Comments Thread For: Banks: Klitschko Will Be Appreciated When He's Gone

[wlliam]

As a fan, its a shame he isnt embraced now. But i do believe he will ne greatly appreciated when hes gone and once all of his titles are vacant, what hes accomplished will be put in perspective...big fan right here.

[KO'er]

Well it's been over 3 years since Vitali Klitschko has retired and I still don't "appreciate" him. I expect the exact same to happen with Wladimir...

I don't like the fact that both brothers were always safety first. The only time they got a bit aggressive and took risks was when there opposition was well below average.

[Robbie Barrett]

Wlad fans always trying to put him alongside Lewis, keep dreaming Lewis is a level above him.

[redmyth79]

Wlad, has proven to be a great champion no matter how u look at his era. No champion in history has won as many rounds in as many fights as wlad.
Not to mention his KO percentage.
Come on haters, it's all true and u know it.

[Robbie Barrett]

Wlad, has proven to be a great champion no matter how u look at his era. No champion in history has won as many rounds in as many fights as wlad.
Not to mention his KO percentage.
Come on haters, it's all true and u know it.

Wlad has impressive numbers but no names. Names>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Numbers

[deanrw]

He will be more appreciated no question about it. Some don't like how he has done it, but he has. He has been a major player in the heavyweight division for 15 years and the Dominant heavyweight for 10 of them.

[cupocity303]

Wlad has impressive numbers but no names. Names>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Numbers

OF course he has plenty of names, but "names" are subjective and up to a persons bias. Numbers though are facts.

Also the premise is fallacious. Ali's Joe Frazier and George Foreman names were only there because he didn't reign as Heavyweight champion for a decade. It's that gap of going to prison that created Joe Frazier and after losing to Smoking Joe, created George Foreman.

How many undefeated Smoking Joe's and Foreman's never came into existance because Wlad just made them a stat on his title defense record? But just for fun, Wlad's names are:

David Haye - a non-heavyweight who's accomplishments were at Cruiserweight. I suppose his win over Valuev made him somewhat of an accomplished heavyweight prior to facing Wlad

Povetkin - undefeated, defeated plenty of names prior to facing Wlad (Chris Byrd, Eddie Chambers). How much better can that win look if Povetkin beats Wilder and spoils a big Heavyweight unification.

Ibragimov - undefeated (took Shannon Briggs WBO Title, defended it against Holyfield), Wlad pretty much gets credit by default for retiring him.

Ruslan Chagaev - undefeated at that time, took Valuev's 0 prior to facing Wlad

Hasim Rahman - you wanna talk about names. There is your name. Defeated a washed up Rahman, but a name nonetheless. Made a name for himself prior to Wlad's reign.

Chris Byrd - a transitional champion who was part of the Lewis and the Klitschko eras.

Eddie Chambers - solid slickster who can box but would've been a better heavyweight in a past era where other heavyweights were smaller in stature and weight. Could've been a great cruiserweight.

Pulev - a potential great name on Wlad's resume. Was undefeated, gave Wlad some trouble by blocking his usual punches, which forced Wlad to use a lead hook to get teh KO. Let's just see if he gets a few good wins in the Post-Wlad era if he gets to fight the Fury's, Wilder's and Joshua's of the world.

[cupocity303]

It's not that he's not appreciated (I appreciate him), it's just that this HW era is the weakest in history. If Wlad would have been this dominant in, let's say, the 90s, it would be a different story. I personally don't think he would have been, but who knows. Either way he's a helluva fighter and a very classy champion.

If he was this dominant in the 90's, most of the guys whom you consider great or very good now in hindsight, wouldn't have been considered good or great if they were made part of Wlad's decade long Heavyweight reign.

Imagine Wlad taking the Title in 1990 (just after Tyson's loss to Buster and going to prison), and making routine title defenses against the likes of Michael Moorer, an old George Foreman (similar to his Rahman win), Evander Holyfield, Rid**** Bowe, David Tua, McCall, a comebacking Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis (who would have been his biggest rival and it's a pick-em fight.).

I'm not trying to pick fights about how well he would fare against these opponents (I have winning all of them with the Lewis fight being the most interesting one on paper) -- just that the point is that those wins wouldn't have been any better than his current wins against some of the names I mentioned in my previous post. If you rule for a decade, that means that you're not allowing anyone to make a name for themselves, or become great. That's the whole point.

[removed]

He'll be respected, not missed.


Posted from Boxingscene.com App for Android

[Jewish-Reptile]

He'll be respected, not missed.


Posted from Boxingscene.com App for Android

Only where butt hurt, sores and strain have prevailed this past decade, ie Britain and the States, when Wlad retires his belts will become scattered and meaningless collected by the likes of Wilder guys who wouldn't even go a round with guys from the 80's or 90's.