Is Wladimir Klitschko a top 5 all-time great?

[Larry the boss]

lol you gotta be kidding me did you just start watching boxing 5 years ago.. I can name 30 better all time heavyweights, the division has too rich of a history, his bro is even greater than him.

Vitali def is not great at all..please name 30 greater

[W1LL]

No chance!

[Godsfly]

wlad is a low top 10 or high top 15.......


no way top 5 & never will be top 5.

[VatoMulatto]

lol you gotta be kidding me did you just start watching boxing 5 years ago.. I can name 30 better all time heavyweights, the division has too rich of a history, his bro is even greater than him.

Everybody will agree that someone like Lennox Lewis for example is a top 10 or top 5 of all time so it's pretty much pointless to start a thread about how people feel about him. Now Wlad is a differernt story because there are so many different opinions when it comes to his legacy. I didn't say I rate him that high. It was just a simple question because I've heard fans rate him that high. You also have many fans that think he's definitely a top 10 HW and then we have a lot of people like you who don't think he deserves to be among the 20 best HW boxers.

[sunny31]

Not a chance.

He is top 25, you can argue for top 15. I would struggle to put him top 10.

Too many guys knock him out h2h. Also he doesn't really have one prime great fighter on his resume. His best win is Haye in my opinion, and he has a couple of wins around that sort of level. To me that is a very good win, not a great one. He also had a particularly weak era, and he got knocked out a few times, never avenged Sanders. Those are the glaring negatives.

The things that count for him is his consistency, longevity, the resolve to turn his career around under Steward. The knockouts, the domination during his title reign, he wasn't really in any close or competitive fights for much of that time.

He is a great fighter, I am not much of a historian, but I would have him closer to 25 then to 5 that's for sure. Personally I thought he used clinching as too much of a crutch defensively to be compared to the best of the best guys.

[VatoMulatto]

Doug Fischer's opinion on Wlad vs a few former champs. Agree? Disagree?

This current version of Klitschko (2010) would have been a dangerous outing for all of the former champs you mentioned, even Ali. I think prime Lewis would have connected with Wlad’s shaky chin before he connected with his questionable whiskers and score a mid-rounds KO.

The prime Holyfield would have given him a very tough fight but Klitschko’s long jab and new-found ability to hold on the inside would have neutralized the great overachiever enough for Wladdy to win a decision.

I think the prime Bowe out hustles Wladdy with his infighting ability and scores a close decision in a very good matchup of big men. The fight would mostly be an intense chess match dictated by their excellent jabs, but I think both would have their wobbly moments, which would add drama to the bout.

I think the vintage Iron Mike’s fast hands and feet, bob-and-weave-style, and ability to quickly close off the distance would result in an early rounds KO loss for Wladdy. Tyson’s short stature would work in his favor and his body-head combinations would quickly overwhelm Klitschko, IMO. I think prime Ali wins a boring decision or stops Klitschko late.

Prime Foreman could beat Wladdy with his telephone pole jab and superior chin, but his shaky stamina could bite him in the ass if Klitschko boxes a cautious fight. This is a tough matchup to figure out. Foreman was more effective against smaller guys (Frazier) and generally had trouble with big/tall fighters with good jabs (Ron Lyle, Ali). He never faced anyone as tall and powerful as Wladdy, whose got a punishing jab. However, Foreman was good at catching shots with his gloves and cutting the ring off on mobile opponents. He could be sloppy when he went to the body, but he did so with conviction. I don’t see Wladimir standing his ground with Foreman the way Lyle did or taking the kind of punishment along the ropes as Ali did. I’m going to go with Foreman by mid-rounds KO in a pretty wild affair.

[juggernaut666]

His record in title defences puts him in a top 5 spot ,just the same reason you put Louis . Poor competition is sujective ,Louis won his title from a guy with over 20 loses. Louis also has some questionable decision wins ,guys that Klitchko would smash .

[boliodogs]

He had such a strange career. He was KOed several times in his early prime by guys who weren't that good. Then with Steward's help he improved and perfected his style and was much better. He had a long and impressive reign as the heavyweight champ and KOed a couple of the guys who had KOed him. I never really compared him with all the great heavyweights of the past. All things considered I think he is one of the 20 best heavyweights of all time and his long undefeated 2nd reign as champion might get him into the top 10. I am not sure about that and never gave it much thought.

[dan_cov]

Just in or around the top 10.

I'd say his best wins were Byrd, Povetkin, Chagaev, Haye, Peter he also has many other decent wins in Thompson x2, Chambers, Brewster, Brock, Jennings, Pulev, McCline, Ibragimov, Mercer & whoever else I've missed.

Add in his title defenses, the fact he beat these guys with barely ever losing a round I think he has to be around the top 10 maybe creeping in. I think he is also one of few fighters who you can say never legitimately ducked a challenge, the division may not of been the strongest its ever been but he always fought the best available at their peak.
There certainly aren't 30 greater HWs if so I'd love to see that list and Vitali certainly isn't greater his resume absolutely stinks.

I don't feel a loss at almost 40 to a young, awkward as hell, gigantic, prime Tyson Fury changes anything and you can't take away what he accomplished.

Not Top 5 for me but maybe he still has more to give

[BrometheusBob.]

You have to put him amongst the best but not in the top 5 at HW. Top 10 would be a bit generous I think, but not completely out of the question. I don't keep a list but I imagine I'd put him somewhere between 10 and 20.

He had a stranglehold over the division for over a decade. Has to be regarded as an ATG.