Vitali's place in the history books?

[Enayze]

I am pretty sure Wlad will go on to be an ATG. 5-8 more years for Wlad of constant title defenses and unification to become an undisputed champion (something we had not had since 2003), will deliver his name with the greats.

As for Vitali, the man is 37, and is going to be 38 a month after he fights Haye. He comes in the picture and leaves. However he is the man everyone considers to be the one to beat, even though his accomplishments do not nearly match that of Wlads.

Where will Vitali's place be in history?
PS: He is also a 3 time world champ now.

[Dan...]

Although he is my favourite Heavy of recent times Vitali isn't an ATG. He just doesn't have the resume unfortunately. A large part of that isn't his fault. Its just the way it is unfortunately.

[Enayze]

Although he is my favourite Heavy of recent times Vitali isn't an ATG. He just doesn't have the resume unfortunately. A large part of that isn't his fault. Its just the way it is unfortunately.

I agree, so what would you write about him if you were to put his name in the history books of boxing?

[savorduhflavor]

An injury prone, but uber talented, underachieving heavyweight.

I honestly think a healthy, motivated Vitali Klitschko gives any heavyweight in history trouble. Not saying he'd beat any heavyweight, but he would be a threat to anyone, I honestly believe that.

[Benny Leonard]

To be honest, I say toss the resume: Vitali is an ATG.

Pit any "ATG" against Vitali and it would be a great match.

I think Rocky's resume isn't great, especially considering he didn't fight one legit Top 200 pound fighter...which is fair given his size, however; if can be put next to the likes of Ali by some fans and historians...I'm putting Vitali in the listings of ATG. Where; I'm not sure. I guess that is when resume comes into play.


Someone did point out to me a while back about Lennox...and now we can include Wlad and Vitali, for their incredible size over most, if not all the HWs they fought. Unfair advantage?

[Dan...]

I agree, so what would you write about him if you were to put his name in the history books of boxing?

One of the biggest under-achievers in the division's history I think. He is far superior to his brother but probably won't have the legacy. He has all the tools to mix it in every era. Just a shame really.

[VirusTI]

If the nutthuggers lay off his nuts and stop saying ****** **** like "He is the greatest HW evaaaa!!!!!" and some of the hater stop saying "Bitchko" then mabye after all is said and done. 15-25 best HW nothing better then that, unless some crazy ass competion starts heading his way and he beats them all then maybe higher.
Always under Lewis though
If Tyson is considered great and marciano(both did very little in terms of resume) then maybe Klitschko can be high. Who knows, he has to get by Haye first.

P.S. Stop saying haye is a nobody and stop calling him "gaymaker", you are only making the opposition's argument better if Klitschko wins and they say Haye was a bum.

[larryx]

ok...vitali is a strong mean maphucka who may lack some fundementals but makes up for it with his no bull**** style...but this era phucks him and wlad up..but the klitscko's rule this decade

[savorduhflavor]

Ya know, as inactive as he's been, and even Wlad accomplishing so much more title wise, comparing resumes I think Vitali's is better based on competition.

[Enayze]

An injury prone, but uber talented, underachieving heavyweight.

I honestly think a healthy, motivated Vitali Klitschko gives any heavyweight in history trouble. Not saying he'd beat any heavyweight, but he would be a threat to anyone, I honestly believe that.

An interesting note about that is, a while back I read an article concerning Vitali pre Byrd and pro Byrd. Basically Vitali said that after the Byrd injury he took it down a notch, because he could not punch as hard as he did before. And if you watched Vitali's older videos before the Byrd fight, he was a different fighter. He still had his akward style (which is why I think he is so effective), but the amount of punches he put out, and the power he had behind them seemed much greater than of today.