Wlads op and the HOF

[jrosales13]

Some of the past "all time great" heavyweights fought HOF opponents either 1) when they were past prime or 2) HOF opponents who were not REALLY good enough and shouldn't be in the HOF.

"All-Time Great" is just a matter of opinion anyway, and who got in the HOF is just a matter of opinion too.

Wlad has the most IBF, WBO and IBO HW world title defenses in those organizations' respective history.

There are people who simply don't like the Klitschkos. No matter what Wlad's done or will ever do, they'll find an excuse to not respect him and to not consider him to be a great heavyweight.

Really with the bold? IBO is not really respected right now. WBO wasn't respected for years. The IBF is not one of the historic belts...I mean you can give Wlad credit and even make a case about him being a great HW. Without reaching with "record title defenses."

[RurouniYume]

I hope to God Wlad gets a spot in the HOF because of his career success but Im not so sure about any of the other heavyweights besides Vitali

[vacon04]

I'm pretty confident he'll get into the HOF, yeah he hasn't faced the most skilled opposition, but he has dominated the entire division since 2004, and he has a great number of title defences.

Some people don't like the guy and bring up arguments like any HW from the past would beat Wlad, but guess what? That's just impossible to know, there's no way to compare HW from the past to HW from the present. Nowadays boxers have much better training methods and know a lot more about nutrition, in the past it was very hard to keep 245 pounds of lean muscle mass and still be efficent in the ring.

IMO Wlad is top 20 HW of all time, the guy is more skilled than people give him credit for, he's not just tall, but he's extremely smart and knows how to use all his strenghts to his advantage.

[Toe Injury]

Both Vitali and Wlad have made career mistakes by fighting and beating fighters as soon as they're on the radar. They should have forced them to fight each other so that the one who emerged would have been obvious HOF material.

Look at how Sultan, Chagaev, Haye, Povetkin, etc pretty much just work their way up the ranks, beat 4-5 "name" opponents, then rather than fight each other get a huge payday vs either Klitschko, lose, fade into obscurity.

They don't seem to understand the art of sitting around doing nothing for 2 years letting the situation fester then coming back in a triumphant megafight. As a spectator, I'm glad they don't, but it's resulted in them having a long impressive record to hardcore fans who followed the careers of their opponents and knew how good they were, and lackluster records to casual fans like the majority of this forum who don't really pay attention to boxing outside of pac/floyd and have never heard of any of those guys.

[Toe Injury]

I'm pretty confident he'll get into the HOF, yeah he hasn't faced the most skilled opposition, but he has dominated the entire division since 2004, and he has a great number of title defences.

Some people don't like the guy and bring up arguments like any HW from the past would beat Wlad, but guess what? That's just impossible to know, there's no way to compare HW from the past to HW from the present. Nowadays boxers have much better training methods and know a lot more about nutrition, in the past it was very hard to keep 245 pounds of lean muscle mass and still be efficent in the ring.

IMO Wlad is top 20 HW of all time, the guy is more skilled than people give him credit for, he's not just tall, but he's extremely smart and knows how to use all his strenghts to his advantage.

Of course both Klitschkos have already clinched HOF spots and did years ago, but I think he's asking how many of Wlad's opponents will make it into the HOF. Tougher question since so many of them have been allowed to fight (and lose) against him before proving themselves vs other top 5ers.

[vacon04]

Of course both Klitschkos have already clinched HOF spots and did years ago, but I think he's asking how many of Wlad's opponents will make it into the HOF. Tougher question since so many of them have been allowed to fight (and lose) against him before proving themselves vs other top 5ers.

Oh, yeah hard to tell, I thought he was talking about Wlad because I've seen a lot of people who still don't believe that he'll be in the HOF, in fact some people don't even rank him in the top 50 HW of all time.

But about his rivals it's hard to tell, most of them didn't have great careers but that was also because none of them could compete with Wlad, all the titles went to Wlad and Vitali so it's hard to make a HOF career without havin a world championship.

[jrosales13]

I don't see how the hell Vitaly is a HOF'er....Wlad? No doubt about it, he's a shoe in for the HOF...First ballot...But, Vitaly? nah.....Not IMO.

[B.U.R.N.E.R]

No............................

[JAB5239]

I'm pretty confident he'll get into the HOF, yeah he hasn't faced the most skilled opposition, but he has dominated the entire division since 2004, and he has a great number of title defences.

Some people don't like the guy and bring up arguments like any HW from the past would beat Wlad, but guess what? That's just impossible to know, there's no way to compare HW from the past to HW from the present. Nowadays boxers have much better training methods and know a lot more about nutrition, in the past it was very hard to keep 245 pounds of lean muscle mass and still be efficent in the ring.

IMO Wlad is top 20 HW of all time, the guy is more skilled than people give him credit for, he's not just tall, but he's extremely smart and knows how to use all his strenghts to his advantage.

I agree with much of what you say including Wlad being deserving of the HOF. But the part about better training methods I completely disagree with. Heavyweight today, as a whole, throw a ton less punches and are gassing out before 12 rounds let alone 15 or more. The sport has regressed in talent, technique and stamina regardless of training methods and nutrition.

[JAB5239]

Both Vitali and Wlad have made career mistakes by fighting and beating fighters as soon as they're on the radar. They should have forced them to fight each other so that the one who emerged would have been obvious HOF material.

Look at how Sultan, Chagaev, Haye, Povetkin, etc pretty much just work their way up the ranks, beat 4-5 "name" opponents, then rather than fight each other get a huge payday vs either Klitschko, lose, fade into obscurity.

They don't seem to understand the art of sitting around doing nothing for 2 years letting the situation fester then coming back in a triumphant megafight. As a spectator, I'm glad they don't, but it's resulted in them having a long impressive record to hardcore fans who followed the careers of their opponents and knew how good they were, and lackluster records to casual fans like the majority of this forum who don't really pay attention to boxing outside of pac/floyd and have never heard of any of those guys.

None of this excuses the fact that it's a shit era and it cannot be overlooked when judging greatness.