Lets face it, the two headed monster has been punishing the heavyweight division since 2004. Six years later after the retirement of Lewis who made a very fine choice, realizing that his chances of winning a rematch against Vitali were slim to none, the division has been held hostage. Hate it or love it but the Klitschkos will be remembered as all time greats simply for being the best of their time for over a period of a decade. Thoughts?
Holmes got a ton of shiit for that, and only pretty recently is he seen as an ATG
As far as contender caliber goes...
Roy Williams
Mike Weaver
Leroy Jones
Marvis Frazier
Gerry Cooney
Renaldo Snipes
Randy Cobb
Ray Mercer
Jose Ribalta
Champion Caliber
Tim Witherspoon
Bonecrusher Smith
Ken Norton
Earnie Shavers
Trevor Berbick
I am sure we will all agree that all of the fighters listed above are either on par or much better than anyone Wlad or Vitali has ever had to fight...
Add on top of this that after 20 years of being a professional boxer Holmes gave Holyfield and Oliver Mccall such tough and competitive fights(He was vomiting in his corner after the Holyfield one lol...) And then top it off with the fact that he faced most all of the fighters in their primes....
That should put to rest whether or not Larry was a ATG...Isn't that resume insanely more impressive than most any other fighter in heavyweight history? Not just the Klitschkos, but damn near any fighter, even on par with Holyfield...Feel free to try and argue here, but I doubt you can make any leeway here...
You could say the same for Holmes because he gets recognized as an ATG HW and rightfully so for his consistency and long run on top with only a couple name wins.
Holmes got a ton of shiit for that, and only pretty recently is he seen as an ATG
You could say the same for Holmes because he gets recognized as an ATG HW and rightfully so for his consistency and long run on top with only a couple name wins.
I agree with you. The difference I see though is Holmes didn't have the massive physical advantages the bros enjoy in most of their fights. Again, not their fault but I think people will look at that down the road. Jmo.
Yes even though some do hate them for whatever reason ppl will remember them because they were on top for so long. Consistency more than anything is the hallmark of ATG HWs.
They've earned their accolades for their consistency and will be remembered for their domination. Unfortunately they'll also be remembered for their incredibly weak era. This of course is no fault of their own, but something I don't think will be over looked when evaluating their legacies years from now.
Wlad dominated 2003 and 2004 for sure.
EDIT: LOL! I read the decade. If they'll be remembered as dominating the millenium then well, boxing must die out completely around 2015.