The myth of the Klitschkos

[squealpiggy]

Lewis was not considered a "great" HW until he got a win over a way past his prime CW (Holyfield) and then beat a severley washed up Tyson. Those versions of Tyson and Holy would have little to no chance against Wlad.

Wlad has more convincing wins over better opponents then Lewis did. LL got KO by a crackhead and a bum. If LL is considered great then Wladimir has to be as well.

Lewis beat everybody around. Everyone who was anyone during Lewis's reign he beat, even if he did get shocked by McCall and Rahman in the first outing.

And Lewis's heavyweight division was considerably stronger than today's.

[Randall_Hopkirk]

Lewis was not considered a "great" HW until he got a win over a way past his prime CW (Holyfield) and then beat a severley washed up Tyson. Those versions of Tyson and Holy would have little to no chance against Wlad.

Wlad has more convincing wins over better opponents then Lewis did. LL got KO by a crackhead and a bum. If LL is considered great then Wladimir has to be as well.

Klit's best win was Byrd a guy lewis didn't even consider fighting as he brought little to the table. Even then, it was revenge for his brother that inspired him to his most impressive fight.

You could argue that Rahman who KO'd Sanders who in turn had Klit crawling for his life, wasn't a bum.

[kayjay]

Five paragraphs of cliche and secondhand observation.

[Pullcounter]

I'm going to be pretty brief as I can't be assed typing out a prolonged spiel. But here's how I see it...coming down the stretch of Lennox Lewis' career boxing fans and press began to speculate about the next great heavyweight fighters that could feasibly fill the void left by Lewis...Wladimir Klitschko was the man they elected to fill that void. He was big and strong and athletic, with an unbeaten record and a phd. He had beaten some okay fighters like Jameel McCline. The litmus test hadn't yet arrived. Either way he got blown apart by an elder statesman of the division, Corrie Sanders, in two rounds. **** goes heavyweight contender mark 1. Enter his brother, Vitali. The pair have similar styles; I've never liked their styles; upright, stiff, no style or grace or canny footwork; I tend to like fighters with these attributes, Pernell Whitaker, Joe Walcott, Ray Robinson, Tommy Hearns, James Toney etc. So I was never endeared to the Klitschkos. I quite liked Lewis - he was big but he could move well, and he was all round fighter. He was clever in the ring too, and had a tremendous right hand. He was proven.

Vitali had no big names on his record prior to fighting an out-of-shape and undermotivated Lennox Lewis in 03. It was a bloody battle. Both of them were gassed, Lewis landed big, Klitschko landed big, they stood firm; it was sloppy, engrossing, bloody. Klitschkos face got shredded and the docs understandably stopped it...Klitschko made a name by fighting in level terms with an out of shape Lewis, in the champs final fight.

Imagine Ray Mercer had sustained a cut in his fight with Lewis after a few rounds, and it got halted...Vitalis elevation to the top of the HW crown was the equivalent of doing the same to Ray back in 95 (?) when he fought Len first time out, which woulda been bull****, as it was with VK..

Anyway look, Vitali is a goddam myth, he aint fought nobody. Danny Williams, what? He quit against Byrd because of a shoulder problem. He's got a nothing record. He hasn't fought in years. If he fights Sam Peter he's gonna get run over, Sam is the best fighter he'd have fought save for Lewis, and given Lennox' flat footed and lackadaisacal performance then Peter, the shape he's in now, his workrate, is the BEST he'd face.

Wladimir has carved out a good spot for himself in boxing, but still I ask, who has he beaten? He's still found ways to get his ass knocked out. By chumps. He's a good puncher, and he's pretty solid. But his style sucks. His last fight was a disgrace. HW champs do not perform like that; they dont just jab. It was embarassing.

I think neither of them have did anything of merit to be considered great heavyweights, they're merely filling a big void in HW boxing, it's like if there had been no Holy, Lewis or Tyson in the nineties and big, athletic but styleless fighters like Tommy Morrison or Shannon Briggs would be at the top of the tree. The Klitschkos dont impress me at all, and I'm backing David Haye and Sam Peter, two genuinely exciting and crippling punchers to inject some life into this wasteland of a division

neither klitchko has done enough to be great, especially vitali. it just sucks that both are in a really bad HW division with no kind of good competition to make them shine.

[The Hammer]

Wladimir Klitschko is the world's best heavyweight and he deserves our respect.

Unlike many other heavyweight champions, he's always a good sport and a man of strong character in and out of the ring. He doesn't **** like Tyson, abuse drugs like Morrison, headbutt like Holyfield, use crack like McCall or brag like Ali.

Wlad has great heart - he's been down but never counted out, and he's comeback from the adversity of tough losses to become the universally recognized heavyweight champion.

[ALT-Assassin]

Wladimir Klitschko is the world's best heavyweight and he deserves our respect.

Unlike many other heavyweight champions, he's always a good sport and a man of strong character in and out of the ring. He doesn't **** like Tyson, abuse drugs like Morrison, headbutt like Holyfield, use crack like McCall or brag like Ali.

Wlad has great heart - he's been down but never counted out, and he's comeback from the adversity of tough losses to become the universally recognized heavyweight champion.

to sum up your post"he is the best because he is white"

[rizkybizness]

What's a Klitschsko?

[rizkybizness]

I've never heard of these things before.

[The Narcissist]

Five paragraphs of cliche and secondhand observation.

Pretty much. Sounds like someone has got the hate in their blood.

[Feint]

Everyone has a right to their own opinion but I think people often sell Wlad short. Do I think he is one of the all-time greatest? No, not at this point, but if he keeps defending his titles for a couple of years or so against the top contenders his entry in the top 20 is going to at least merit some discussion.

The first thing that usually comes up is the fact that Wlad lost three times (all by KO) in his career to inferior competition. This is fair criticism, especially to Purrity that was admittedly a bad loss. But that loss did come early in his career. And Brewster and Sanders (his other two losses) were decent fighters and Wlad defended his loss to Brewster. I also think it is only fair to note that has not had a loss in almost four years. Anyway, there has been only one heavyweight champion in the entire history of boxing that has retired undefeated so I don’t think people should condemn him too harshly on it.

Some people say he is too technical and all he can do is jab. Many of you are too young but I remember when Holmes was the champion people said the exact same thing. Sure, I like to see a KO as well but how often does a heavyweight come along that has one of the top jabs in the sport? And speaking of Holmes, he had a respectable 64% KO rate, not bad for a technical boxer. Wlad has an 88% KO rate. Perception is not always reality.

The argument that Wlad hasn’t faced the same level of competition as some other champions have is also fair. Some decades have been better than others in the heavyweight division have and this decade has definitely not been very good (although there have been emerging contenders as of late that looks to improve it). But all he can do is face the people in front of him and he has been willing to take on all top contenders in his vision. If he keeps fighting into his late 30s he could have 60+ wins, which is not bad for a heavyweight.

So again, I understand that people don’t like his style and don’t think he has faced a high level of competition. I also understand that he has lost three times. But I also think that there is some undue bias against him and when his career is finished I think people will look back and see him in a better light.