Vitaly Klitchko, without a doubt the most intimidating

[pesticid]

of course. even the lower weight classes are bigger now than they were before.

size does make a difference but only when the skills are equal or close to equal.

sturms size didn't bother oscar. it was sturm's jab. oscar couldn't block a felix jab to save his life.

oscar had problem solving felix's revolutionary , special defense either. you know the defense where you put your hands up and let oscar punch you on the arms?

I hear you but at the same time, Ike Quartey had a better cover-up defense and a better jab, yet that fight was a much closer fight. Ike is one of the toughest SOB's period.

[pesticid]

What LOL!?
Vitali was up on all cards, by a large margin.

Yeah, and in his other loss his was ahead by 2 points on all judges's score cards. Talk about tough luck. Imagine if he didn't have these two injuries. Defeating Byrd and Lewis, and not getting side-tracked by accumulating injuries. Imagine!

Vitaly is one of the most underappreciated heavies simply cause he had a torn rotator cuff against Chris Byrd and he decided not to risk his career the way Lamont Brewster did against Sergei Liakhovich when he had the the detached retina (I believe that's what it was).

[pesticid]

[Stickman]

I watched it on April 1, 2000 and saw Chris Cornelius Byrd knock Vitali the **** out in Germany

Ok, now you're just having some fun with the guy. I know (and so do you) that Klitchko was ahead on the cards at the time, and only quit on his stool because of a badly torn rotator cuff that had to be surgically repaired immediately after the match. Better to give up that one than to take a chance on permanently ruining his shoulder.

[Stickman]

I guy who quits because of his shoulder wouldn't last in a street fight with other heavyweights.

Spoken by someone who's never damaged a rotator cuff.

[Left Hook Tua]

Spoken by someone who's never damaged a rotator cuff.

wasn't the toughest moment in boxing...... ali did fight with a broken jaw and stuff like that but vitali fighting with one eyeball hanging out more than made up for it.

who are we to say he should've just toughen up? we don't know how bad he was hurting...... it's not like he busted a camacho jr. and said he couldn't continue when he knew he was ahead on the scorecards.

[AintGottaClue]

i still love when the vitali haters bring up being a ***** and quiting vs byrd but make no notion of him fighting with his face like that vs lewis

[Stickman]

Ali's jaw was broken, but not badly. But that isn't my point, a broken jaw is painful, bad or not so bad. If you tear a rotator cuff, you can't raise your arm. Period. It isn't that you don't want to, you just can't. Your self-preservation mechanism will just keep you from it. And it's extremely painful. When you move it, you can feel yourself damaging it more. Anyway, without being able to raise his arm, he lost his jab, and continuing was pointless. I suppose he could've switched to southpaw and fought one handed from that stance, but I've seen Vitali switch hit a couple times....it's ugly. So, he did the best thing he could've done under the circumstances. He conceded the fight, had the shoulder repaird, and came back immediately. No shame in that, I don't care how many self-described tough-guys want to say they'd continue under any circumstances. If you're not lying, then you're just plain ****** to even consider continuing a fight when it could ruin your ability to fight permanently. Ask Golotta. He used to have a great jab, used it alot, and was very promising. He tore his rotator cuff, and was never the same again. Quit jabbing effectively, lost much of his defense....ruined him.

[squealpiggy]

[Left Hook Tua]

Ali's jaw was broken, but not badly. But that isn't my point, a broken jaw is painful, bad or not so bad. If you tear a rotator cuff, you can't raise your arm. Period. It isn't that you don't want to, you just can't. Your self-preservation mechanism will just keep you from it. And it's extremely painful. When you move it, you can feel yourself damaging it more. Anyway, without being able to raise his arm, he lost his jab, and continuing was pointless. I suppose he could've switched to southpaw and fought one handed from that stance, but I've seen Vitali switch hit a couple times....it's ugly. So, he did the best thing he could've done under the circumstances. He conceded the fight, had the shoulder repaird, and came back immediately. No shame in that, I don't care how many self-described tough-guys want to say they'd continue under any circumstances. If you're not lying, then you're just plain ****** to even consider continuing a fight when it could ruin your ability to fight permanently. Ask Golotta. He used to have a great jab, used it alot, and was very promising. He tore his rotator cuff, and was never the same again. Quit jabbing effectively, lost much of his defense....ruined him.

i hear you. i just brought up ali because that's all i could think of right now. it'd be a good topic thread though. what were some of the bravest things boxers did in boxing through injury? i think vitali is tough. you get no argument from me. i don't think ppl would be complaining so much if he wasn't always injured and pulling out of fights. i think people had a lot of hope in him unifying the division and they feel he let them down. remember , after the lennox fight , vitali fans were all of sudden seemingly everywhere.