When was prime Vitali Klitschko?

[KillerRightHook]

Pretty confusing that people have voted 08-10, so he was prime aged 37-39? What person in their right mind believes an arm-punching Vitali nearing 40 facing relatively poor opposition is prime?? Just because he lost to Lennox doesn't mean he wasn't in his prime in 02-04 which I believe is your motive for not choosing this option, I see that this fight remains in vain for Klitschko fans, they can't admit their fighter who was fighting in his peak (aged 32) was beaten by an out of shape, unmotivated fighter who was looking for one last fight, which is why you see people like Simurgh who worships Klitschko try to save face by making the weak assumption that he was stylistically superior in 08-10. His style adjustment was to compensate for his injuries by fighting with less authority. Can I also mention the idiot Dr.Eisenfaust who voted 2011-12, because clearly he was in his prime aged 40... ****** ****.

Vitali was prime in 02-04, he was a machine in his prime and losing to a slightly out of prime, tad out of shape but still good top 5 All-time HW is no shame at all. Maybe I wouldn't have to rant if some of you didn't have to let your agenda get in the way of your opinion.

He was still good in 08-10, he just wasn't the fighter he quite was in 02-04. It's a shame that his injuries took away most his prime years.

[Simurgh]

Pretty confusing that people have voted 08-10, so he was prime aged 37-39? What person in their right mind believes an arm-punching Vitali nearing 40 facing relatively poor opposition is prime?? Just because he lost to Lennox doesn't mean he wasn't in his prime in 02-04 which I believe is your motive for not choosing this option, I see that this fight remains in vain for Klitschko fans, they can't admit their fighter who was fighting in his peak (aged 32) was beaten by an out of shape, unmotivated fighter who was looking for one last fight, which is why you see people like Simurgh who worships Klitschko try to save face by making the weak assumption that he was stylistically superior in 08-10. His style adjustment was to compensate for his injuries by fighting with less authority. Can I also mention the idiot Dr.Eisenfaust who voted 2011-12, because clearly he was in his prime aged 40... ****** ****.

Vitali was prime in 02-04, he was a machine in his prime and losing to a slightly out of prime, tad out of shape but still good top 5 All-time HW is no shame at all. Maybe I wouldn't have to rant if some of you didn't have to let your agenda get in the way of your opinion.

He was still good in 08-10, he just wasn't the fighter he quite was in 02-04. It's a shame that his injuries took away most his prime years.

I gave my opinion on Lennox-Vitali (prime for prime) many times where I favored Lennox so your assumption is just wrong.

[ShamrockXpress]

I think it's hard to asses vitalis prime. Going into the chris Byrd fight he was 28-0, then he lost his title to Byrd and I also believe he lost a lot of confidence. Not being able to land cleanly on the elusive Byrd and not only breaking his KO streak but also his win streak, took a huge psychological toll on vitali. I think he doubted his true championship quality then in his comeback fight not being able to KO Hoffman, he had to start rebuilding. This rebuilding culminated in his fight with Lennox Lewis, although in his physical prime I don't believe he was psychologically. Holding his own in a tough fight with an ATG is what helped vitali believe in himself. Three dominating performances later in which he won an eliminator then won and defended a title, I believe he was reaching his true prime. Then he was injured, showing that a long career in combat sports had started to break his body down. After the comeback I think vitali realised that other than his brother their was no one else in his class and fought a lot more relaxed. His psychological edge winning him fights just as much as his physical edge. I believe the adamek fight was the last we will see of the true vitali and his two fights since have shown a decline in speed, reflexes and power. That being said I still believe he would beat any heavyweight outside of his family, and would give him a shot at walking his brother down with his high punch output and granite chin, ala margarito-cotto.

[KillerRightHook]

I gave my opinion on Lennox-Vitali (prime for prime) many times where I favored Lennox so your assumption is just wrong.

I don't care about Lennox-Vitali prime for prime, I'm not talking about fantasy fight match-ups that never happened in a specific time peroid of one's career, I am talking about a fight where Vitali was defeated by a 37 year old, tad out of shape, unmotivated fighter in Lennox. The assumption is correct because you fail to prove it wrong. You cannot deny Lennox was on his way out, I can dig up a few legit sources which prove this. Maybe in your opinion it is 'wrong' because you believe Lennox was still in his prime when he fought Vitali like some of you believe?? Just a thought...

I cannot take you seriously if you act like a child posting GIF's which are not really related to topic at hand. Not one's ideal foundation for a strong reply.

[Simurgh]

I don't care about Lennox-Vitali prime for prime, I'm not talking about fantasy fight match-ups that never happened in a specific time peroid of one's career, I am talking about a fight where Vitali was defeated by a 37 year old, tad out of shape, unmotivated fighter in Lennox. The assumption is correct because you fail to prove it wrong. You cannot deny Lennox was on his way out, I can dig up a few legit sources which prove this. Maybe in your opinion it is 'wrong' because you believe Lennox was still in his prime when he fought Vitali like some of you believe?? Just a thought...

I cannot take you seriously if you act like a child posting GIF's which are not really related to topic at hand. Not one's ideal foundation for a strong reply.

Story who dominated who, who was outshaped, unmotivated etc. is told millions times and I have no desire going into it.

When I said you are wrong I said you are wrong about you assumption that I was trying to somehow turn around Lennox's victory as Vitali wasn't in his prime. That why I repeated my opinion on prime vs prime.

My opinion that Vitali's style, that he adopted when he came back, worked better form him is elaborated in my previous post and it doesn't have much with Lennox's fight.

Could he have been a better fighter if he adopted that style when he was 30 - yeah I think he could - that was my point that you obviously missed.

[KillerRightHook]

Story who dominated who, who was outshaped, unmotivated etc. is told millions times and I have no desire going into it.

When I said you are wrong I said you are wrong about you assumption that I was trying to somehow turn around Lennox's victory as Vitali wasn't in his prime. That why I repeated my opinion on prime vs prime.

My opinion that Vitali's style, that he adopted when he came back, worked better form him is elaborated in my previous post and it doesn't have much with Lennox's fight.

Could he have been a better fighter if he adopted that style when he was 30 - yeah I think he could - that was my point that you obviously missed.

You voted Vitali being in his prime in 08-10? Doesn't that downplay Lennox's win as that choice assumes that Vitali wasn't at his best when facing Lennox?? Prime for prime doesn't really matter in this case, as you use it to make yourself sound more neutral than you are.

Regarding his 08-10 style, you say it worked better for him, but he punched with less authority to save his body from potential injuries. He no longer had such brute force that he had in his earlier days. For example, it took his 10 rounds to dispatch Sosnowski whom would've been taken out in less that 6 rounds by pre-2004 Vitali. My reason being that Vitali employed a more systematic beating on his opponents than before his retirement.

[KillerRightHook]

Story who dominated who, who was outshaped, unmotivated etc. is told millions times and I have no desire going into it.

Why not? It is a relevant topic in this discussion.

[Simurgh]

You voted Vitali being in his prime in 08-10? Doesn't that downplay Lennox's win as that choice assumes that Vitali wasn't at his best when facing Lennox?? Prime for prime doesn't really matter in this case, as you use it to make yourself sound more neutral than you are.

Regarding his 08-10 style, you say it worked better for him, but he punched with less authority to save his body from potential injuries. He no longer had such brute force that he had in his earlier days. For example, it took his 10 rounds to dispatch Sosnowski whom would've been taken out in less that 6 rounds by pre-2004 Vitali. My reason being that Vitali employed a more systematic beating on his opponents than before his retirement.

I don't know what you think you read, I am always trying to be neutral.

The fact that Vitali would take less rounds to take out some fighters doesn't mean he was a better fighter. 2009 Vitali would never lose against Byrd as he would boxed smarter.

When I say Vitali was a better fighter when he came back that means I would choose 2009 Vitali over 2002 Vitali in h2h. Do you get it now?

and once again Lennox doesn't have anything with it - get over it.

[KillerRightHook]

I don't know what you think you read, I am always trying to be neutral.

The fact that Vitali would take less rounds to take out some fighters doesn't mean he was a better fighter. 2009 Vitali would never lose against Byrd as he would boxed smarter.

When I say Vitali was a better fighter when he came back that means I would choose 2009 Vitali over 2002 Vitali in h2h. Do you get it now?

and once again Lennox doesn't have anything with it - get over it.

You 'try' to be neutral, but you have an agenda favouring Klitschko which is sometimes apparent (not as bad as others).

He wouldn't lose, but the Vitali that actually fought him wouldn't lose either if not for that injury. He was winning wide on the scorecards. So that argument is pretty much irrelevant.

I clearly understand, no need to fill the page with irrelevant comments. And I disagree with your argument, Vitali fighting with less authority ('smart') doesn't make him better. That worked for Wlad because he had stamina issues and a suspect chin, but Vitali had neither of these problems, but struggled with injury which prompted his 'smart' style.

[Simurgh]

You 'try' to be neutral, but you have an agenda favouring Klitschko which is sometimes apparent (not as bad as others).

He wouldn't lose, but the Vitali that actually fought him wouldn't lose either if not for that injury. He was winning wide on the scorecards. So that argument is pretty much irrelevant.

I clearly understand, no need to fill the page with irrelevant comments. And I disagree with your argument, Vitali fighting with less authority ('smart') doesn't make him better. That worked for Wlad because he had stamina issues and a suspect chin, but Vitali had neither of these problems, but struggled with injury which prompted his 'smart' style.

Exactly and that's why he needs to fight smart.

If 2002 Vitali had injured his arm during the fight, he might be forced to gave up. 2012 Vitali although without many good attributes of 2002 Vitali still won the fight. After that cut in Lennox's fight he didn't even try to protect it - that was ******.

My point is that 2009 Vitali still had pretty much all the good attributes and was much smarter in the ring. I don't know what it means to throw with 'less authority' (less frequent?)

To simplify if 2002 Vitali fights 2009 Vitali IMO 2009 Vitali takes UD or make him give up.

and for your info I was rooting for Lennox in their fight, so comment about me being biased is not true.