Comments Thread For: Wladimir Klitschko Quickly Climbing The Post-Ali Charts

[ChopperRead]

What will hurt Wlad the most is that all of his losses occurred when the division was deep and talented. Corrie Sanders was ranked in the teens back then! Imagine if Sanders existed today he would easily supplant a softy like adamek or Povetkin.

Really? I always heard Sanders was a "fat golfer." Now he's an overlooked ATG? Maybe the truth is in the middle somewhere?

I can't keep track of all the arguments employed by K-Bros haters anymore.

Lennox Lewis got knocked stone cold by two journeymen. Mike Tyson got KO'd by Buster Douglas and went on to lose to Danny Williams. Yet their reputations don't seem adversely affected by this. Wlad has evolved as a fighter since he fought Sanders. If Wlad keeps winning, Sanders becomes more and more irrelevant to any fair-minded individual. This last point being the key one, of course.

[Horus]

By Lyle Fitzsimmons - So… any questions?

To those who’d branded Wladimir Klitschko a safety-first, violence-second pretender since a three-knockdown escape from Samuel Peter five years ago in Atlantic City, I hope you were paying attention on Saturday afternoon.

Over 10 punishing rounds on his adopted German home turf, the increasingly confident and subsequently dominant Ukrainian made another flawless defense of the championship status he picked up one fight after overcoming Peter in 2005.

And while I won’t pretend Thompson, Chagaev and Rahman are the Frazier, Foreman and Norton that Muhammad Ali dealt with four decades ago, it’d be hard to argue that Klitschko’s done everything needed to be labeled among the best in the division since “The Greatest’s” reign.

Just look at the numbers.

In 10 fights since the initial near-disaster with Peter, the 6-foot-6 “Dr. Steelhammer” has now gone 10 up/10 down, blitzing 10 unique foes with a combined 317-19-9 record, including six who’d either entered the ring – or recently possessed – a title belt deeming them a “heavyweight champion.” [Click Here To Read More]

Can you really be an ATG, With a JAB and GRAB style?
Even Steward had to tell wlad to stop clinching...
Great Jab, But what Else?

[The Truth 21]

Anyone who thinks Wlad isn't an ATG is out of their gourd! You can try to rationalize your opinions based on whether or not you find his style entertaining or not. Well here's a little info for ya....your opinion means nothing! Fighters aren't considered ATG solely based on entertainment value. Many find Wlad very entertaining such as me. If you want to watch a tough man contest then go to your local watering hole and pay Bubba $20 to go punch the next guy he sees. That's entertaining as **** ! All you Wlad haters need to wake up! He has better technical skills than just about any heavyweight out of the last few decades aside from Evander. Given a hypothetical match between the two, Wlad wins 9 of 10. Every fight Wlad has, there is chatter about how this time it's gonna be different, this time he's going down....well.....still waiting. Wlad is an ATG because of his dominance in the ring, pure and simple. The heavyweight division isn't as bad as some of the "journalists" out there make it out to be. Tyson beat bum after bum, albeit in an entertaining fashion but the fact remains, still he beat bums with the exception of James Tillis and maybe Trevor Berbick, although Berbick was no world beater. How many losses did Ali have again and who were they against? Life and death with Wepnar. If he's "the greatest" with a handful of losses then what does that make Marciano? C'mon guys think logically and put your hate aside. I can't stand Hopkins or Mayweather Jr but there's no denying they are atg. I pull for them to lose every fight and will laugh when they do but I never disrespect their skills, although Mayweather is running scared.

[BattlingNelson]

Can you really be an ATG, With a JAB and GRAB style?
Even Steward had to tell wlad to stop clinching...
Great Jab, But what Else?

We're talking about Wlad here. Not Ali post Frazier.

[Brassangel]

People are going way too far with this Ali talk, I can picture Ali laughing and making fun of the Klits if they were around during his time.

Laughing until he couldn't figure out how to land a jab against a guy with more reach standing 6 feet away, more power, and perhaps more technically sound than Ali.

As a boxer myself, I appreciate what Klitch has done. But seriously, he must really rank as the most boring of all the great heavyweights who were mentioned. Honestly, if it were not for his sheer size, he would really have nothing. Ali, Frazier, Tyson and Holyfield were all smallish Heavyweights... Howw did they accomplish so much??? Answer - through pure class and skill. I just don't see anything particularly skillfull in what Klitch does. Please comment, I am interested for somebody to point some facts out to prove me wrong.

Klitschko is arguably more technically sound than any of those guys. They had raw talent, heart, explosiveness, charisma, etc., but they'd have a whale of a time against a guy like Wlad.

BTW, Ali wasn't a smallish heavyweight. He was bigger than nearly everyone he fought until he hit Foreman and Norton. Ali was 6'3" 218. He was usually 4-5" taller and 7-10 pounds heavier than his opponents. Many people forget he was considerably larger in stature than the feared Sonny Liston.

[kenso]

What will hurt Wlad the most is that all of his losses occurred when the division was deep and talented. Corrie Sanders was ranked in the teens back then! Imagine if Sanders existed today he would easily supplant a softy like adamek or Povetkin.

this is irrelevant. wlad lost because he was green in a lot of ways. he didn't realize his weaknesses (chin, stamina, underestimating opponents), and got beat down by sanders - someone who he should have certainly beat as a result. the state of the division at the time isn't related to why klitschko lost - and it makes no difference to his legacy in the end.

on a side note - i don't think sanders beats adamek. sanders was extremely dangerous when he was "on" but at the same time he was knocked out by hassim rahman - who i felt was never good, despite his victory over lewis. i still don't see how this is relevant to the convo. thing is - adamek won't ever get to really establish himself as a legit force in the division, because he will fight a klitschko soon enough, and will get beat down - bad. but anyone who watches the guy fight can see that he isn't a push over. as far as povetkin? idk, maybe. povetkins ranking in the division has a lot to do with the fact that all the guys above him got beat, hes just next in line.

I believe the reason Wlad is on top is because he was the youngest guy of that last superior era. He was 27 years old when Lennox, Tyson, and their awesome contemporaries got old or left the sport.

wlad is on top because he is beating EVERYONE. once again - you bring up the era, we all know that its not fantastic. but god damn, can you not give any credit? what else can he do for you? you criticize the guy saying he hasn't fought anyone - but hes fought EVERYONE. what else can possibly be done? so just because there isn't a prime tyson around to fight - that automatically makes wlad trash? this is ******, you are such a god damn troll.

Any top 5 guy from the Lennox/Tyson regime would be dominating this toilet bowl of an era. Do you believe Prime Holmes or Prime Evander would have any problems with a slow Sam Peter, or flabby Tony Thompson? None of these guys have actual boxing skills, and the few that do are too feather fisted to do any damage.

uhhhh no, any top 5 guy from the lennox/tyson regime would have to fight a klitschko - and maybe aside from lennox - they would get beat, and even with lennox - its a debated topic. and just for the record - if a good fighter like frank bruno was in this era - i think that he would have less of a dominant reign than the klitschkos have had. he wouldn't win fights in such one sided fashion, and at some point he'd lose to someone. i don't think that bruno would have ran through this competition with as much ease as wlad has. maybe ask someone else and see what they think?

ONCE AGAIN you criticize wlad for something that he can't control. hes automatically trash because he doesn't have an ATG around to fight.

deep down - do you think wlad of current form would still lose to sanders? purrity? wlad's losses occurred before he hooked up with steward and took things to a new level.


on a side note, to say tony thompson has no boxing skills is really ******ed.


ok so answer me this joeyzagz - is wlad a really good fighter? yes or no?

[j69madrox]

This article is retarted. If anyone seriously believes Vladamir Klitschko is fighting better opposition than Lewis, and Holyfield they are an idiot. Klitschko doesn't beat Lennox, Holyfield, Tyson or Holmes....

I can't take anything away from Vlad, (Or Vitali) dominating whats in front of them, but to say they are better champions and fighting as good or better opposition is rediculous.

[Roger Yomama]

I don't dispute that the stats make Wlad comparable to those guys but I seriously doubt he would beat any of them in the ring.

[Pirao]

I don't dispute that the stats make Wlad comparable to those guys but I seriously doubt he would beat any of them in the ring.

I'm pretty sure he would beat Holyfield.

[Pin Galarga]

Wlad is a solid champion, but please, there's no comparason with the Greatest. The ingredient missing is Grace. Wlad is a robot, he wins, but there's no beauty or grace. Is like watching a bulldozer moving dirt. Who cares how much dirt it can move, it's just dirt.