Is Wlad the worst Heavyweight champ?

[TheGreatA]

Well not quite. I fail to grasp how people consider Klitschko so bad and have people like Floyd Peterson and Rocky Marciano as all time greats. All three mentioned fighters were very dear to the public (except Wlad for some reason) but faced very bad competition. Still i think Wlad has easily beat some people the other 2 would have problems against because he outweighs and towers over most his opponents so badly. Still...

Floyd Patterson's competition wasn't good at all when he was the champion (aside from Ingemar Johansson) but he did later fight Ali, Liston, Quarry, Ellis, Chuvalo, Bonavena and others.
He doesn't really have all time great status either, although I'm sure he would had he fought as a light heavyweight rather than as an under-sized heavyweight.

Marciano and Patterson were more exciting to watch than Wladimir with many dramatic, memorable fights, not being an American doesn't help Wladimir either. It's still a big deal, unfortunately.

I have not seen Spinks-Holmes so I'm not sure how Wlad measures up to Michael Spinks.

I would say that Michael Spinks was p4p the greater fighter, carried his punch at heavyweight and had a very unorthodox style. But I would favour Wladimir in a head to head contest.
Spinks didn't come to fight against Tyson but the fight did show that while Spinks may have had a heavyweight punch, he didn't have a heavyweight chin.

people like Carnera wouldn't be top 20 if they were fighting today IMO.

Carnera was a bit of a joke, a circus, even in his own time. Like Valuev he somehow got a hold of the title, whether because of a fix or a lucky punch. He was destroyed Max Baer and Joe Louis.

Tye Fields made top 20 today so I'm sure Carnera could've. Carnera may not have been very good, but he wasn't THAT bad. Guy had a ton of heart taking the beatings that were handed out to him by superior fighters at the end of his career.

[Davros?]

Floyd Patterson's competition wasn't good at all when he was the champion (aside from Ingemar Johansson) but he did later fight Ali, Liston, Quarry, Ellis, Chuvalo, Bonavena and others.
He doesn't really have all time great status either, although I'm sure he would had he fought as a light heavyweight rather than as an under-sized heavyweight.

Marciano and Patterson were also more exciting to watch than Wladimir with many dramatic, memorable fights, not being an American doesn't help Wladimir either.



I would say that Michael Spinks was p4p the greater fighter, carried his punch at heavyweight and had a very unorthodox style. But I would favour Wladimir in a head to head contest.
Spinks didn't come to fight against Tyson but the fight did show that while Spinks may have had a heavyweight punch, he didn't have a heavyweight chin.

I always thought that Spinks would do ok against Wlad especially after watching the Cooney fight, I dont think he could take Wlad's punch but i do think he would be effective against Wlad. Patterson is my fav fighter of all time and one of the best combo punches ever at heavyweight but his competition wasnt that good i agree.

[LEFTYGUNZZ]

Nah not at all...I mean I have made no bones about the fact that pretty much everyone in the HW div is a chump right now...the div is so depleted it's not even funny....but I wouldn't go as far as to say that he is the worst...there's been plenty of kats up there that just makes you wonder how in the hell did they get there??? I mean Im not gonna be a hater....I dont like Wlad all that much but he's got some skill...he is a ok (not great) fighter...my only beef is that you got all kinds of ****** people comapring him to the all times greats....when clearly there is just no comparison to be made....

I agree sir with you whole heartedly...The man in your avatar woul dhave made quick work of him and handed his head to Emanuel Steward right after the first round....Lefty

[Davros?]

I actually used to like Vitali but Tunney and Wladowns have put me of.

[kenso]

youve got to be kidding....

i see all this hate on wlad and it is pretty damn ridiculous. he gets in there, usually makes exciting fights and knockouts happen. if it wasnt for him there would be little reason at all to watch heavyweight fights. wlad has a better jab than pretty much any heavyweight i can think of past or present - at least just as good. fact is, he got upset by corrie sanders and lamon brewster (which anyone with half a ****ing brain would know that if someones blood sugar level is 3-4x HIGHER than normal after a fight then something went seriously wrong with their body), and now that hes come back everyonehas nothing but hate. look at wlad in the ring, he has some serious skills and power. even if you had tysons and holyfields and lewis's in todays division and wlad whipped up on them, everyone would still use some ****** excuse like THEY WERE NEVER OR ANY GOOD or THEY WERE WASHED UP. wlad is the ****in champ, you can talk **** about him all you want but he wins in dominant fashion. its not his fault the heavyweights arent as explosive as they used to be. ill be glad when david haye gets in and gets his punk ass whipped too, but first i hope that he gets a belt and gets people behind him, that way when he loses people will have nothing bad to say about wlad once he wins.

if david haye whips wlad, THEN you can say he sucks.

why not hate on the boring ****ers like rahman, toney, and ruiz. someone comes in and mops the floor cause they are better and gets a bunch of hate? sad.

[The Iron Man]

Dont you think that is an unfair comparison tho?

[Clegg]

Dont you think that is an unfair comparison tho?

You mean to compare older guys with recent fighters?

It isn't fair because the rules, gloves, training etc. were different. But I'm not sure how to compare them in a completely fair way.

[extracurRICular]

I agree sir with you whole heartedly...The man in your avatar woul dhave made quick work of him and handed his head to Emanuel Steward right after the first round....Lefty

Hell yeah no doubt....Iron Mike would have cleaned up the ring with this dude...no contest...The woman on your avatar can make quick work of me though for sure...LOL....who dat?

[Scott9945]

Compared to other proper champs like :

John L. Sullivan
James J. Corbett
Bob Fitzsimmons
James J. Jeffries
Marvin Hart
Tommy Burns
Jack Johnson
Jess Willard
Jack Depmsey
Gene Tunney
Max Schmeling
Jack Sharkey
Primo Carnera
Max Baer
James J. Braddock
Joe Louis
Ezzard Charles
Jersey Joe Walcott
Rocky Marciano
Floyd Patterson
Ingemar Johansson
Sonny Liston
Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali
Joe Frazier
George Foreman.
Leon Spinks
Larry Holmes
Michael Spinks
Mike Tyson
James Douglas
Evander Holyfield
Rid**** Bowe
Michael Moorer
Shannon Briggs.
Lennox Lewis
Hasim Rahman

Then yeh he ranks pretty low Bottom 5.

If you can't find five guys worse than Klitschko on that list, then you really don't have a clue.

[T-97]

why not hate on the boring ****ers like rahman, toney, and ruiz. someone comes in and mops the floor cause they are better and gets a bunch of hate? sad.

Most of the hate towards Wlad comes because of some fans saying things like Wlad would beat a lot of ATGs etc, which annoys a lot of people. Hence, some of it. Others just don't find him exciting, or don't like him.

I like him, I don't think he is the most exciting fighter out there, but his skill, power and vunerabilty makes him entertaining to me.