Vitali Klitschkos early opponents.

[JasonBoxing]

Wlad is obviously higher on the ATG List than Vitali. Much higher. But I don't know if Wlad can beat him H2H. There are a lot of fighters with lesser resumes than Wladimir who can give him a great fight H2H.

Bowe/Ike/Vitali/ are three with lesser resumes who I will favor over Wlad. I just think Wlad is prone to panic if hit. The only reason he gets away with this is because none of the fighters he fought had elite level offensive arsenals to capitalize on this. When Wach had him against the ropes that one round, he lacked ability to finish. Wlad was really open in that first round against Pulev and in the seconds leading to him knocking Pulev out. Pulev managed to hit Wlad both times but once again lacked skills to finish. Vitali/Bowe would have finished those fights............. Not to mention both Bowe and Vitali would have the physical abilities to withstand Wlad in the clinches.

[LacedUp]

Much better.

The only area Vitali is better is his chin.

Wlad is better in every single area other than that.

Vitali was also the natural fighter of the two, even Wlad says that himself.

Wlad has more skills and the better resume, yet I would still favour Vitali prime for prime if they fought.

[classicbuzzbox]

You can't base anything on Wlad versus Rahman. Rahman was shot by then and everyone knew it.

I don't think there's a massive amount of difference between prime rahman and past-it Rahman. Wlad is too quick and too skilled barring getting clipped with a big shot. Rahman was the lower end of elite level heavyweights.

The reason I bring this up is VK ducked him. LL gave VK the fight of his life (and vice versa) and VKs best bombs shook LL up but they certainly didn't drop him. HR dropped Lewis and at the time of VK vs HR guys like Tua were saying that HRs huge wingspan, jab and power were going to cause VK trouble and VK got shook. He quit boxing rather than fight his mandatory and he lost alot of fans out of this.

It was total bs and amoung the worst ducking incidents IMO. Some real VK stalwarts fell out over this. I mean seriously, VK would have ended rahman and everyone knew this except Vitali.

[Weltschmerz]

I counted it once, and I think it was 5 guys in the top 10 during his whole career, which were wins that is.

As in fighters presently in the top 10.

Absolutely horrible for a so-called great heavyweight champion. Big waste in my opinion. I would have liked to see him face a lot of the guys Wladimir fought.

Much like Davey haye

[LacedUp]

Much like Davey haye

Haye doesn't compare to Vitali.

[Weltschmerz]

Haye doesn't compare to Vitali.

Haye shat himself when he thought he might end up in the ring with Vitali.

[Mugwump]

Wlad is obviously higher on the ATG List than Vitali. Much higher. But I don't know if Wlad can beat him H2H. There are a lot of fighters with lesser resumes than Wladimir who can give him a great fight H2H.

Bowe/Ike/Vitali/ are three with lesser resumes who I will favor over Wlad. I just think Wlad is prone to panic if hit. The only reason he gets away with this is because none of the fighters he fought had elite level offensive arsenals to capitalize on this. When Wach had him against the ropes that one round, he lacked ability to finish. Wlad was really open in that first round against Pulev and in the seconds leading to him knocking Pulev out. Pulev managed to hit Wlad both times but once again lacked skills to finish. Vitali/Bowe would have finished those fights............. Not to mention both Bowe and Vitali would have the physical abilities to withstand Wlad in the clinches.

A Bowe victory is no foregone conclusion against either brother. I mean, Bowe was a tough guy with plenty of heart. But let's not forget - HE NEEDED TO BE. For a high-profile fighter his defence was a complete shambles.

If I said it was harder to miss Bowe with a punch I wouldn't accurately describe his guard. All an opponent need do was throw out a fist in ANY DIRECTION and like the Death Star tractor-beaming the powerless Millennium Falcon to its center Bowe's face would suck it in.

Golota beat Bowe from pillar to post - twice. Neither brother could inflict such a sustained attack. But that doesn't make them a pushover. And unlike Golota - both possess something grey and gooey between their ears.

[Weltschmerz]

People tend to forget that Vitali was out during 4 years of his prime - a major factor. As I said, without this fact, and lets say Vladimir hadn't been a pro boxer, we have a different story most likely.

It is too easy to diss Vitali based on these facts. He did very well everything considered, especially when the talk falls on Lennox and that the rematch was ducked by Lennox.

The man should get a lot of respect, these things taken into consideration.

[Mugwump]

Vitali was unfortunate with injury. But I don't think you should ever turn a criticism into a virtue.

I wouldn't cut Ali slack for losing a similar chunk of his career. We can talk about the rights and wrongs of taking a political stand in sport - but if every fighter did similar (and there are any number of worthy causes to fight for) we wouldn't have a sport - period. I admire what Ali did. But that doesn't mean he's given a free pass over other fighters. After all, admiration isn't cheap.

In any case, even minus four years - Vitali's had more than enough time to match and beat the achievements of his brother.

At the end of his career every fighter has the record he deserves. The responsibility is his and only his.

[billeau2]

People tend to forget that Vitali was out during 4 years of his prime - a major factor. As I said, without this fact, and lets say Vladimir hadn't been a pro boxer, we have a different story most likely.

It is too easy to diss Vitali based on these facts. He did very well everything considered, especially when the talk falls on Lennox and that the rematch was ducked by Lennox.

The man should get a lot of respect, these things taken into consideration.

It is very ironic that Vitali does in fact get short shift when compared to his brother. I think he moves better, punches harder, has a better chin and is tougher than Vlad. I think he is better period.

But when we talk about Lewis we can see exactly where the Klitschko fantasy crashed down to reality. As said in this thread....Vitali who probably punches harder than his brother, could not take Lewis out. Thats really the bottom line regarding that fight....Holyfield may have said it best when he got that gift draw against lewis. His comment was that if lewis was such a champ he should have knocked him out when he had a chance and nevr left it to the judges.

but there is a difference between these two scenerios: Vitali tried to take lewis out and couldn't, lewis never really went after holyfield to take him out.