What do you think? Obviously two different cases here. Joe Louis was THE champion for all of his defenses while Wlad hasn't even gotten all the belts yet. But counting the main 4 belts, (correct me if I'm wrong) he has defended at least one of them 12 times. He's almost halfway there and just entering the prime of his career.
If he gets by Haye, I see him dominating easily for the next 3 years. That's when the next batch of prospects will be coming through (Fury, Wilder, ect.).
Keep in mind, other than waiting 6 months for Haye in 2009, Wlad fights 3-4 times a year.
Wlad will have to hold onto his champion status until approximately January/February 2018 to break Louis' record of total time as champ, and also has to make 9 defenses in that time in order to break the total defenses record number.
If Wlad manages 3 fights this year (April//August or September/December) and continues that schedule in 2016 and 2017, he will be able to break both records, add some good names to his resume if he beats upcoming talents like Wilder/Fury...maybe another Povetkin fight, Joshua...
If he could end his career like that, he could possibly decide to retire at the start of 2018 and give a fresh start to the heavyweight division from the start of 2018 onwards.
I doubt it will happen like that though.
Wladimir Klitscko i simply the greatest heavyweight ever. Who would beat him circa 2004-2014???
He got knocked out by lamon Brewster in 2004
He actually didn't have a decade long boxing career of nearly 50 fights and a long championship reign up until his thirties. It just doesn't exist. That Wlad is a ghost. The one that conveniently didn't lose to any dangerous opposition since then is the only version that's ever existed.
He will retire as soon as anthony Joshua becomes the number 1 challenger
Do you really believe that ? Joshua is about the only other Brit he can face who will bring with him ppv should he remain undefeated, you telling me Wlad would want no part of that ?
"When it comes to wins in world title heavyweight fights (200+ lbs) then Wlad is only surpassed by Holmes, Ali and Lennox."
Are you serious?
Also, how on Earth can so say that Joe Louis was effectively a Cruiserweight fighter?
Pure hater's post.
Wlad _IS_ already ATG by being the Ring Champion.
When it comes to wins in world title heavyweight fights (200+ lbs) then Wlad is only surpassed by Holmes, Ali and Lennox. Joe Louis' title defenses were mostly against cruisers = play in a different league.
And stop complaining about the state of the heavyweight division. It's better than at the time of Louis, BECAUSE AT THE TIME OF LOUIS THERE WAS ONLY A CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION: This picture summarizes the state of the heavyweights during Louis' times pretty well:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/531/louis3333.th.jpg
They were CRUISERS. Louis title defenses were against a median 196lbs opponent.
The same applies to the division in Ali's times (Ali was fighting for the Olympic Gold Medal in the SUB-CRUISERS division < 178lbs).
If you want to return to the overhyped 70ies heavyweights division where a guy with Parkinson (Ali) fights a 6-0 guy (Spinks) for the world heavyweight title (WBA & WBC belts, 1978) THEN TELL US RIGHT NOW.
Unfortunately sigs can only be 500 characters long, otherwise I would have added Spinks (26-17) and other bums (like Jimmy Young 34-19) to Ali's "greatest hits".
Wins in world title fights against 200+ opponents
Holmes: 21 (15 KOs) against a median opponent of 39-11
Ali: 19 (9 KOs within 12 rounds) against a median opponent of 45-13
Lennox: 15 (10 KOs)
Wlad: 14 (12 KOs) against a median opponent of 32-4 (= better than Ali)
Tyson 12 (10 KOs)
Louis: 10 (7 KOs) against a median opponent of 56-16
Holyfield: 10 (4 KOs)
Foreman: 4 (3 KOs)
Actually Ali's opponents are even worse since I mercifully included their complete records (= including wins against cruisers and subcruisers). In other words: Already now Wlad fights better opposition than Ali (with George Foreman and maybe Lyle being the only exception). Ali's greatest achievement is that he managed to to not rematch Foreman. Lennox was fighting the best opposition.
idiotic fool.
Pure hater's post.
Wlad _IS_ already ATG by being the Ring Champion.
When it comes to wins in world title heavyweight fights (200+ lbs) then Wlad is only surpassed by Holmes, Ali and Lennox. Joe Louis' title defenses were mostly against cruisers = play in a different league.
And stop complaining about the state of the heavyweight division. It's better than at the time of Louis, BECAUSE AT THE TIME OF LOUIS THERE WAS ONLY A CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION: This picture summarizes the state of the heavyweights during Louis' times pretty well:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/531/louis3333.th.jpg
They were CRUISERS. Louis title defenses were against a median 196lbs opponent.
The same applies to the division in Ali's times (Ali was fighting for the Olympic Gold Medal in the SUB-CRUISERS division < 178lbs).
If you want to return to the overhyped 70ies heavyweights division where a guy with Parkinson (Ali) fights a 6-0 guy (Spinks) for the world heavyweight title (WBA & WBC belts, 1978) THEN TELL US RIGHT NOW.
Unfortunately sigs can only be 500 characters long, otherwise I would have added Spinks (26-17) and other bums (like Jimmy Young 34-19) to Ali's "greatest hits".
Wins in world title fights against 200+ opponents
Holmes: 21 (15 KOs) against a median opponent of 39-11
Ali: 19 (9 KOs within 12 rounds) against a median opponent of 45-13
Lennox: 15 (10 KOs)
Wlad: 14 (12 KOs) against a median opponent of 32-4 (= better than Ali)
Tyson 12 (10 KOs)
Louis: 10 (7 KOs) against a median opponent of 56-16
Holyfield: 10 (4 KOs)
Foreman: 4 (3 KOs)
Actually Ali's opponents are even worse since I mercifully included their complete records (= including wins against cruisers and subcruisers). In other words: Already now Wlad fights better opposition than Ali (with George Foreman and maybe Lyle being the only exception). Ali's greatest achievement is that he managed to to not rematch Foreman. Lennox was fighting the best opposition.
You are purely a simple minded fool. There was no limit to weigh in at during Luis' time. he foguth men who out weighed him by almost 50lbs at times. his bout with Abe Simon in 1941 was scheduled for 20 rounds....Yes I said it 20 rounds so was his bout with Abe Simon in 1939. You are talking about two different era's/ The fighters back then came in to their fights in shape and prepared to go at least 15 rounds. They fought every month because they needed a pay check. Joe Louis fought 7 times in 1941 for a total of 48 rounds.
You should go bury your head in the sand because your logic is warped son!.....Lefty
If your opponent is 200+ then it's a HW fight.
If your opponent is sub-200 then it's a cruiser fight.
In rare cases a fighter has signed to fight as HW but weighs slightly below 200. Then the HW fight is allowed to go ahead as HW fight.
The other way around, too: Sometimes a cruiser weighs slightly above 200. Then they nevertheless sanction it as cruiser fight to not cancel a scheduled fight.
Moreover what has your reply to do with my post?you have no idea what you are talking about. i wish i could ban you.
Now if you delete FORMER cruisers and sub-cruiser off the record then Louis has won titles only against 2 fighters (Baer and Simon).
Byrd stated that he was well under 200 lbs when he fought Wladimir. Are you calling Chris Byrd a liar?
If you delete former cruisers then Wladimir's wins against Ibragimov and Chagaev don't count either.
What is left are wins over half-blind Lamon Brewster, half-blind Calvin Brock, Samuel "I was humiliated by an overweight cruiser Eddie Chambers" Peter, Ray "nearly KO'd by Zuri Lawrence" Austin, old men like Ray Mercer, Francois Botha and bums such as Derrick Jefferson and Charles Sufford.
Wladimir won his title from a sub-cruiser so his whole title reign shouldn't count.
Wladimir can at best be recognized as the overweight cruiserweight champion of the world.
How in the world will he have the time to do another 19 fights? He fights once this year, so he'd need 3 defenses for the next six years. No way he can remain on top that long. Not in sports, where a sprained leg can end your career. His brother was out for four years thanks to injuries.
16y ago
Will Wladimir Klitschko break Joe Lous' 25 title defenses record? | BoxingScene Community