Larry Holmes and Wladimir Klitschko. Titlereign comparison.

[BattlingNelson]

Holmes fought by far more terrible fighters. If you want a list:

Scott Frank
Marvis Frazier
Ossie Ocasio
Lucien Rodriguez
Lorenzo Zanon
Alfredo Evangelista

These guys weren't even on the level of Ray Austin when Holmes fought them.

Now here is a list of top heavyweights of the early 1980's who Holmes never fought:

Pinklon Thomas
Gerrie Coetzee
Greg Page
Mike Dokes

Holmes never gave rematches to Norton or Witherspoon after very close wins. I won't even count Carl Williams because he lost his title in his next fight. Larry was an excellent champion, but has benefited from what I call a "convenient memory" concerning his title reign.

I did mention Thomas and Dokes. I deliberately omitted Coetzee because he was South African and was boycotted due to apartheid. I could have put him on the list though. And I probably should.

Page was not on as he was not the no.1 challenger.Still I agree that he was a top heavy for a few years during Holmes reign and he never got a shot at Holmes.

[BattlingNelson]

Wlad-Lewis was well on its way to happening but then Corrie Sanders burst that bubble. There was plenty of time for such a fight anywhere from 2000-early 03; Wlad and Vitali were both moved WAY methodically and it hurt their early development. Considering their amateur pedigree, and number of fights, they were beyond ready to challenge for the real crown by 2000/01. It was par for the Kohl course and they both did better things when they were on their own.

You should perhaps add that Lewis wanted none of Wlad/Vitali despite them being the top challengers for several years when Lewis was king. I wouldn't lay the blame on Kohl/Universum alone. In fact I put more blame on Lewis and his handlers for not getting the fights done.

[sonnyboyx2]

You should perhaps add that Lewis wanted none of Wlad/Vitali despite them being the top challengers for several years when Lewis was king. I wouldn't lay the blame on Kohl/Universum alone. In fact I put more blame on Lewis and his handlers for not getting the fights done.

Lewis boasted, "i will have one brother for breakfast, the other brother for Tea"... Lewis would have slaughtered Wlad

[BattlingNelson]

Lewis boasted, "i will have one brother for breakfast, the other brother for Tea"... Lewis would have slaughtered Wlad

Maybe, but he never backed up his words did he? In fact it would be quite easy to make a case for him deliberately ducking the brothers.

[Suckmedry]

Maybe, but he never backed up his words did he? In fact it would be quite easy to make a case for him deliberately ducking the brothers.

He stopped Vitali on cuts!!??

[BattlingNelson]

He stopped Vitali on cuts!!??

True. But only after Vitali had been the no. 1 challenger for years and yet he was given his titleshot as a late replacement with only one weeks notice.

These are the facts but quite irrelevant when comparing the titlereigns of Holmes and Wlad.

[sonnyboyx2]

IMO Holmes fought by far the better opposition than Wlad has yet Vitali's opposition is dreadful compared to Wlad's, Vitali's only claim to fame is his stoppage loss to Lennox Lewis

[crold1]

True. But only after Vitali had been the no. 1 challenger for years and yet he was given his titleshot as a late replacement with only one weeks notice.

These are the facts but quite irrelevant when comparing the titlereigns of Holmes and Wlad.

He was a WBC #1...he was hardly viewed as the leading threat to the title even in 2003 (in retrospect that was wrong but at the time Vitali was still largely unproven). They were contracted to fight later in 203; the late replacement bit was due to Lewis losing a foe. He had so much regard for Vitali he was wiling to take him on almost no notice. Wlad could have had a title shot but his people were in no hurry to get to Lewis. By the time he looked ready, he was being ponged off the floor by Sanders with the deal all but set for Lewis to fight him after Vitali.

[bojangles1987]

Holmes did reign in a weak era, but he proved himself against good to great fighters in the 70's. Wlad's never done that.

[BattlingNelson]

He was a WBC #1...he was hardly viewed as the leading threat to the title even in 2003 (in retrospect that was wrong but at the time Vitali was still largely unproven). They were contracted to fight later in 203; the late replacement bit was due to Lewis losing a foe. He had so much regard for Vitali he was wiling to take him on almost no notice. Wlad could have had a title shot but his people were in no hurry to get to Lewis. By the time he looked ready, he was being ponged off the floor by Sanders with the deal all but set for Lewis to fight him after Vitali.

Ok let's take a slight Vitali-Lewis detour.

Maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Lewis felt that the time to take on Vitali was now when he, Lewis would be at biggest advantage? I mean Vitali has about to sue Lewis for backing out of fights twice so they had to give Vitali a shot soon or face legal fines.

Now on to the lead-up to fight. Vitali had been WBC mando for about a year and Lewis played the waiting game because all he really wanted was a moneyspinning Tyson rematch.

So Lewis lines up a volountary defense against Kirk Johnson. Tyson is slated to fight Boswell on the undercard thereby hyping the potential rematch.

What happens is that Tyson pulls out of his fight with Boswell. 3 weeks (!) before the event is about to take place, Vitali accepts the role as Tyson's replacement. One week later Johnson gets injured and pulls out of the Lewis fight. Shortly thereafter Vitali agrees to step in and the date is saved.

So Lewis knows that he has had a 2 month camp while Vitali has had 2 weeks.

There you have it. I beg to differ. Lewis didn't take on Vitali on short notice because he held him to little regard. Rather he took on Vitali because he had stacked the cards against Vitali as much as was possible.