Vitali's place in the history books?

I am pretty sure Wlad will go on to be an ATG. 5-8 more years for Wlad of constant title defenses and unification to become an undisputed champion (something we had not had since 2003), will deliver his name with the greats. As for Vitali, the man is 37, and is going to be 38 a month after he fights Haye. He comes in the picture and leaves. However he is the man everyone considers to be the one to beat, even though his accomplishments do not nearly match that of Wlads. Where will Vitali's place be in history? PS: He is also a 3 time world champ now. I think it's too early to talk about it, the history on him and Klitschko brothers' place in HW boxing is still being written. If they manage to get a hold of 4 major titles, defend a few times, and Wlad unifies after Vitali retires for good, the history will definitely have their names in it. If Vitali gets injured and pulls out of his next fight and Wlad gets knocked by his next opponent, it'll be a whole different story.

The best heavyweight since Lennox Lewis but a guy who never went out and really tried to prove it. A guy who would be favored over all the heavyweights since Lewis but never cared to take them all on.

I would say that even though Vitali was inactive, and did not hold a title for the latter part of his career he was still the legitamate heir to Lennox's crown. Wladamir has shown no initiative whatsoever to unify the titles, I believe if Vitali hadnt gotten injured he wouldve been undisputed champ by now and would have gone down in history along with the rest of the ATGs. Wladimir already unified the IBF/WBO and is pursuing Valuev for the WBA. If anyone it is trying to unify it is Wladimir not Vitali. Vitali is in there for a fight or two, he is not in there to build a legacy like Wladimir.

VK ain't done near enuf to be listed amongst great HW's yet. Yet Marciano beats up on old men who were LHs....how does that work out? If Marciano is an ATG; Vitali is. Plus, Vitali gives anyone in history a hard time so if we base it on that; he makes the list.

I would say that even though Vitali was inactive, and did not hold a title for the latter part of his career he was still the legitamate heir to Lennox's crown. Wladamir has shown no initiative whatsoever to unify the titles, I believe if Vitali hadnt gotten injured he wouldve been undisputed champ by now and would have gone down in history along with the rest of the ATGs.

????besides lennox i dont see your point Well Lennox alone nearly dwarfs Wlad's entire resume IMO haha. But I mean, Sam Peter was one of Wlad's best wins and Vitali beat him more impressively. Lewis Corrie Sanders(who KO'd Wlad) Chris Byrd Sam Peter Herbie Hide Byrd Brewster Peter Brock Ibragimov I mean, Lewis trumps anyone on either list, but considering how much more active Wlad is, the resume's aren't that far apart.

VK ain't done near enuf to be listed amongst great HW's yet. If you were a boxing writer, what would you say about Vitali, where would you place him in the history books?

I whatched the Lennox fight monday at work. Vitali wasn't just walking all over him but was deff landing more and harder shots. Higher connect percentage ergo getting the better of him. If it wasn't for the cut over VK's eye I think he was well on his way to a huge margin ud or a late round ko. Even after the fight Jim stated and the other commentators agreed and I quote( It is safe to say Lennox came away with the belt but Vitali came away with the fight). Now that being said it was a bad cut and was probably for the best but IMO wasn't effecting him enough to cause him to be loosing the fight.I guess what i'm trying to say is I think that's one L that should deff show W and would make his resume look oh so much better. Under circumstances like that I just don't think it should be listed as a tko it just doesn't make sense to me. Rules are rules, a NC would probably have been the most satisfying option in the scenario.

VK ain't done near enuf to be listed amongst great HW's yet.

I whatched the Lennox fight monday at work. Vitali wasn't just walking all over him but was deff landing more and harder shots. Higher connect percentage ergo getting the better of him. If it wasn't for the cut over VK's eye I think he was well on his way to a huge margin ud or a late round ko. Even after the fight Jim stated and the other commentators agreed and I quote( It is safe to say Lennox came away with the belt but Vitali came away with the fight). Now that being said it was a bad cut and was probably for the best but IMO wasn't effecting him enough to cause him to be loosing the fight.I guess what i'm trying to say is I think that's one L that should deff show W and would make his resume look oh so much better. Under circumstances like that I just don't think it should be listed as a tko it just doesn't make sense to me.

Dont confuse my avatar picture with the other members of this forum. I had this avatar since I joined in 04, and lately I have been seeing many of imitations. Differentiate between the names, because I know its easy to get confused by someones avatar, afterall that is what represents us. In the case of Vitali, there is no nuthugging on my part, I am a realist. And am very glad that the fight with Haye is happening. This fight presents V with a great chance to add a very credible name to his resume. I do not understand why Wladimir did not take thisfight, unless Vitali called rank on him.

If the nutthuggers lay off his nuts and stop saying stupid shit like "He is the greatest HW evaaaa!!!!!" and some of the hater stop saying "Bitchko" then mabye after all is said and done. 15-25 best HW nothing better then that, unless some crazy ass competion starts heading his way and he beats them all then maybe higher. Always under Lewis though :( If Tyson is considered great and marciano(both did very little in terms of resume) then maybe Klitschko can be high. Who knows, he has to get by Haye first. P.S. Stop saying haye is a nobody and stop calling him "gaymaker", you are only making the opposition's argument better if Klitschko wins and they say Haye was a bum. Dont confuse my avatar picture with the other members of this forum. I had this avatar since I joined in 04, and lately I have been seeing many of imitations. Differentiate between the names, because I know its easy to get confused by someones avatar, afterall that is what represents us. In the case of Vitali, there is no nuthugging on my part, I am a realist. And am very glad that the fight with Haye is happening.

An injury prone, but uber talented, underachieving heavyweight. I honestly think a healthy, motivated Vitali Klitschko gives any heavyweight in history trouble. Not saying he'd beat any heavyweight, but he would be a threat to anyone, I honestly believe that. An interesting note about that is, a while back I read an article concerning Vitali pre Byrd and pro Byrd. Basically Vitali said that after the Byrd injury he took it down a notch, because he could not punch as hard as he did before. And if you watched Vitali's older videos before the Byrd fight, he was a different fighter. He still had his akward style (which is why I think he is so effective), but the amount of punches he put out, and the power he had behind them seemed much greater than of today.

Ya know, as inactive as he's been, and even Wlad accomplishing so much more title wise, comparing resumes I think Vitali's is better based on competition.

If the nutthuggers lay off his nuts and stop saying stupid shit like "He is the greatest HW evaaaa!!!!!" and some of the hater stop saying "Bitchko" then mabye after all is said and done. 15-25 best HW nothing better then that, unless some crazy ass competion starts heading his way and he beats them all then maybe higher. Always under Lewis though :( If Tyson is considered great and marciano(both did very little in terms of resume) then maybe Klitschko can be high. Who knows, he has to get by Haye first. P.S. Stop saying haye is a nobody and stop calling him "gaymaker", you are only making the opposition's argument better if Klitschko wins and they say Haye was a bum.

I agree, so what would you write about him if you were to put his name in the history books of boxing? One of the biggest under-achievers in the division's history I think. He is far superior to his brother but probably won't have the legacy. He has all the tools to mix it in every era. Just a shame really.

To be honest, I say toss the resume: Vitali is an ATG. Pit any "ATG" against Vitali and it would be a great match. I think Rocky's resume isn't great, especially considering he didn't fight one legit Top 200 pound fighter...which is fair given his size, however; if can be put next to the likes of Ali by some fans and historians...I'm putting Vitali in the listings of ATG. Where; I'm not sure. I guess that is when resume comes into play. Someone did point out to me a while back about Lennox...and now we can include Wlad and Vitali, for their incredible size over most, if not all the HWs they fought. Unfair advantage?

An injury prone, but uber talented, underachieving heavyweight. I honestly think a healthy, motivated Vitali Klitschko gives any heavyweight in history trouble. Not saying he'd beat any heavyweight, but he would be a threat to anyone, I honestly believe that.

Although he is my favourite Heavy of recent times Vitali isn't an ATG. He just doesn't have the resume unfortunately. A large part of that isn't his fault. Its just the way it is unfortunately. I agree, so what would you write about him if you were to put his name in the history books of boxing?

Although he is my favourite Heavy of recent times Vitali isn't an ATG. He just doesn't have the resume unfortunately. A large part of that isn't his fault. Its just the way it is unfortunately.