Vitali Klitschko getting into the HOF ahead of Vazquez Sr etc? WTF?

[Tom Cruise]

Sanders was a journeyman who could punch. The only reason anyone knew him because of what he did to Wlad. Sanders had a great fight with Rahman but other than beating Wlad his next best win was over Bert Cooper who had 10 losses by that time. Beating Sanders isn't some great feat at all...

I agree but at the time Vit fought him you have to give some credit. He had just just obliterated Wlad in two rounds. Wlad wasnt the fighter he would become, but he was still a top HW and titleholder.

So yeah not a great win by any stretch, but a decent one imo

[joe strong]

It's funny to me how people on here run down a whole career by naming one guy they fought.

Vitali did beat Danny Williams...like a drum.

He also defeated Chris Arreola when he was undefeated and viewed as a threat at the time.

He broke Adamek down who was a good heavyweight.

He broke Shannon Briggs' face in a fight that really, really should have been stopped.

He destroyed Samuel Peter like it was nothing.

He beat Manuel Charr, Odlanier Solis and Kevin Johnson who were all unbeaten at the time.

He crushed former champion Herbie Hide in two rounds.

He held the WBC title for four years and made ten defenses in two reigns.

Name another heavyweight who's even reigned that long in the last ten years, other than Wlad of course, who can't be up for the HOF yet.

The guys who were active in his era that he DIDN'T fight is pretty long. Former world HW champions he didn't fight. Moorer, Haye, Valuev, Holyfield, Ibragimov, Liahkovich, Chagaev, Stiverne, Ruiz, Maskaev, Rahman, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson, McCall, Brewster. WBO champions before it was actually recognized as a world title (Before 2004) Akinwande & Ray Mercer. Contenders he didn't fight Tua, Grant, Toney, Chambers, Pulev, Ruddock, Golota, Botha, Williamson, McCline, Oquendo. Doing the math that is 15 former world champions & 2 WBO champions before it was a legit title & several contenders at different points. I'm not even adding fringe guys like Savarese, Boswell, Mesi, Barrett, Austin. The 2 best guys he fought he went 0-2 against & including a fight where he quit on his stool. He made voluntary defenses against Danny Williams, Briggs, Sosnowski, Charr, Kingpin, Arreola & Adamek. In his WBO reign prior to it being recognized he defended it against Obed Sullivan & Ed Mahone. I see you try & justify his defenses by saying they were undefeated at the time but they all had padded records against lesser competition but the "0" looked nice & European fans didn't care as it looked pretty. Now everyone calls Arreola, Sosnowski, Williams, Kingpin, Charr bums or journeymen. In comparison to say a real hall of fame HW in Lennox who made VOLUNTARY defenses against Vitali Klitschko, Bruno, Holyfield, Tyson, Rahman, Botha, Briggs, Golota, Tony Tucker. His weakest defense if we go by your "undefeated at the time" thinking is Phil Jackson. He made 7 voluntary defenses against world champions... I don't know how anyone can justify Vitali being in the Hall of Fame other than one poster here who would vote him in if his only wins were against his mother & 3 aunts...

[joe strong]

I agree but at the time Vit fought him you have to give some credit. He had just just obliterated Wlad in two rounds. Wlad wasnt the fighter he would become, but he was still a top HW and titleholder.

So yeah not a great win by any stretch, but a decent one imo

Decent I guess but Sanders was totally out of shape & gassed after a few rounds like every other fight in his career. He was a 4 round fighter. All you had to do was make it to the mid rounds & he was done. I got about 13 of his fights. Most of them are not on youtube either. I got a better perspective of him than most people on this site because I own his fights from taping them on wide world of sports & other networks that were not mainstream in the US at the time. People here totally overrate Sanders.

[Tom Cruise]

Decent I guess but Sanders was totally out of shape & gassed after a few rounds like every other fight in his career. He was a 4 round fighter. All you had to do was make it to the mid rounds & he was done. I got about 13 of his fights. Most of them are not on youtube either. I got a better perspective of him than most people on this site because I own his fights from taping them on wide world of sports & other networks that were not mainstream in the US at the time. People here totally overrate Sanders.

Well damn that was one of the only wins i was giving Vitali any credit for

[Tony Trick-Pony]

He said he never wanted to fight Holyfield because he had too much respect for him, as Holyfield was his idol.

Tua never fought anyone of note from 2003 on.

Rahman's best wins were a fluke and against Sanders.

Ruiz didn't win against anyone of note since 2002
Neither did Toney.

Chagaev was not better than those Vitali fought.

Botha didn't win against anyone of note since 2003

Golota's best win from 2003 and onwards was McBride and Mike Mollo. A part time boxer.

Haye:
""We offered Haye the fight in September but he chose to fight Chisora instead because that was easier for him," said Bernd Bönte, Klitschko's manager. "David probably turned Vitali down because he got more money against Chisora, who is by far the easier opponent."

We already discussed Chagaev.

Maskaev: Giggle

Povetkin wasn't really a household name until he fought Wlad, or at least 2011. By that time Vitali was already retired.

Brewster was actually active and fought good names at the time.

Ibragimov: Meh.

The guys who were active in his era that he DIDN'T fight is pretty long. Former world HW champions he didn't fight. Moorer, Haye, Valuev, Holyfield, Ibragimov, Liahkovich, Chagaev, Stiverne, Ruiz, Maskaev, Rahman, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson, McCall, Brewster. WBO champions before it was actually recognized as a world title (Before 2004) Akinwande & Ray Mercer. Contenders he didn't fight Tua, Grant, Toney, Chambers, Pulev, Ruddock, Golota, Botha, Williamson, McCline, Oquendo. Doing the math that is 15 former world champions & 2 WBO champions before it was a legit title & several contenders at different points. I'm not even adding fringe guys like Savarese, Boswell, Mesi, Barrett, Austin. The 2 best guys he fought he went 0-2 against & including a fight where he quit on his stool. He made voluntary defenses against Danny Williams, Briggs, Sosnowski, Charr, Kingpin, Arreola & Adamek. In his WBO reign prior to it being recognized he defended it against Obed Sullivan & Ed Mahone. I see you try & justify his defenses by saying they were undefeated at the time but they all had padded records against lesser competition but the "0" looked nice & European fans didn't care as it looked pretty. Now everyone calls Arreola, Sosnowski, Williams, Kingpin, Charr bums or journeymen. In comparison to say a real hall of fame HW in Lennox who made VOLUNTARY defenses against Vitali Klitschko, Bruno, Holyfield, Tyson, Rahman, Botha, Briggs, Golota, Tony Tucker. His weakest defense if we go by your "undefeated at the time" thinking is Phil Jackson. He made 7 voluntary defenses against world champions... I don't know how anyone can justify Vitali being in the Hall of Fame other than one poster here who would vote him in if his only wins were against his mother & 3 aunts...

There you go...