Vitali Klitschko : Possibly The Greatest Heavyweight Boxer of all time Tribute thread

sxt

No physical or mental weakness, No blue print to beat him , Never been knocked down ,Never been behind in points in a fight , 2nd highest knock out ratio in Heavy weight boxing history. 3 Time World Heavy Weight champion. One of the Greatest Ambassadors for the sport of Boxing

Coolest heavy weight Ring entrance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaA_3QFxt5E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzB-cWF3j8o

He will not fight again.

His next opponent ,Political Corruption, the toughest opponent he has ever faced




VITALI ! VITALI ! VITALI !

Kristopherus

And there was me thinking he was just a rumbling slob:rolleyes:

rwg

Just a shame the heavyweight division has been tripe for years - a cruiserweight was the best chance of giving him a contest

sxt

rwg wrote: »

Just a shame the heavyweight division has been tripe for years - a cruiserweight was the best chance of giving him a contest

Which cruiserweight?

Edit Ah I presume you mean David Haye!? Did you think he would beat Vladamir as well? You don't think Vital deserves any credit?

rwg

sxt wrote: »

Which cruiserweight?

sh1t - youre talking bout Vitali - sure he wasnt even the best boxer in his family, nevermind the greatest of all time

Henno30

Vitali will jab political corruption to death.

cowzerp

Deserves to be on the list of possibly's, No doubt about it.

Frankie Lee

A bit of a pity Solis got injured in his fight, it was looking like he could've pushed him close. Wlad will have plenty of tough fights on the way in the next 2 or 3 years and surely someone might get lucky.

sxt

Frankie Lee wrote: »

A bit of a pity Solis got injured in his fight, it was looking like he could've pushed him close. Wlad will have plenty of tough fights on the way in the next 2 or 3 years and surely someone might get lucky.

I disagree. Vitali was clearly beating him in every second in my opinion. There is no discussion whatsoever?

magma69

He fought one great fighter in his career and lost...

Stupid thread.

I do think he'd be a tough match up head to head against the other greats but his record doesn't came anywhere near close. His claim to greatness is being up on the cards in a competitive fight Lewis when he gets stopped. This is Klitschko land stuff.

magma69

No drug cheat will ever be one of the greatest ambassadors of boxing either.

Bolderdash

He's the best heavyweight of all time imo.

Littlehorny

As stated before the only great fighter he faced was Lewis and he lost to him, its not the Klitchko's fault but the opposition they have faced in their careers have been poor to average so you cannot say with any certainty how well they would have done in say the 70s or the 90s.

T-K-O

magma69 wrote: »

No drug cheat will ever be one of the greatest ambassadors of boxing either.

Naive much?

In relation to the thread, He's a helleva lot better than given credit for. Vitali is a tough fight for most HW's

walshb

No man is a cert to beat Vitali. Of all the best HW at their absolute best, one night, I would probably give Foreman/Bowe/Lewis and Tyson the nod!

sxt

Littlehorny wrote: »

As stated before the only great fighter he faced was Lewis and he lost to him, its not the Klitchko's fault but the opposition they have faced in their careers have been poor to average so you cannot say with any certainty how well they would have done in say the 70s or the 90s.

George Foreman would be his toughous assignment but Vitali would dismantle him, Ali would be beaten by wide points victory or late TKO, Fraizer would be an early KO

walshb

sxt wrote: »

George Foreman would be his toughous assignment but Vitali would dismantle him, Ali would be beaten by wide points victory or late TKO, Fraizer would be an early KO

I would have to say a prime Lewis would probably be his toughest assignment. At least we can gauge this, as they did fight and a past prime Lewis won.

Shrobbs

walshb wrote: »

I would have to say a prime Lewis would probably be his toughest assignment. At least we can gauge this, as they did fight and a past prime Lewis won.

Yea but if that past prime Lewis fought Vitali 10 times how many times would he have won, I'd guess 2 or 3 times out of ten, and that was probably pre prime Vitali.

walshb

Shrobbs wrote: »

Yea but if that past prime Lewis fought Vitali 10 times how many times would he have won, I'd guess 2 or 3 times out of ten, and that was probably pre prime Vitali.

Not sure what point you're making. Past prime Lewis beat him 1/1. 100 percent win record. Could that Vitali beat that Lewis in 10 fights? I think he has a chance, but Lewis has every bit as good a chance. Vitali may have been pre prime, may have, but Lewis was definitely past prime.

Shrobbs

walshb wrote: »

Not sure what point you're making. Past prime Lewis beat him 1/1. 100 percent win record. Could that Vitali beat that Lewis in 10 fights? I think he has a chance, but Lewis has every bit as good a chance. Vitali may have been pre prime, may have, but Lewis was definitely past prime.

The point I'm making is, could he cut Vitali's eye so that the fight has to be stopped everytime they fight despite the fact he was being dominated. I'd expect Vitali to dominate the fight every time and win 7 or 8 times out of ten. There was luck involved in the win for Lewis.

Syferus

Always fascinated by the bite-back that's happened in the boxing anorak community (and I happily label myself that) with regards both Klitschkos.

Outside of Germany and Eastern Europe they bored the general public to tears and got labelled as champions of a mickey mouse era. The blacklash from the anorak community has been to take them under their collective wing as some sort of badge of their purist credentials - we understand their greatness, pfft what do the uncultured sods know?

As is always the case, the reality is somewhere between the two extremes. Great fighters but fighters who could hardly be classed as the greatest of all-time without plenty of hypothetical math, above and beyond what we have to do with established all-timers. They just didn't have the proper calibur of challengers at their peak for that label to stick and not be met with well-founded scoffs.

kryogen

One of the greatest of all time for sure, a true champion, would fight anybody and no definable game plan to beat him.

Great ambassador for the sport also.

Enjoy your retirement Vitali

Kristopherus

sxt wrote: »

George Foreman would be his toughous assignment but Vitali would dismantle him, Ali would be beaten by wide points victory or late TKO, Fraizer would be an early KO

Not a chance. Ali would have him floundering around like the slob he was.

Talib Fiasco

I'd rank Lewis above Vitali and I wouldn't have him as the best HW of all time either...Vitali was and is a class act though. Sad to see him bow out but fair play for getting out in a good way.

walshb

Shrobbs wrote: »

The point I'm making is, could he cut Vitali's eye so that the fight has to be stopped everytime they fight despite the fact he was being dominated. I'd expect Vitali to dominate the fight every time and win 7 or 8 times out of ten. There was luck involved in the win for Lewis.

This is something I don't get, and never have gotten. Vitali was winning, but using words like dominating are just a bit too exaggerated. Lewis was doing very well and was getting to Vitali.

cowzerp

Vitali was well beating Lewis, and would have beat him 8-10 times

He would beat Ali 10-10 times and frazier 10-10 times in the 1st couple of rounds

Foreman's power and chin would give him a better chance but in reality he'd lose most aswell, Punchers chance

Tyson would be broke, easily. Punchers chance of course.

gene_tunney

Sick to death of the Vitali - Lewis discussion but the bottom line is:

An old, fat, almost-retired Lewis beat a prime Vitali. People who say Vitali was dominating are deluded. It was a close fight.

That's coming from a big Vitali fan.

Littlehorny

gene_tunney wrote: »

Sick to death of the Vitali - Lewis discussion but the bottom line is:

An old, fat, almost-retired Lewis beat a prime Vitali. People who say Vitali was dominating are deluded. It was a close fight.

That's coming from a big Vitali fan.

Totally true, there is a rule in boxing called no fit state to continue and Vitali was badly busted up when the fight was stopped and required 60 stitches to his wounds, 20 inside his mouth. I think people need to go and have a good look on youtube at the Lewis fight and see that the fight was totally 50/50 when the ref stopped it, in fact Lewis looked the more likely winner. Lewis at his best beats Vitali at his best all day long imo, better boxer, better footwork, better combinations and a totally better record at the end of the day, all in all more tools in his armour.
Also i not a Lewis nut hugger, he is not the greatest heavy of all time imo.

supersean1999

Shrobbs wrote: »

The point I'm making is, could he cut Vitali's eye so that the fight has to be stopped everytime they fight despite the fact he was being dominated. I'd expect Vitali to dominate the fight every time and win 7 or 8 times out of ten. There was luck involved in the win for Lewis.

Lewis Won. And Lewis was à shot fighter. Lewis was The best fighter vitali fought and he lost Its Not à disgrace. But Lewis was better

supersean1999

cowzerp wrote: »

Vitali was well beating Lewis, and would have beat him 8-10 times

He would beat Ali 10-10 times and frazier 10-10 times in the 1st couple of rounds

Foreman's power and chin would give him a better chance but in reality he'd lose most aswell, Punchers chance

Tyson would be broke, easily. Punchers chance of course.

Nonsense . Are you ok

rwg

cowzerp wrote: »

Vitali was well beating Lewis, and would have beat him 8-10 times

He would beat Ali 10-10 times and frazier 10-10 times in the 1st couple of rounds

Foreman's power and chin would give him a better chance but in reality he'd lose most aswell, Punchers chance

Tyson would be broke, easily. Punchers chance of course.

u drunk cowzerp?

beat ali 10-10?

tyson in his hey day would have put both klitchkos on the canvas in the same day

Y2KBOS86

gene_tunney wrote: »

Sick to death of the Vitali - Lewis discussion but the bottom line is:

An old, fat, almost-retired Lewis beat a prime Vitali. People who say Vitali was dominating are deluded. It was a close fight.

That's coming from a big Vitali fan.

All true, don't agree that Vitali was prime though, physically maybe, experience no way.He was a better fighter later on in his career.

That said the Lewis that fought Vitali was well past prime and you would imagine a prime Lewis, who was faster than Vitali, just as strong, better skill set and probably hit harder would be too much for Vitali.

Hate all this greatest heavyweight discussion anyway.

Prime wise

Lewis beats Vitali.

Vitali beats Ali.

Tyson beats Lewis.

Vitali beats Tyson.

Foreman beats Lewis.

Vitali beats Foreman.

Ali beats Holyfield.

Tyson beats Marciano.

They all beat each other, no one is the greatest, they are beatable.

Y2KBOS86

rwg wrote: »

u drunk cowzerp?

beat ali 10-10?

tyson in his hey day would have put both klitchkos on the canvas in the same day

Vitali probably could.

Love Tyson and he put's Wlad to sleep in a few rounds, but Vitali would be all wrong for him.

byronbay2

Shrobbs wrote: »

The point I'm making is, could he cut Vitali's eye so that the fight has to be stopped everytime they fight despite the fact he was being dominated. I'd expect Vitali to dominate the fight every time and win 7 or 8 times out of ten. There was luck involved in the win for Lewis.

God almighty, do you think Lewis was depending on The Ref to win that fight? Have you even watched it?? All 3 judges had Vitali ahead when the fight was stopped but that does not tell the full story. Klitchko dominated the first 3 rounds and caught Lewis with a solid shot in the second that looked for a few seconds like it would lead to a KO. However, Lewis gradually got into gear, drew the 4th and imo won the 5th and 6th. He was well on top when the fight was stopped.

As others have said, that was Lewis in his mid-30s (albeit still an outstanding boxer) with Vitali in his mid 20s. I can't see any proof whatsoever to support the argument that Vitali is the greatest Heavyweight of all time.

walshb

Y2KBOS86 wrote: »

All true, don't agree that Vitali was prime though, physically maybe, experience no way.He was a better fighter later on in his career.

That said the Lewis that fought Vitali was well past prime and you would imagine a prime Lewis, who was faster than Vitali, just as strong, better skill set and probably hit harder would be too much for Vitali.

Hate all this greatest heavyweight discussion anyway.

Prime wise

Lewis beats Vitali.

Vitali beats Ali.

Tyson beats Lewis.

Vitali beats Tyson.

Foreman beats Lewis.

Vitali beats Foreman.

Ali beats Holyfield.

Tyson beats Marciano.

They all beat each other, no one is the greatest, they are beatable.

Very accurate post. In a ten fight tournament many of them can have success. All about styles. Vitali for me is hell for any of them. I would back a prime Lewis over a prime Vitali 7/10 times.

walshb

rwg wrote: »

u drunk cowzerp?

beat ali 10-10?

tyson in his hey day would have put both klitchkos on the canvas in the same day

I have little doubt that he gets to Wald and knocks him out. Vitali is tougher and has a better chin. Tyson at peak was awesome. At peak being the 1986 and 1987 years. With Rooney and Jacobs and Cayton. Never close to being out boxed. Vital has to lay leather on him to win.

Tyson had a solid defense and wicked power. Could outbox big lads and small lads. Was quite busy, very fit and took a great shot. Vital wasn't really a one hit KO merchant. Vital could win on points here, but it will be darn close. He is NOT knocking out a peak Tyson.

walshb

cowzerp wrote: »

Foreman's power and chin would give him a better chance but in reality he'd lose most aswell, Punchers chance
.

It is for me the best match up for Vitali. Love to see it. Two big and powerful and strong lads. One who just comes forward to kill, the other a man mountain who can give it and take it. I think stamina is the winner here. Foreman is patient and conservative whilst pressuring then he can win on points. Vitali would probably get the nod for me. I don't know, 50/50!

Who've you got with peak Bowe vs. Vitali? I think Bowe wins that one. Too fast.

sxt

walshb wrote: »

Who've you got with peak Bowe vs. Vitali? I think Bowe wins that one. Too fast.

Bowe was mentally burnt out. He never reached his potential . Vitali wins.

sxt

byronbay2 wrote: »

As others have said, that was Lewis in his mid-30s (albeit still an outstanding boxer) with Vitali in his mid 20s. I can't see any proof whatsoever to support the argument that Vitali is the greatest Heavyweight of all time.

I am not saying that Vitali has a better legacy than Ali. He Doesn't!

Just that he would be more difficult to beat 40 years later when elite Heavweight boxers are 40 ilbs heavier and 6 inches taller , and just as skillfull

Vitali would beat Ali 10/10 and Vladamir would beat Ali 10/10
Vitali would beat Tyson 10/10 , Vladamir would beat Tyson 7/10

Y2KBOS86

sxt wrote: »

I am not saying that Vitali has a better legacy than Ali. He Doesn't!

Just that he would be more difficult to beat 40 years later when elite Heavweight boxers are 40 ilbs heavier and 5 inches taller , and very skillfull

Vitali would beat Ali 10/10 and Vladamir would beat Ali 10/10
Vitali would beat Tyson 10/10 , vladamir would beat Tyson 8/10

Vladamir doesn't have the chin to beat prime Tyson.

His brother does.

Prime Tyson every day of the week over Vladamir.

Vladamir was down 3 times against Samuel Peter and 4 times against Sanders ffs, he doesn't have a prayer.Haye if he had any balls could have knocked him out that night, says it all about Vladamir!!

Tyson hits harder, faster and alot more accurate than them.

No contest I am afraid.

Vitali I would favour 7/10 against Tyson, he has the chin, the heart and brains to take Tyson's speed and power even in his prime.

Agree with you on Vitali vs Ali, the legend has no chance.

Strongly disagree with Ali vs Vladamir.

Y2KBOS86

sxt wrote: »

How do you see Ali Vlad going down? Ali out pointing Vlad?

Skill wise they are not that far apart.

Just think Ali would take Wlad into deep water everytime and Wlad is not a a deep water fighter mentally, he doesn't thrive in those conditions.

Ali thrives in them, Vitali thrives in them, Holyfield thrives in them, Wlad I don't think wants to be in there when it's win or die.

Ali by KO or whatever means necessary.

sxt

Y2KBOS86 wrote: »

Skill wise they are not that far apart.

Just think Ali would take Wlad into deep water everytime and Wlad is not a a deep water fighter mentally, he doesn't thrive in those conditions.

Ali is a counter puncher , he relies on his oponents making mistakes and him captolising on his jab.. Do you think he could out jab Vlad ) who had the best jab in boxing history) and the heaviest right hand as well )

gene_tunney

sxt wrote: »

Ali is a counter puncher , he relies on his oponents making mistakes and him captolising on his jab.. Do you think he could out jab Vlad ) who had the best jab in boxing history) and the heaviest right hand as well )

Ali was not a counterpuncher. When he was the bigger man, like against Frazier, he led with the jab from range and clinched in close. When he was the smaller man he used his speed to jump in with jabs and rights. He didi counter at times but was not a true counterpuncher. But your point still stands about Wlad and Vitali as both men had size, speed, and know-how, a trifecta he never encountered in any of his opponents.

Talib Fiasco

Wladimir beating Ali 10/10? Jees I've seen it all now...Wlad is not an ATG HW...he got the sh*t kicked out of him by a past prime Sanders who was in his late 30's...Vitali got pounded by a well past prime Lewis who didn't even take him serious, he wanted the KO and nothing else...the fact Vitali as ahead wasn't important and that's why he lost by TKO...

I admire both of the brothers, Vitali more so as Wlad is avoiding any major fights and he's become a stale boxer of sorts, but neither are close to being the best HW ever...and Tyson and Ali would beat both convincingly... Freak size and strength can only get you so far and will be found out by the proper boxers

sxt

Comparing Vlad from ten years ago to now is like comparing the ugly duckling to the beautiful swan. There was a big transformation

Vlad And Vitali are not just big strong men. There very fine pugilists with alot of skills

hawkeyethenoo

vitali beats ali and iron mike every time for me.

T-K-O

hawkeyethenoo wrote: »

vitali beats ali and iron mike every time for me.

A prime Tyson has at least a punchers chance V anyone

Talib Fiasco

Ali would make Vitali look like a slow, clumsy an ineffective bum...Vitali has a better chance vs. Tyson but prime vs. prime I'd bet on Tyson every time...when Tyson had his mind right he was good enough to beat anyone.

sxt

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

Ali would make Vitali look like a slow, clumsy an ineffective bum...Vitali has a better chance vs. Tyson but prime vs. prime I'd bet on Tyson every time...when Tyson had his mind right he was good enough to beat anyone.

Vitali faced Herbi Hyde in 1999. His first big step up fight. Herbie Hide was probably as fast as Ali, if not faster and certainly a much heavier hitter with a 93 % ko record. I am not for a milli second saying that Herbi hide was on Ali's level, but he was just as nimble. I don't think you could quote any of his opponents call him "slow" and "ineffective" . Saying that Vitali would look slow and clumsy is a "Hayeism" used by boxers to try and sike out their opponents and to promote the fight ,and sometimes the public buy into it. Vitali was the heavy underdog in this fight

Ali would not make Vitali look like a slow clumsy ineffective bum because he is the complete opposite to that. Vitali would be pouncing all over him .Those vicious right hands raining down on him would have in survival mode fairly early

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0UEuWza3o

Seaneh

The brothers records are tarnished by the fact that they dodged the only real competition they'd had since the turn of the millennium, each other. They are mammies boys who did everything they could to avoid each other and will be remembered as such.

The two best fighters of a terrible period of time as far as HW boxing goes, but neither of them is "the best ever".


In the last 15 years the middleweight divisions have been the most interesting, by a long shot and some of those fighters, the Mayweathers, Pacmans, De La Hoya's, etc, they are all time greats in their divisions.

sxt

Seaneh wrote: »

The brothers records are tarnished by the fact that they dodged the only real competition they'd had since the turn of the millennium, each other. They are mammies boys who did everything they could to avoid each other and will be remembered as such.

They should be commended for that and I think most people would commend them for that!