What the Klitschko fans predicted years ago turned out to be correct.

[Robbie Barrett]

Wilder is no turd my friend. He would have been a difficult opponent for Klitschko at any point of his career. Just his power and heart alone would have given Wlad a run for his money. In addition, the "Bronze Bomber" has more mental toughness than you would ever know.

There's a reason Wilder never wanted a Klitschko fight. Because Klitschko knocked him out in sparring. Wilder is a turd in any other era. This is the weakest era ever, weaker than Wlad's.

[removed]

There's a reason Wilder never wanted a Klitschko fight. Because Klitschko knocked him out in sparring. Wilder is a turd in any other era. This is the weakest era ever, weaker than Wlad's.

Agreed. Wilder/Joshua/Parker/Ortiz are ****ing rubbish.

[sunny31]

A 41 year old Wlad almost KO'ed Joshua Imagine if it was a 30-35 year Old Wlad. HE is no different, would gotten stopped by a Prime Vitali or Wlad

Vitali to one side.

Yes there is a good chance of Wlad scoring a KO if the events of that fight happen in the same order. But here's the thing, Wlad was really aggressive in the Joshua fight and I think it was due to his performance in the Fury fight. He also did not look old in the Joshua fight, his stamina and speed were on point. The best Wlad was probably 35-36 that to me is where is physical, skill, and experience came together.

It's all speculation of course. I just go back and think upon his Mariusz Wach performance, which he boxed really well in, but Wach was a human punch bag, and he still buzzed Wlad up at one stage. Wlads defensive game was not suited to fighters his size or taller, he stands straight up, and doesn't have a good defensive guard, his defence is primarily his anticipation and his feet, and that's why he struggled against Fury and why Joshua was able to get to him.

[vaynardevil]

And Haye rocked wilder in sparring

[classicbuzzbox]

Couldn't disagree more, most of Wlads reign was C and D level fighters. The only B level guys were Byrd, Haye, and Povetkin. They are all small heavies who play into the Klitschko style.

As soon as a few big men with dimensions and good ability turned up Wlad lost. You can blame it on age, but I think Wlads style was heavily geared towards beating fighters who were outsized and couldn't reach his torso and chin.

I think as a total package Wlad is better than all the current crop, but I think any one of them has the ability to beat him including Wilder. Fury was no fluke, Wlad didn't like the picture he was seeing so he couldn't reprogramme himself in the ring and go for it because that cautious style was the reason he became successful and the reason he turned his career around.

Vitali on the other hand, different kettle of fish. We can see even from the Lewis fight and the Corrie Sanders fight that he could have stood the test of time against any era head to head.

I agree with the Wlad assessment. However, Wlad on his best night could possibly get a W against any heavyweight on a 10 ten list due to his height, natural athleticism and technique. If they don't get his chin, he will be awkward and besides Fury and his short fight loss against Sanders, has ever been behind on a scorecard.

I do disagree with the competition though. He has a decent record, especially after the Brewster loss. His 10 year(?) reign has some interesting names on it and he fought as good as the competition provided at the time. Including losing efforts to Joshua and Fury, I really don't think there were any notable ducks. His brother can't say the same....I remember how disgraceful the whole Rahman debacle was.

[champion4ever]

There's a reason Wilder never wanted a Klitschko fight. Because Klitschko knocked him out in sparring. Wilder is a turd in any other era. This is the weakest era ever, weaker than Wlad's.

This is Wlad's era where he has been knocked on 4 different occasions with over 5 losses on his record. Moreover, once again you are very wrong my friend. When Deontay won the WBC title back in 2015, he did call out Klitschko for a unification bout to take place at either Madison Square Garden or the Barclay's Center but Klitschko ducked him by politely declining the opportunity to unify with him.

[Mr Objecitivity]

A prime Odlanier Solis got KTFO in one round by a washed up, old Vitali Klitschko.

Luis Ortiz never once beat Odlanier Solis when they fought in the amateurs, despite fighting each other multiple times. And Ortiz was Solis's sparring partner when Solis fought Vitali Klitschko.

Yet, a Luis Ortiz around age 40 is a top 3 heavyweight in the world today and gives Deontay Wilder, who is meant to be a top 2 heavyweight, his toughest fight of his career by winning every round and then nearly stopping him until Wilder gets extra time to recover. Not to mention, this same Ortiz has high blood pressure too.

That just goes to show how 'overrated' this current heavyweight division is.

Odlanier Solis is better than Luis Ortiz. What if Luis Ortiz fought Vitali Klitschko instead and he was also knocked out in the first round. Is Vitali Klitschko going to receive more credit for beating such an opponent like Wilder did for beating Ortiz or would people end up claiming Ortiz was a bum, just like they do with pretty much every other Klitschko opponent?

Yet, because Deontay Wilder went life and death against a washed up, old Luis Ortiz and made Ortiz appear better than he should've done(if he really was as good as the Klitschkos), people erroneously believe that Luis Ortiz is better than Klitschko's opponents or better than what he actually is.

Truth is, Klitschko's opponents weren't any worse than heavyweight boxers today and heavyweight boxers today aren't any better than Klitschko's opponents FOR THE MOST PART. It's just that the Klitschkos made their decent opponents look bad whilst the likes of Deontay Wilder make their opponents look good because they themselves aren't that good.

Let's be honest! Is Luis Ortiz really any better than Sultan Ibragimov? Or did Deontay Wilder simply make Ortiz look better than he should've whilst Wladimir Klitschko made Sultan Ibragimov look like a bum?

[sunny31]

You can't say that. What would have the heavies be had Wlad and Vitali not dominated? They would be competitive fights and people would tune in because there aren't 1-2 guys being head and shoulders above everyone of them.

Disagree.

As a boxing fan and someone who has boxed I am able to decipher how good someone is, I don't need relativity to do that.

Of course boxing fans prefer competitive boxing matches that doesn't mean they don't understand the levels of what they are watching. No one thinks these guys are a remake of the 70's or 90's do they? If Wlad and Vitali not been there, educated fans would understand that they are watching a sub-par era.

I think the current top 4-5 is better than pretty much all of Wlads competition during his reign. Arguably Povetkin and Haye are in that class too, but they are smaller fighters and there is a big Asterisk over Povetkin.

Did Wlad have guys in his era of comparable size who have good ability, athleticism?

[Mr Objecitivity]

Vitali to one side.

Yes there is a good chance of Wlad scoring a KO if the events of that fight happen in the same order. But here's the thing, Wlad was really aggressive in the Joshua fight and I think it was due to his performance in the Fury fight. He also did not look old in the Joshua fight, his stamina and speed were on point. The best Wlad was probably 35-36 that to me is where is physical, skill, and experience came together.

It's all speculation of course. I just go back and think upon his Mariusz Wach performance, which he boxed really well in, but Wach was a human punch bag, and he still buzzed Wlad up at one stage. Wlads defensive game was not suited to fighters his size or taller, he stands straight up, and doesn't have a good defensive guard, his defence is primarily his anticipation and his feet, and that's why he struggled against Fury and why Joshua was able to get to him.

Every past heavyweight champion after age 37 was either retired, or losing to inferior opponents than Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury.

What's so special about Joshua or Fury beating a Wladimir Klitschko that declined as much as he did from aging? It tells us nothing about how Joshua or Fury would've done against a Wlad from 2006 - 2012.

[Commie]

Boxing City needs Batman Fury