Wlad lost to Purrity, Sanders and Brewster, none of them are going to make the history books aside from being the guys that beat Wlad. Wlad's chin is far from granite, i'd argue it's worse then Lewis since Brewster, Sanders and Purrity did literally nothing else with their careers.

And Wlad only beat Brewster in rematch, never fought Sanders or Purrity. Vitali had to do it for him, Lewis avenged those defeats to McCall and Rahman and in the case of Rahman he did it big.