Wladamir Klitchko runs the gauntlet

[Brockton Lip]

I have much respect for Rocky. He was one of the greatest heavyweight champions ever. But there is no doubt that he never faced an opponent even remotely resembling Wladimir Klitschko. If you are talking P4P you can make a good case for Marciano, but straight up it is just a gross mismatch.

I agree, but also feel Wlad has not faced anyone like Marciano. He would be punching awkardly and down which would not help his power, while Marciano would have ridiculous leverage from punching up at Wlad.
To Ironside, yes I am. Wlad hits very hard but I feel that Shavers, Foreman, Marciano, Tyson, Baer, Louis, Liston, Dempsey, and others hit harder.

[Scott9945]

You people don't realize that Wlad has hardly lost any rounds in his entire career. If he had the chance, this current Wlad would knock that Corrie Sanders out in a rematch, and surely he'd school Ross like he did the first fight, he just gased.
A well conditioned Wlad is a serious threat to any HW of any era.

I think a decently conditioned Corey Sanders would always be dangerous to Wladimir. He was able to nail him so easily. Sanders had limitations, but he always brought size, speed, and KO power from a southpaw stance.

[TheGreatA]

A well conditioned Wlad is a serious threat to any HW of any era.

Too bad he can't be as well conditioned as the smaller guys because he is huge.

[Lucky13]

Too bad he can't be as well conditioned as the smaller guys because he is huge.

Yes you're right, that's something he'll always have to deal with.

[Lucky13]

I think a decently conditioned Corey Sanders would always be dangerous to Wladimir. He was able to nail him so easily. Sanders had limitations, but he always brought size, speed, and KO power from a southpaw stance.

I'm pretty sure Wlad is smart enough to figure him out in a rematch.

[Benny Leonard]

Too bad he can't be as well conditioned as the smaller guys because he is huge.

Yes, this always my concern when Wlad fights and other big fighters. We even saw Vitali and Lennox start to gas out because of the pressure placed on each other, although it doesn't help wrestling around with 245 pound fighters…and there is a bit of a pass for Lennox since he was 38 years old and past his prime and I have at least seen him do better when he was younger.

For Wlad, he now uses his jab as his key weapon and doesn’t unload the big shots that will zap him of his strength. He is also better at clinching to help control the fight so he doesn't have to burn to much fuel.

Peter was able to start gassing Wlad, but he hung in there. I'll wait and see what happens in the future.

When Wlad was tearing **** up (before Sanders) I thought if only he could get his stamina in check by pacing himself, and he would be one of the best HW I've seen, but then Sanders battered him and knocked him out and my heart sunk a bit.

But I like what I've been seeing in him, even though you can tell he still gets a bit gassed. Nobody else is out there and Wlad is a cool guy so I continue to root for him.

And Damn, it seems some are underestimated Wlad's power. Wlad stuns people with a simple short lead-left-hook, kind of like Kostya used to do. His right, when he puts his full force into it, he hits with incredible force. He is probably just the Heavyweight equivalent to Kostya in terms of power and speed.

[j]

aww, this is a fun thread. i just hope most of you bypass the "legend" aspect of it. usually, as the years pass, a certain mystique is accredited with fighters. please, take that into consideration.

btw, i would say runw/knives nailed it pretty much.

personally, wlad has a chance against any heavyweight ever. WK has a height advantage on nearly everyone who has ever boxed, has the quickest of hands for a big 6'7" guy, can punch as hard or possibly harder than any boxer ever, and has excellent boxing skills. his only real downfall is that he hasn't been hit on the chin much(partly because of his sparring regimine) - so he used to be surprised as hell to get tapped cleanly. that is what mostly contributed to people thinking he has a weak jaw. however, his heart also makes up for it. he is a throwback guy - he has over 50 fights, is well under 35 years, doesn't give up, and will fight anyone.

Wlad hits very hard but I feel that Shavers, Foreman, Marciano, Tyson, Baer, Louis, Liston, Dempsey, and others hit harder.

ha! tell that to his opponents. might also want to add that gloves are a bit more padded these days. dude, if wladimir went for even a 70% haymaker, he would kill whoever is in front of him.

Too bad he can't be as well conditioned as the smaller guys because he is huge.

what? wlad is as conditioned as a fighter gets! where the hell is this coming from? he stays in shape even between fights. if anything, because of his size, he is more noticable when he takes a round off to recoup. but beleive me, i have seen some of the foreign documentaries that show some of his conditioning - they are f'ing brutal. he runs at least a couple miles 6 days a week. like manny said, he has the strongest work ethic of any boxer manny has ever trained. sorry, i don't have clips of the mentioned documentary - i only have it on VHS.

[TheGreatA]

I know Wlad is about as conditioned as he can get at his size but he still gets gassed a lot easier than smaller fighters because he is 245 lbs of muscle.

Look at the fight against Brewster, the early fight against Purrity, against Peter. He can't fight at a high pace.

Wladimir still needs to prove he can fight at a high pace without gassing and either be able to take a hit or not get hit for the rest of his career for me to consider him beating most of the top HW's.

Like I said he could get knocked out by Sultan in his next fight (not saying he will) and his supporters would forget about him very quickly.

[beez721]

I'm just wondering, why are most people picking Lennox to KO Wlad? Yes, he has a longer reach, but Wlad is very hard to hit, he keeps himself protected at all times and RARELY loses a round. Lewis sometimes keeps his hands too low and gets hit quite often, and if he got hit by flush shots from Wlad...

I think many people still look too much at the younger wlad that would sell out and leave himself vulnerable. he's much more conservative now and is very difficult to hit clean

[beez721]

he got hit flush from Mercer, Klitschko, Tua, Briggs..... Knocking out Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock doesn't make you a power house.

he;s knocked out big men as well. he clearly has big power,,,if you cant see that youre blind. he's the only guy to stop 260lb mccline and he also starched 330lb wolfgramm who had legs like tree trunks with a single right