Klitschko in Top 10 If...?

[Long jabber]

You could be right - but here's a hypothetical for you about Vitali - where would you rank him if he beat Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson in the early 2000s, and continued to be active 04-08 which means he would have broken Louis's record at his time of final retirement? (adding to KO/never knocked down/round winning % records). I know this gets a bit pointless with the what ifs and the extreme nature of this possibly, just interested lol. Anyone else feel free to also give your opinion.

And if Wlad beat Tyson, would that make you decide to place Wlad ahead of him or would you look at the relative past accomplishments of Mike still?

he would be a top ten HW. people would say lewis, holy and tyson were out of it but you wouldnt be able to argue that he did infact beat at least 3 atgs. hell if wlad would of beat just tyson and holy there wouldnt be an arguement about him being a top ten ATG

[PainfromUkraine]

he would be a top ten HW. people would say lewis, holy and tyson were out of it but you wouldnt be able to argue that he did infact beat at least 3 atgs. hell if wlad would of beat just tyson and holy there wouldnt be an arguement about him being a top ten ATG

This is what pisses me off about boxing haha, just wish K2 had fought Tyson and Holyfield also, at least, around that period I think they would definitely have a great shot at beating them...and these arguments would be mute points now, everyone would get respect they deserve. In retrospect always annoying to look back and see matchups that were available there but not made, and then there's a constant yet pointless looking back to think 'what if'?

Personally if Vit had retired undefeated with 3 ATG victories and all those records, he's a shoe in for top 5...without a shadow of a doubt.

BTW - Soul - off topic to this thread but you may have noticed I won the Predictorship title in the end - told you from the start we could have fought for it!...in retrospect thanks for getting banned and leaving it to me, haha.

[soul_survivor]

You could be right - but here's a hypothetical for you about Vitali - where would you rank him if he beat Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson in the early 2000s, and continued to be active 04-08 which means he would have broken Louis's record at his time of final retirement? (adding to KO/never knocked down/round winning % records). I know this gets a bit pointless with the what ifs and the extreme nature of this possibly, just interested lol. Anyone else feel free to also give your opinion.

Or: had Wlad beat Holyfield and Tyson, and if Vitali had beaten Byrd and Lewis and retired undefeated, where would you rank both?

And if Wlad beat Tyson, would that make you decide to place Wlad ahead of him or would you look at the relative past accomplishments of Mike still?

Ok, here goes:

Vitali beating Lewis in the early 00s, let's say there was a rematch following the first fight in 03, it would just be the biggest win of his career. Lewis, although not in the best shape of his life for the first fight, was far from shot and still, in all honesty, even at 36, the best heavyweight on the planet. Vitali getting a win over a guy like that is priceless.

Then let's say he continues to fight and defends his now undisputed status as champ against Johnson, Sanders and Williams and doesn't get injured, doesn't retire, gets wins over Holyfield and Tyson, it would supplement his legacy. Like I said, the Tyson fight would be more impressive than any fight at this point with Holyfield. Wins in both and a rematch win over Byrd, that further solidifies his position as a top, top heavy. Add to that being champion for a decade, let's be honest, no one beats him in that time period and Vitali could really be looking at a position amongst the top 10. This obviously would have detrimental effects on Wlad cos I'm not sure if he would have won the other titles at any stage, considering Vitali may have cleared out.

If Vitali retired after beating Lewis in their first fight and the Byrd fiasco never happened, I wouldn't rank him as high as I have in the above scenario. Wlad would rank higher with wins over Tyson and Holy as well as everything that's happened in the last 10 years.

[soul_survivor]

This all raises the question, with Tyson desperate for money, why did none of the bros get in touch for a fight? Or did they?

[Nay_Sayer]

What chief rival?

Vitali Klitschko

Wlad wasn't really in his prime when he lost to the first two.

Doesn't matter. Tyson's record is void of the "pre-prime" KO losses, unlike Wlad. This is one of many reasons why Wlad should *not* be ranked ahead of Tyson.

Wlad proved he can come back from adversity in the Peter fight, since then.

The Peter fight was just one fight. What about the other three. Sorry but Wlad's record says that he doesn't handle adversity well. Hell, Peter would have KO'ed him had he known what a straight punch is...

[Nay_Sayer]

Ali had ****ing parkinsons and looked terrible...and Spinks was a damn light heavyweight..Holmes fought in a terrible era..He won his title from a old drunk looking Ken Norton and solidified it with a win over a half ******ed Ali..His resume is no better then Wlads

Exactly WHO did Wald beat to claim the IBF belt he currently holds? None other than Chris Byrd - the former *super middleweight*.

Mouth, meet Mr Foot.

Ali may have looked like **** but he was the legitimate lineal champ and likely #1 or #2 HW in the world. Spinks beat the LINEAL champ when he defeated Holmes. Exactly how many lineal champs has Wlad beaten?

[PainfromUkraine]

This all raises the question, with Tyson desperate for money, why did none of the bros get in touch for a fight? Or did they?

http://www.boxingscene.com/vitali-klitschko-i-still-want-mike-tyson--105

[PainfromUkraine]

http://www.thesweetscience.com/colum...hko-after-that

Damn haha RJJ v Vitali would have been brutal...what would that win have done for Vitali though?

[PainfromUkraine]

http://www.reocities.com/Baja/9660/Latest/ln122002.html

Some very interesting info from back in 2002...a lot of potential plans of the top contenders back then, including Lewis, Holy, K2, etc. Give it a read.

[soul_survivor]

Some interesting reads from the past. The heavyweight landscape and the way we view guys like Wlad, Vitali, even someone like Byrd, would have been so different if all the proposed fights had taken place.

It's not surprising that Lewis retired when he did, he just didn't seem to want it anymore and the hardest part for most fighters is actually getting up for the training and it putting in all those weeks and months. Lewis realised all this after Vitali came so close to beating him.