should Wlad vs Pianeta be a non title fight?

[BattlingNelson]

now we're getting somewhere............

so Tim Witherspoon can be compared with Francesco Pianeta?

Did I mention Witherspoon?

Dude. Seriously. Shut up.

[Godsfly]

Did I mention Witherspoon?

Dude. Seriously. Shut up.

you take the Internet too seriously buddy. & this is the person who's "knowledgeable" telling me to shut up? sounds extremely knowledgeable alright............

I was trying to have a peaceful debate but whatever.

[Clegg]

Very unimpressive choice of opponent, but I agree with the earlier comment that other elite-level fighters have in the past defended their belts against poor quality opposition.

[BostonGuy]

Witherspoon is not a good example but here are a few lesser regarded opponents that Holmes defended the title against:

Scott Frank 20-0-1
Marvis Frasier 10-0
Lucien Rodriguez 35-7-1
Lorenzo Zanon 25-4-2

[JAB5239]

Witherspoon is not a good example but here are a few lesser regarded opponents that Holmes defended the title against:

Scott Frank 20-0-1
Marvis Frasier 10-0
Lucien Rodriguez 35-7-1
Lorenzo Zanon 25-4-2

3 of the 4 had beaten, were ranked or had drawn with current top 10 fighters at the time. Doesn't mean they weren't weak title defenses but its a far cry more than what Pianeta has done, wouldn't you say?

[JAB5239]

Ok then. Let's say that Povetkin is ruled out for now.

Here's the list of HW's ranked in the top 10 by the 'governing bodies':

Haye
Ortiz
Chagaev
Boytsov
Oquendo
Pudar
Wawrzyk
Banks
Wilder
Abdusalamov
Adamek
Jennings
Ustinov
Price
Fury
Dimitrenko
Arreola
Takam
Pianeta
Leapai


Not exactly a who's who of future ATG's and I frankly haven't seen much more than half these guys. But who'd you say Wlad should fight?

Arreola, Banks, Jennings or Adamek would suffice.

[IMDAZED]

well this is your quote (I'll show you exactly what I'm replying to)

"Roy Jones seemed to fight an endless line of nohopers. Chavez also. Going back further Roberto Durán fought his string of cans during his LW days"

I was saying that even so called no hopers in another era can't be compared to the division of today.

Very true. Can you imagine a Frankie Randall at 140 today? He'd destroy every last one of these dudes. And the bolded is even more true in the heavyweight division. I hate when people tun to boxrec, having no context of the fights they're looking up, and then judge a fighter they've barely seen. A fighter like Tim Witherspoon would probably be undefeated and avoided. Heck, a prime Hasim Rahman would be held in high regard. There's really no comparison.

[JAB5239]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaZGQK3zVxQ

[JAB5239]

Can't believe Wlad is actually going to fight this stiff. Its not bad enough this is the worst era ever, but to be fighting a guy like this....he should be ashamed.

[Weltschmerz]

Can't believe Wlad is actually going to fight this stiff. Its not bad enough this is the worst era ever, but to be fighting a guy like this....he should be ashamed.

Nobody else is willing and/or ready at the moment, what should he do, sit around twiddling his thumbs until Povetkin mans up?

And you were the one complaining about heavyweight fighters sitting around instead of just fighting each other.

'Double standards'