Excellent Article About the Klitschkos

[WladIsTheChamp]

Do you honestly think that the current heavyweight division is as good as it once was?

Better - prior to 1990 you didn't have the Soviet-bloc countries competing in the pros at all. Since then, just in a span of 20 years, the E. Euros have taken over the HWs and have belts in virtually every other division. Boxing is a lot more international now and US just can't compete.


Also take into consideration that athletes have gotten bigger, stronger, faster, through better sport science and nutrition. You now have athletic big men dominating. Back in the day Primo Carnera was just big but had no skills, now Lennox, Vitaly, and Wlad are the new breed of super heavies over 6'6" and 240. Ali was actually big for his day, at 6'3" 220, he was bigger than most of his competion, people forget that. They say it was all skill but it was also partly due to his size. He was fighting guys that were 180, 177 pounds.

No one in their right mind will say that Jesse Owens is better than Usian Bolt, yet they somehow getaway with it when comparing Wladimir Klitschko to Marcianno or Ali, because there is no way to objectively measure it, it's all subjective. But take a look at the W/L ratios of all of Ali's opponents vs Wlad's, how many champs they both fought and beat, what the size disparity was for both of them and their opponents, what their KO% are, and it looks like maybe this is not a **** era at all, it's just that the Kltischkos are a pair of GOATs and people don't want to hear that so they have to make excuses.

[Johnnybur]

Klitschko brothers - A summary
By J. Marcus: On these pages I never stop reading comments bemoaning the Klitschkos and the state of the heavyweight division in general. I’ve decided therefore to take a look at such claims and see if we can come to some kind of conclusion regarding all the accusations because I, for one, am growing a little tired of it all.

There are three main topics of disgruntlement it seems. Let’s look at all three now.

NO ONE KNOWS WHO THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION IS ANYMORE

A frequent comment on these pages, and probably a true one. But the answer to this is quite simple. With the exception of real boxing fans who should know better, the general public only really knows what’s going on in the boxing world via 2 mediums – the TV and the newspapers. Here in the UK not so long ago boxing was frequently shown on ‘terrestrial’ television (I.e., the BBC or ITV) This has dwindled further and further down over the years until its reached the point of almost non-existence. What heavyweight boxing is available is generally only on PPV or tucked away somewhere on one of the cable channels. Likewise the daily press simply doesn’t cover boxing anymore. We may get a cursory paragraph somewhere at the back amidst the 8 or 9 pages of soccer and cricket but that’s about it. Therefore if the average Joe in the street doesn’t know who Wlad Klitschko is, you can lay the blame squarely at the feet of the mass media, who have decided, for reasons best known only to themselves, to almost totally IGNORE the boxing scene worldwide. I’m pretty sure I can speak for the mass media in the states and worldwide here as well as for the UK

THE KLITSCHKOS ARE BORING TO WATCH

I seem to remember Lennox Lewis being accused of this one too! (Pretty funny when you look at the gushing admiration he gets now) It’s obvious that the Klits are not 100mph cyclones like Tyson or Holyfield but it really amazes me how people who call themselves boxing fans can make such comments. As a boxing fanatic myself, I find them both riveting to watch. And why? Simply because they both have it all. Two HUGE men with supreme athleticism. Superb defence, fantastic boxing brains, incredible technique and basic boxing skill and sledgehammer punches. Watching them is like watching a masterclass in the noble art everytime they fight. A real boxing connoisseur will appreciate what im talking about. And let’s not forget the incredible dominance they have shown and also the exceptionally high rate of knockout percentages they both have. I find them infinitely fascinating to watch, especially vitali who has the strangest style ive ever seen in a heavyweight. They win. They keep winning! They fight everyone put in front of them and DOMINATE the division like no man has done before or probably will again. Boring? I don’t get it, I really don’t.

THE LEVEL OF OPPOSITION IS WEAK

Usually accompanied by ‘The heavyweight division is soft’ – this is probably the most outlandish claim of all. To demonstrate, let’s go back in time and look at the greats from the past. As is well documented, Joe Louis was the first man for whom the media accused of fighting a ‘bum of the month’ type opposition (something I would never agree with because no man who has the guts to step in the ring can be termed a ‘bum’) but lets come more up to date and look at some of the opposition the likes of Ali, Holmes, Tyson and Lewis took on as champions, and then compare those fighters to some of the Klits opposition

ALI – Jurgen Blin/Mac Foster/Alvin Lewis/Rudi Lubbers/Richard Dunn/Jean-pierre Coopman/Alfredo Evangelista/Leon Spinks

HOLMES – Lucien Rodriquez/Randall Cobb/Ossie Ocasio/Leroy Jones/Scott Frank/Marvis Frazier/Lorenzo Zanon

TYSON – Pinklon Thomas/Tyrell Biggs/Henry Tillmann/Frank Bruno/Bruce Seldon

LEWIS – Henry Akinwande/Justin Fortune/Phil Jackson/Lionel Butler

Ok – now first of all I mean no disrespect to any of the fighters listed above but now lets compare them to a few of the so–called ‘weak/average’ opposition the klits have faced and defeated whilst champions;

VITALI – Timo Hoffman/Corrie Sanders/ Ross Purrity/ Sam Peter/ Kirk Johnson/ Danny Williams/ Juan carlos Gomez/ Kevin Johnson

WLADIMIR – Ray Austin/Eddie Chambers/ Ruslan Chagaev/Sultan Ibragimov/ Calvin Brock/Tony Thompson/Chris Byrd/Lamon Brewster

So……honestly now, how do you think the ‘weak’ klits opposition would have fared against the (stronger?) opposition of the other 4 champions? On paper in front of you, when you look at the comparisons, this ‘weak’ equation doesn’t hold much water does it?
The bottom line is, the heavyweight division is far from weak. It’s just as strong as it’s ever been. The situation is just that the champions, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, are simply SO Good that it renders everybody else to a lower level. Therefore, instead of all this constant *****ing, perhaps you should all rejoice that you happen to be alive and witnessing the era of two of the most incredible heavyweight boxing champions. We will never see their likes again. Appreciate them while they’re here.

Great article, ive pointed all this out time and time again and its all TRUE. Its not like the opposition those guys faced are made up. Im not a so called Klit hugger, but they are by far the best heavyweights in the game. I think Wlad is a little better than Vitali, but Vitali has the better chin and the guy is hard to hit. Again man thanks for the article.

[WladIsTheChamp]

Great article, ive pointed all this out time and time again and its all TRUE. Its not like the opposition those guys faced are made up. Im not a so called Klit hugger, but they are by far the best heavyweights in the game. I think Wlad is a little better than Vitali, but Vitali has the better chin and the guy is hard to hit. Again man thanks for the article.

No problem, those that disagree are obviously Klitschko haters, so it's understandable when they recoil after they read something that blows all of their excuses for Klitshko domination out of the water.

[Johnnybur]

No doubt they are two highly skilled quality fighters and I enjoy watching Vitali but the division isn't as strong as it was when these other fighters as named in the article were fighting. Yes it's impressive how they've dominated but they have got easier opposition than people like Lewis, Tyson, Holmes and Ali had.

They are ATG's without a shadow of a doubt because of their dominance, beating what's put in front of them and what they've achieved but you do have to admit it isn't the best state the divisions been in.

Tyson and Holmes are out of the equation. Tyson never beat anyone who was worth a damn, neither did Holmes.

[WladIsTheChamp]

Tyson and Holmes are out of the equation. Tyson never beat anyone who was worth a damn, neither did Holmes.

Exactly, not to mention that Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis were fighting the against the same guys that Klitschkos easily destroyed (Byrd, Williams, Mercer, Botha, Rahman, etc.). So to say that the Klitschkos' competition is **** is to say that Lewis', Holyfield's, and Tyson's competiotion is ****. All the ******ed Kltischko haters are forgetting that Vitaly Klitschko came up through the 90s and was champs in the 90s, the era of Lewis, Holyfield, and Tyson. Wlad came on the scene towards the end of the 90s but he was still beating guys who were champs and top 10 in the 90s.

[jrosales13]

Tyson and Holmes are out of the equation. Tyson never beat anyone who was worth a damn, neither did Holmes.

Spinks, Holmes, Norton>>>>>>>>> anybody in the K bros resume.

[toysale]

Tyson and Holmes are out of the equation. Tyson never beat anyone who was worth a damn, neither did Holmes.

I'm only comparing the Klitschko's to the names named in the 'great article' that your all raving about for no reason. The article picked some of the worst names on the regime and compared them to the best names on the Klitschko's. If your comparing the worst on the regime of any of those fighters and compare them to the best on the Klitschko's you are contradicting yourselves and proving that the current heavyweight division is weak. Think about it.

That's also the reason it's a terrible article.

[jrosales13]

Exactly, not to mention that Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis were fighting the against the same guys that Klitschkos easily destroyed (Byrd, Williams, Mercer, Botha, Rahman, etc.). So to say that the Klitschkos' competition is **** is to say that Lewis', Holyfield's, and Tyson's competiotion is ****. All the ******ed Kltischko haters are forgetting that Vitaly Klitschko came up through the 90s and was champs in the 90s, the era of Lewis, Holyfield, and Tyson. Wlad came on the scene towards the end of the 90s but he was still beating guys who were champs and top 10 in the 90s.

You just trolling now.

[jrosales13]

pretty terrible article

It is and for some of these K bro extremist fans to think the article is good or right. Is just pathetic and they make the good K bro fans look horrible.

[IIG]

I agree with every word of this article until the writer got to his third point. The HW division clearly isn't as strong as it has been in the past.

Still, that's not the Klitschkos fault. I think they would have thrived in any era in boxing, though they wouldn't be as dominant. Regardless of the talent pool, they are keeping the division clean as a whistle. I'm sorry, but they are active legends that should be appreciated while they are still here.