Interesting question. Which type of wins should be considered a bigger achievement.

[Skittlez]

There are wins over certain fighters who have shown tremendous h2h abilities and talent, but their overall resume was lacking.

Then there are wins over proven champions with great records who's h2h abilities/talents are not quite as good.

Examples to clarify.

Thomaz Adamek have a much better resume than David Haye. David Haye was considered the far more dangerous opponent.

So which win is better? Vitali over Adamek or Wlad over Haye.


Lennox Lewis knocked out Andrew Golota. Golota was not a champion and didn't achieve much. But AT THE TIME he was a heavy betting favorite and just came off of back to back domination performances against Bowe.

Golota was a far more dangerous opponent than say Tony Tucker.


Yet when Lennox beat Tony Tucker, Tony Tucker was already a multiple belt winner and came into the fight with a shockingly good record of 48-1.

So which type of win is greater?

[Skittlez]

Another example will be if Sergio Martinez fought both Gennady Golevkin and Felix Sturm.

Sturm obviously achieved much more than Golevkin, but if Martinez beat GGG, won't that be a better win? Even if Gennady fails afterwards?

Simply because heading into the fight Gennady would have shown very dangerous talent and at the time would have been considered a far more dangerous opponent than say a Sturm.

[Light_Speed]

As long as both are in their prime, the win over the more proven guy is worth more in my book.

[Skittlez]

As long as both are in their prime, the win over the more proven guy is worth more in my book.

Good answer. Ok . So I gotta ask this.

Chavez Junior is definitely more proven than Gennady, in terms of resume+ record.

So if Martinez go on to beat GGG, will you count the Jr win as still more impressive?

I mean there is no way Jr is considered more dangerous for Martinez than Gennady(From a public perception of course, we obviously don't know).

[Light_Speed]

Good answer. Ok . So I gotta ask this.

Chavez Junior is definitely more proven than Gennady, in terms of resume+ record.

So if Martinez go on to beat GGG, will you count the Jr win as still more impressive?

I mean there is no way Jr is considered more dangerous for Martinez than Gennady(From a public perception of course, we obviously don't know).

On paper, Chavez has a better resume than GGG (pre-Martinez) but he lost to Molina, Vanda and Zbik on my scorecard so unofficially GGG has a better resume, in addition to being more dangerous.

[Skittlez]

On paper, Chavez has a better resume than GGG (pre-Martinez) but he lost to Molina, Vanda and Zbik on my scorecard so unofficially GGG has a better resume, in addition to being more dangerous.

Good point.
unofficially Lewis actually beat Holyfield twice. Once really really badly. Like 10-2.

Unofficially Oscar also have a win over Trinidad.

You can make a case that unofficially Golota also had two wins over Bowe.

[Skittlez]

On paper, Chavez has a better resume than GGG (pre-Martinez) but he lost to Molina, Vanda and Zbik on my scorecard so unofficially GGG has a better resume, in addition to being more dangerous.

I get what you are saying..
Fair enough.

So ok better win?

David Haye or Thomaz Adamek. Both were in their primes or close to it. The difference is Adamek got a superior record+resume compare to Haye.
But Haye is perceived to be the far superior h2h fighter with more talent and abilities.

[RlCKY]

If you just rated guys on their "abilities" then they wouldn't even have to fight each other. A fighter's resume is the only realistic measuring stick of his greatness. That translates to team sports as well. How many times does the team who looks excellent on paper fail to play to expectation?

[-Kev-]

A win over the more proven fighter is better than a win over an unproven dangerous fight, as long as the proven champion not old/shot.

Dangerous talent means nothing, a lot of fighter start off as dangerous, that's because of the people they are fighting with records of 15-30, 27-40, 20-10, etc.

[The Gambler1981]

Both are impressive, it really comes down to each individual unique situation as to which would be more impressive.