What's Wladimir Klitschko's best/most important win?

[Simurgh]

As much as someone like Freedom likes to discredit Haye, saying he's a poor opponent this, that and the other. He's never wanted Wlad to win as bad as he did that night.

Never, and I have followed Wlad since he first came on the world scene AS AN AMATEUR, have I seen anyone give the other guy as much a chance to win as they gave Haye.

It was clearly his biggest fight, I think we can all agree on that, and would Haye beat the likes of Byrd, Povetkin, Chagaev, Ibragimov? In my opinion he probably would.

There was never so much hype about a Wlad fight as against Haye, it generated world wide interest for years before it happened.

So I would say from a fans perspective, the Haye fight was definitely his biggest win. That's undisputable, in terms of size of the event. Best fighter? I would probably go with Haye again, closely followed by Byrd in 2000 and Sam Peter in 2005.

Just to add, I think Sam Peter of 2005 was the biggest turning point of his career, and probably for him personally, the most significant fight.

But I think the Haye fight gave him most satisfaction.

Haye is an incredible fighter, but I am not sure he beats Byrd, Povetkin or Peter.. Actually I wouldn't favour Haye against 2008 version of TT who is IMO very underrated here..

Haye might be much better then we think of him (I believe this is the case), but he never proved himself. He had a perfect opportunity against Fury. Did he KO Fury his HW resume would be twice as strong as it's now.

[IMDAZED]

Chris Byed most likely.

[jas]

lol good question.....no idea....

[LacedUp]

Haye is an incredible fighter, but I am not sure he beats Byrd, Povetkin or Peter.. Actually I wouldn't favour Haye against 2008 version of TT who is IMO very underrated here..

Haye might be much better then we think of him (I believe this is the case), but he never proved himself. He had a perfect opportunity against Fury. Did he KO Fury his HW resume would be twice as strong as it's now.

I would. I think Haye is an all round better fighter than those guys, especially everyone other than Byrd.

Haye smashed TT up in sparring for crying out loud. Byrd could give him some problems I guess, because he's a good boxer. But imo Haye does everything he does, and does it better.

[M Bison]

I would. I think Haye is an all round better fighter than those guys, especially everyone other than Byrd.

Haye smashed TT up in sparring for crying out loud. Byrd could give him some problems I guess, because he's a good boxer. But imo Haye does everything he does, and does it better.

Haye smashed Carl Thompson up in the first few rounds then look what happened when Carl creeped on in as round by round went by he was slowly gaining momentum.

TT from 2008 would be more than capable of taking Davids best shots but also he'd have been capable of beating Davey boy.
Sparring goes for nothings when you're fighting a 12rd fight, I mean even Chissy got some good shots in on David.

[bojangles1987]

His best win is Chris Byrd. By far his most accomplished opponent, and he won handily.

I don't think he has a defining win. That could still come against some of the young guys coming up.

[M Bison]

His best win is Chris Byrd. By far his most accomplished opponent, and he won handily.

I don't think he has a defining win. That could still come against some of the young guys coming up.

Why is a defining win a defining win?
Is it because they posed a threat...

What makes something not a defining win also?
Is that because the champion is far too good and ends up making the challenger look average...

Wladimir Klitschko only has himself to blame for being too good, If he wasn't and was having a hard time fighting out wins with these opponents people would have a different opinion but the fact is Wladimir is 38yo and has kept a good standard up.
Dedicated to training and hasn't fell out of love with the sport like some claim Ali did.

[LacedUp]

Haye smashed Carl Thompson up in the first few rounds then look what happened when Carl creeped on in as round by round went by he was slowly gaining momentum.

TT from 2008 would be more than capable of taking Davids best shots but also he'd have been capable of beating Davey boy.
Sparring goes for nothings when you're fighting a 12rd fight, I mean even Chissy got some good shots in on David.

true.

But I think there's a difference between a fighters 10th pro fight or whatever it was, and when he's in his prime.

Chisora got a few good shots in on Haye yes, nothing alarming though. As I've stated many times on this forum, Chisora from the Vitali/Haye fights would give anyone in the world problems, incl Wladimir and everybody else. Not saying he'd win, but I don't see anyone having an easy nights work with him.

I don't think TT would be able to take Haye's best shots. I think it would be a comfortable 6 round job for Haye, but of course I could be wrong.

[bojangles1987]

Why is a defining win a defining win?
Is it because they posed a threat...

What makes something not a defining win also?
Is that because the champion is far too good and ends up making the challenger look average...

Wladimir Klitschko only has himself to blame for being too good, If he wasn't and was having a hard time fighting out wins with these opponents people would have a different opinion but the fact is Wladimir is 38yo and has kept a good standard up.
Dedicated to training and hasn't fell out of love with the sport like some claim Ali did.

Sometimes it takes guys a while to get that defining win. Sometimes a fighter never really gets a truly defining win. It doesn't always have to do with the best opponent, either. Calzaghe's defining win is beating up a hypejob in Jeff Lacy.

I don't think Wlad has that win against that opponent where we say, "yes, that right there is why Wlad is great." Haye was close, but neither guy fought very well. Povetkin could have been it if Wlad hadn't fought so dirty.

There's going to be chances soon, most likely. Maybe Pulev surprises Wlad and he has to dig deep to pull it out. Maybe Joshua or Wilder are hyped up as THE guy and Wlad completely smashes them. That win may still come.

[#1Assassin]

byrd/haye
chagaev

in that order. people are going to say sam peter which is laughable, sam peter was terrible. arguably the single worst fighter to ever hold any version of a world title in the history of boxing imo.