What do you think of Wladimir Klitschko?

[beez721]

Don't care much about Wlad Klitschko to be honest. He's a good fighter but not one i'm very exited about.. One the previous era he would not be a top contender let alone champion imo, based on what a past his prime lenox lewis did to his brother, who is, in my opinion better than wlad.

a focused wlad would have been a top contender and possible champ in any era as would vitali....btw the version of wald today is better than vitali in my opinion. only thing vitali had over wald is durability

[Allucard]

Lewis was way past his prime. Wlad put up a good fight and he was favored to win, but lost. Saying he would have won if he wasn't TKO isn't fair to Lewis either. A prime Tyson would have killed Wladimir and Vitali, based on styles and on what Brewster did to Wladimir the first fight. However i think another great past fighter, Holyfied would have lost to both also based on styles. Lewis in his prime would have done very well against the klit brothers even though he plays the same way they do. So i place Wladimir Klitschko and his brother in a "challenger" status with a shot at becoming champions, although neither would have kept their belts for long as they do now. The HW division status doesn't draw me in because the quality has decreased alot, and the fighters are not ecxiting, cept for a few fellas, but those are not good enough for me to follow.

[beez721]

Lewis was way past his prime. Wlad put up a good fight and he was favored to win, but lost. Saying he would have won if he wasn't TKO isn't fair to Lewis either. A prime Tyson would have killed Wladimir and Vitali, based on styles and on what Brewster did to Wladimir the first fight. However i think another great past fighter, Holyfied would have lost to both also based on styles. Lewis in his prime would have done very well against the klit brothers even though he plays the same way they do. So i place Wladimir Klitschko and his brother in a "challenger" status with a shot at becoming champions, although neither would have kept their belts for long as they do now. The HW division status doesn't draw me in because the quality has decreased alot, and the fighters are not ecxiting, cept for a few fellas, but those are not good enough for me to follow.

lewis wasnt well past his prime when he fought vitali. his fight right before vit was one of his best performances in his kayo over tyson. he was probably just beginning the decline at that point. as far as wlad goes,,,saying tyson would destroy him based on his losing to brew the first time isnt a sound conclusion.he only lost to brew becuase he was going for a quick knockout and didnt pace himself. obviously he wouldnt have punched himself out with tyson being tyson was known for having a good chin. he would have been way more cautious. this sint to say I think he'd have beaten mike. that would have been a tough style for him and mike probably would have taken him out

[fluent2332]

I do, and think that if he can stay healthy and busy then he can put together an impressive title defense and KO streak but let me first see him get past Chagaev/Ibragimov and possibly a rematch with Peter...

i think the rematch with peter should be his first unified title defense. the outcome of that fight, while not career-defining, will have an impact on whether or not wlad can ever be considered 'great'

and don't forget, he's had a couple poor losses

[Stickman]

i think the rematch with peter should be his first unified title defense. the outcome of that fight, while not career-defining, will have an impact on whether or not wlad can ever be considered 'great'

and don't forget, he's had a couple poor losses

I agree. Wlad should give Peter a rematch, if for no other reason than to shut up some of his more vocal haters. I doubt it'll do much good, since immediately after every fight his opponents suddenly turn into bums, but I'm hoping that eventually, after he's KO'd every fighter that these people say will "KTFO Klitchko", they'll at least stop posting this bull**** on every thread. It gets old. I can understand having a favorite fighter, I really can. Hell, I have several myself (Marquez brothers, Shane Mosely, Winkey Wright, Klitchko brothers, and many others), but I find it very diffiult to actually hate a fighter. Very few have earned that level of disrespect from me and I've been watching the sport since we got our first TV when I was 6 years old. It takes extremely unsportsmanlike conduct (Tyson, for example) to make me dislike a fighter, and I haven't seen anything in Klitchko to make me even begin to not like the guy. On the contrary, he seems to be a decent guy, he can box, he works hard, he stays in great shape (not easy for someone that size), he's amazingly dedicated to the sport, he's got ****LOADS of power, great skill...hell, what's not to like? Oh, he's got a few KO losses in his career? Well, then we should hate about 98% of the fighters in the sport, because KO losses are fairly common. Losses, in my opinion, don't mean ****. Or maybe they mean everything, because to be knocked out, you have to take risks in the ring (a fight without risks is boring as **** to watch....Oscar/Floyd, anyone?), and that means you're giving the fans a show. After all, we're here to watch a couple of guys hit each other, right? And we're here to see who's the best at it.

Anyway, a Peter rematch would be a good fight. The only problem I have with it is that Peter was beaten soundly in the first fight, and in all reality, doesn't deserve a rematch. Yep, he knocked Wlad down (once legally, at least), but still managed to get his ass outboxed badly enough to lose on the cards by a comfortable margin. In any case, the fight would be entertaining, and would most likely end in Peter getting KO'd in mid to late rounds. Of course he'll turn into a bum immediately, but hey....it'll still be a good fight.