Thread: Top 10 heavyweights of wlad's era...

Wlad klitschko 57-3 (please note there fight record is displayed as it stands today not when wlad fought them!) Current linear champ and olympic gold medallist. Noteable wins include: Byrd x2, peter x2, thompson ( x2 touch woodlol) brewster, chagaev, ibragimov, haye, chambers, rahman, brock, austin, mcline, mercer.

Vitali klitschko 46-2. A 3X HW champ and an ATG comeback after a 3 year layoff from a potentially career ending injury. Noteable wins include: Sanders, peter, gomez, chisora, briggs, solis, arreola, adamek, hide, williams, johnson, donald, johnson and hoffman.

Alexander Povetkin 24-0. Povetkin won the WBA title after 2011. Brilliant amateur career capturing olympic gold, a world amateur championships gold and 2 european golds (he finsished his career at 125–7, with all losses avenged) Noteable pro wins include: Byrd, chambers, huck and chagaev.

Chris byrd 47-5. Byrd is the former WBO and IBF heavyweight champion. He was a three-time U.S. amateur champion and compiled 275 wins in the amateur ranks. During the first half of his career byrd secured easy wins over then norteworthy opponents phil jackson, bert cooper, jimmy thunder and the undefeated cuban eliecier castillo. He also beat holyfield for the vacant IBF strap, won the WBO belt after vitali klitschko retired due to a shoulder injury, outpointed david tua, fought to a draw with golota, beat young prospect davarryl williamson and beat jameel mcline.

Ruslan Chagaev 32-2-1. Former WBA champ and a gold medallist at the world amateur championships (beat the great felix savon twice). First man to defeat the ukranian prospect Volodymyr Vyrchys. Ruslan also outhustled ruiz and valuev.

Sultan ibragimov 22-1-1. The former WBO heavyweight champion. Fought his way up to a unification fight with wlad. Has an olympic silver, world amateur silver and european bronze. Noteable wins include briggs, javier mora (who beat up kirk johnson) lance whitaker (who stopped oleg maskaev, outpointed monte barrett and was coming into his fight with iggy with only one debateable loss!) ibragimov easily outpointed an ageing holyfield too.

Sam peter 39-5. The former WBC heavyweight champion. Beat the p4p great james toney twice (something rahmam, ruiz, jirov and holyfield couldn't do!) the second fight was Considered one of his most polished boxing performances, Peter beat Toney to the punch consistently throughout the twelve rounds. Peter hooked off the jab to put Toney down in round two. Peter also beat maskaev, mcline, taurus sykes, jeremy williams and cuban star yanqui diaz (Diaz fought the legendary felix savon twice and he reportedly scored two knockdowns!)

Eddie chambers 39-3. Chambers stopped 15–0 derric rossy and defeated dominic guinn, he also beat sam peter, giant ukranian prospect dimitrenko and calvin brock. He recently lost a debateable fight against adamek.

Tony thompson 38-2. Southpaw thompson has quietly made his way through prospects and contenders zuri lawrence, guinn, diaz, witherspoon, harriss, beck etc throughout his career. In 2004 Tony handed undefeated Cuban amateur star yanqui diaz his first loss, he also holds a dominating TKO win over luan krasniqi and easily defeated Timur Ibragimov in 07.

David haye 27-2. Haye is a 2 weight world champion. Made his name by beating up the older veterans of this era like ruiz, barrett etc He outpointed the giant valuev to win the WBA strap. As much as i dislike the chap he is clearly a talented fighter, very explosive, athletic etc Just let down by his mouth (but some ppl seem to like that shit!).

Honourable Mentions: Calvin brock, sergei liakovich, luan krasniqi, james toney, shannon brigs, jameel mcline, corrie sanders, danny williams, odlandier solis, andrew golota, john ruiz, david tua, lamon brewster, ray austin, oleg maskaev, juan carlos gomez, chris arreola, kirk johnson, evander holyfield, fres oquendo, monte barrett, thomasz adamek, davarryl wiliamson, timo hoffman, derrick chisora, robert helenius, alexander dimitrenko, herbie hide, orlin norris, jason estrada, the castillo brothers etc (Some exciting young fighters coming up through the ranks also!!)

What order would you put them in? Would you have anyone else in the top 10 instead of the others mentioned? Honourable mentions, who did i miss??

Hmmmm, if Tua and Byrd are classed as his era, shouldn't Lennoz, Tyson and Evander at least get a mention? When Wlad first held the WBO, Lennox was the WBC and IBF (not to mention linear champ too) and Evander was WBA champ. I think that year 2000 Lennox would have all but killed any version of Wladimir. As for Tyson he'd just made Golota quit around about that time too and I think Tyson vs Wlad at that time would have been an interesting fight but one that Mike would end up KO winner in.

Now I know Wlad has improved a shit load since then and I'd actually pick Wlad to beat any version of Tyson NOW, I just think it's a horrible matchup for Tyson.

Originally Posted by rjj tszyu

Hmmmm, if Tua and Byrd are classed as his era, shouldn't Lennoz, Tyson and Evander at least get a mention? When Wlad first held the WBO, Lennox was the WBC and IBF (not to mention linear champ too) and Evander was WBA champ. I think that year 2000 Lennox would have all but killed any version of Wladimir. As for Tyson he'd just made Golota quit around about that time too and I think Tyson vs Wlad at that time would have been an interesting fight but one that Mike would end up KO winner in.

Now I know Wlad has improved a shit load since then and I'd actually pick Wlad to beat any version of Tyson NOW, I just think it's a horrible matchup for Tyson.

I see wlads era and lewis' as two different ones, both contained a long running linear champ.

There will be cross over fighters from 2 different era's in any era. Baby wlad competed in lennies era.

Consider Lennoz, Tyson and Evander more than mentioned my friend, however, i really tend to associate them with the 90's, u do have a point though. I hope u can see what im getting at, i think it would demean lennox to give him an honourable mention if u get my drift! 2 different era's really...i also think it demeans wlad to judge him on his fledgling years in the late lewis era.

Originally Posted by THE PHILOSOPHER

Originally Posted by rjj tszyu

Hmmmm, if Tua and Byrd are classed as his era, shouldn't Lennoz, Tyson and Evander at least get a mention? When Wlad first held the WBO, Lennox was the WBC and IBF (not to mention linear champ too) and Evander was WBA champ. I think that year 2000 Lennox would have all but killed any version of Wladimir. As for Tyson he'd just made Golota quit around about that time too and I think Tyson vs Wlad at that time would have been an interesting fight but one that Mike would end up KO winner in.

Now I know Wlad has improved a shit load since then and I'd actually pick Wlad to beat any version of Tyson NOW, I just think it's a horrible matchup for Tyson.

I see wlads era and lewis' as two different ones, both contained a long running linear champ.

There will be cross over fighters from 2 different era's in any era. Baby wlad competed in lennies era.

Consider Lennoz, Tyson and Evander more than mentioned my friend, however, i really tend to associate them with the 90's, u do have a point though. I hope u can see what im getting at, i think it would demean lennox to give him an honourable mention if u get my drift! 2 different era's really...i also think it demeans wlad to judge him on his fledgling years in the late lewis era.

well but Tua was pretty irrelevant after his loss to Lewis, so don't see why he is even mentioned

Top 10 heavyweights of wlad's era,

is somewhat an oxymoron. For the most part they are stand in's and props not top ten.

The only competition it had/has in relationship to lameness is Marciano's. This era in general makes the era of Holmes look like a golden one.

Originally Posted by rjj tszyu

Hmmmm, if Tua and Byrd are classed as his era, shouldn't Lennoz, Tyson and Evander at least get a mention? When Wlad first held the WBO, Lennox was the WBC and IBF (not to mention linear champ too) and Evander was WBA champ. I think that year 2000 Lennox would have all but killed any version of Wladimir. As for Tyson he'd just made Golota quit around about that time too and I think Tyson vs Wlad at that time would have been an interesting fight but one that Mike would end up KO winner in.

Now I know Wlad has improved a shit load since then and I'd actually pick Wlad to beat any version of Tyson NOW, I just think it's a horrible matchup for Tyson.

Very interesting that you've come to my side of thinking about Tyson vs Wlad. I just figure if Buster Douglas a very hit & miss inconsistent fighter could really hand Tyson a boxing lesson and given Tyson's struggles with Tony Tucker (who had a broken hand) & Lennox Lewis who just manhandled Mike, you've got to figure win or lose it's at the very least "not an easy fight for Tyson". The way Wlad fights on the outside ties up on the inside, uses height, reach, weight, and as athletic as he is, it's hard to see Tyson getting to him with more than one punch at a time which he would need to end the fight.


I would rate Lennox Lewis as the top heavyweight in Wlad's era (bar Wlad himself of course), it's a shame they never fought, but who knows how different things could have panned out. Who knows, if Lewis would have lost perhaps he would be like Evander and still be fighting on, trying to redeem himself.

I think Lamon Brewster should be rated higher. He was a very solid durable fighter and had solid power.

Looking at the fighters you've listed it really makes me think about the fights Wlad could have had: Golota, Ruiz, Liakhovich, Evander Holyfield, Oleg Maskaev, Luan Krasniqi, Nicolay Valuev. There could have been some good fights in that group for Wlad.

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by rjj tszyu

Hmmmm, if Tua and Byrd are classed as his era, shouldn't Lennoz, Tyson and Evander at least get a mention? When Wlad first held the WBO, Lennox was the WBC and IBF (not to mention linear champ too) and Evander was WBA champ. I think that year 2000 Lennox would have all but killed any version of Wladimir. As for Tyson he'd just made Golota quit around about that time too and I think Tyson vs Wlad at that time would have been an interesting fight but one that Mike would end up KO winner in.

Now I know Wlad has improved a shit load since then and I'd actually pick Wlad to beat any version of Tyson NOW, I just think it's a horrible matchup for Tyson.

Very interesting that you've come to my side of thinking about Tyson vs Wlad. I just figure if Buster Douglas a very hit & miss inconsistent fighter could really hand Tyson a boxing lesson and given Tyson's struggles with Tony Tucker (who had a broken hand) & Lennox Lewis who just manhandled Mike, you've got to figure win or lose it's at the very least "not an easy fight for Tyson". The way Wlad fights on the outside ties up on the inside, uses height, reach, weight, and as athletic as he is, it's hard to see Tyson getting to him with more than one punch at a time which he would need to end the fight.


I would rate Lennox Lewis as the top heavyweight in Wlad's era (bar Wlad himself of course), it's a shame they never fought, but who knows how different things could have panned out. Who knows, if Lewis would have lost perhaps he would be like Evander and still be fighting on, trying to redeem himself.

I think Lamon Brewster should be rated higher. He was a very solid durable fighter and had solid power.

Looking at the fighters you've listed it really makes me think about the fights Wlad could have had: Golota, Ruiz, Liakhovich, Evander Holyfield, Oleg Maskaev, Luan Krasniqi, Nicolay Valuev. There could have been some good fights in that group for Wlad.

I've always questioned Tysons career as he fought no one in his so called invincible prime that really stood a chance IMO. The best 2 names are an almost 40 year old Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks who was no HW to be fair. Buster was too good on the night, would he have been in a rematch? Who knows? Buster was on it that night no doubt, had his mother just died? I'm sure it was something like that!

But as for PRIME Wlad vs Tyson, providing Wlad didn't turn up scared which I doubt, he's never fought anyone with a rep like Tysons so it's hard to be sure, BUT as long as he wasn't scared of Tyson I think he schools Tyson. After the first 3 rounds of Mike charging at him and being jabbed and grabbed, HE WOULD LOSE HEART. That was Tysons biggest enemy, he expected to blow people away and if it didn't happen he just imploded. Also the way Tyson fought wouldn't help him see too many rounds vs Wlad either. It's not like he would take Haye's way and move and stay out of Wlads reach all night. He'd be moving forward bobbing and weaving but Wlads jab is top class and I'd fancy it to gain Mikes respect fast.

On the flipside Wlads chin would give way IF Tyson could get to it CLEAN but that's no easy feat these days especially with someone giving up 8 inches in height and probably the same again in reach. Just a horrible matchup for Tyson IMO.

Originally Posted by rjj tszyu

I've always questioned Tysons career as he fought no one in his so called invincible prime that really stood a chance IMO. The best 2 names are an almost 40 year old Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks who was no HW to be fair. Buster was too good on the night, would he have been in a rematch? Who knows? Buster was on it that night no doubt, had his mother just died? I'm sure it was something like that!

But as for PRIME Wlad vs Tyson, providing Wlad didn't turn up scared which I doubt, he's never fought anyone with a rep like Tysons so it's hard to be sure, BUT as long as he wasn't scared of Tyson I think he schools Tyson. After the first 3 rounds of Mike charging at him and being jabbed and grabbed, HE WOULD LOSE HEART. That was Tysons biggest enemy, he expected to blow people away and if it didn't happen he just imploded. Also the way Tyson fought wouldn't help him see too many rounds vs Wlad either. It's not like he would take Haye's way and move and stay out of Wlads reach all night. He'd be moving forward bobbing and weaving but Wlads jab is top class and I'd fancy it to gain Mikes respect fast.

On the flipside Wlads chin would give way IF Tyson could get to it CLEAN but that's no easy feat these days especially with someone giving up 8 inches in height and probably the same again in reach. Just a horrible matchup for Tyson IMO.

Yeah, once you take a good hard look at Tyson's career and the greats he fought and how he did against them you soon realize that though he's better than Bruno & Ruddock he never did that well vs Lewis & Holyfield. Certainly the points in his career in which he had those fights did not coincide with his infamous "Prime" but how long did that "Prime" last? A couple of years at the very most. Kevin Rooney himself said when Tyson stopped using him as a trainer in 1988 there were signs of him slipping up very soon after. Rooney trained Tyson from 85 to 88 and those are the years where Tyson was "unbeatable" but look who he fought. You want to talk about weak heavyweight era look no further than the post Holmes pre Holyfield heavyweight division.....completely devoid of talent. Looking at the history of fighters of Tyson's ilk (Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres, et al) one also notices that they burn out very quickly and also they have trouble with fighters who control distance and tie up on the inside. Prime v Prime Tyson would have at the most 5 rounds to stop Wlad, after 5 rounds the pace slows for Tyson and there's less and less chance of him winning. If Wlad survives the first 2 rounds and any round after (if) he scores a knockdown on Tyson then the fight is elementary, it's Wlad by TKO/KO late.

I do wonder how Wlad would have done vs Evander Holyfield just after Holyfield beat Ruiz & Wlad beat Byrd for the first time in 2000. I think it would have been a very special fight. Nobody knows now or back then if Holyfield could have taken the punches from Wlad or if Wlad was patient enough or durable enough to handle Holyfield at that time. Would have been a real bust up IMO!

Peak Tyson beats Wlad, who will not be able to hold off the ferocity of Tyson’s combination punching, speed, accuracy and power. Wlad will try and hold, paw with his jab, panic and get knocked out in 5-6 rounds. Other than that Wlad does OK against Tyson.

Originally Posted by Master

Peak Tyson beats Wlad, who will not be able to hold off the ferocity of Tyson’s combination punching, speed, accuracy and power. Wlad will try and hold, paw with his jab, panic and get knocked out in 5-6 rounds. Other than that Wlad does OK against Tyson.

Wlad 6'6....Mike Tyson 5'10
Wlad's reach 81".....Tyson's 71"
Weight Wlad 244...Tyson 218

Sure he's quick and fast and all, but I just don't see Tyson beating Wlad at Wlad's peak.

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by Master

Peak Tyson beats Wlad, who will not be able to hold off the ferocity of Tyson’s combination punching, speed, accuracy and power. Wlad will try and hold, paw with his jab, panic and get knocked out in 5-6 rounds. Other than that Wlad does OK against Tyson.

Wlad 6'6....Mike Tyson 5'10
Wlad's reach 81".....Tyson's 71"
Weight Wlad 244...Tyson 218

Sure he's quick and fast and all, but I just don't see Tyson beating Wlad at Wlad's peak.

Tyson only ever fought one person who was in the Premier League and was similar sizewise to Wlad and he got schooled.

As for all this prime Tyson shit, I don't buy it. Tyson fought Bruno in '89 and got hurt but when he came out of prison and fought him again in '96 he beat the shit out of Bruno and Bruno had improved in that time too. I just find that Tyson fans like to fall back on him being past it, I on the other hand prefer to look at WHO he fought in this time and in his PRIME he fought no one after it he fought Lennox and Evander got schooled and then Tyson fans just claim he's past it.

He was still blowing bums away though just like in his prime

Bruno style was made to order for Tyson which was why he beat him convincingly the second time. The first time he had a fight with Mitch Green, broke his hand, marriage problems and was not ready mentally.

Tucker hurt his hand on Tyson with the uppercut and he had no problems with him, so stop making up Tyson had issues.

Tyson destroyed his opponents, as bad as you may want to make them out to be, he obliterated them like a great fighter that he was.

Wlads holding would only stall the inevitable, which is being beaten by Tyson.

Originally Posted by rjj tszyu

Tyson only ever fought one person who was in the Premier League and was similar sizewise to Wlad and he got schooled.

As for all this prime Tyson shit, I don't buy it. Tyson fought Bruno in '89 and got hurt but when he came out of prison and fought him again in '96 he beat the shit out of Bruno and Bruno had improved in that time too. I just find that Tyson fans like to fall back on him being past it, I on the other hand prefer to look at WHO he fought in this time and in his PRIME he fought no one after it he fought Lennox and Evander got schooled and then Tyson fans just claim he's past it.

He was still blowing bums away though just like in his prime

People don't like to be realistic about their favorites. I'm certain I view Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, George Foreman, and The Klitschko brothers that way, but I don't think it's any more or less ridiculous as the Tyson and Ali assumptions that they were the 2 single best fighters ever in the history of the sport. These athletes are men, they aren't perfect and they all had their issues with certain styles at certain points in time in their careers.

I like to see what matchups would cause a fighter the most trouble and ponder the results of that hypothetical match. For example the Wlad-Holyfield in 2000 match. This is the post Purrity but pre Sanders & more importantly pre Brewster Wlad who fought in a crouch and went in to fight both guns a blazin' vs the post Lewis rematch Holyfield who just barely eeked by John Ruiz. To give some background, in 2002 Wladimir demolished Ray Mercer in 6 rounds becoming the first ever fighter to stop him. Now I concede Wlad's chin is suspect, his defense at this time was horrible, he was a 1 dimensional fighter and Holyfield was as durable as the day is long until the James Toney fight where he tore his rotator cuff. That being said, Holyfield's lack of punching power and ever so slightly diminished punching output could have allowed Wladimir to really bust him up for 5-6 rounds, the problems would come later and either Wlad wears down or wears down Evander and to me that's a great question in hindsight.


For Mike Tyson, the matches I think would have really boosted his legacy (not that it needed it) would have been post prison matches vs Riddick Bowe & Shannon Briggs, maybe Michael Moorer or George Foreman as well. Now I am 100% certain Foreman would manhandle Tyson at damn near any point in his career. As much of a monster as Tyson was, Foreman was bigger...meaner...and scarier. Riddick Bowe & Michael Moorer both beat Evander Holyfield who was Tyson's main nemisis. Moorer had speed and good power, but I think durability would have been his worst enemy vs Tyson ALTHOUGH MM took Holyfield's best shots when Tyson did not so it would have been interesting to see that play out. Riddick Bowe had the style to beat Tyson, the size, the skill, the heart....butI think his power is overrated, his chin is overrated, and he did not has discipline in the ring. Bowe would give up his height and reach on numerous occasions and it would make the fight more difficult for himself...Tyson could have beaten Bowe IMO. Shannon Briggs was one of the most dangerous fighters of recent memory. Big, fast hands, powerful, and athletic...a post prison Tyson would have trouble, but the heart of Briggs was occasionally weak and if anyone could make you question yourself in the ring it would have to be Tyson....Tommy Morrison would have also been a good fight and a HUGE money maker. If Tyson fought Morrison it would have been damn near close to Holmes-Cooney in regards to hype and electricity around the match, Tyson probably wins that one as well, but it would have been damn fun to watch.

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by Master

Peak Tyson beats Wlad, who will not be able to hold off the ferocity of Tyson’s combination punching, speed, accuracy and power. Wlad will try and hold, paw with his jab, panic and get knocked out in 5-6 rounds. Other than that Wlad does OK against Tyson.

Wlad 6'6....Mike Tyson 5'10
Wlad's reach 81".....Tyson's 71"
Weight Wlad 244...Tyson 218

Sure he's quick and fast and all, but I just don't see Tyson beating Wlad at Wlad's peak.

I don't see the point of using height and reach as arguments. Razor Ruddock was 6-3, with an 82" reach..... and prime Tyson handled him just fine. And Wlad's chin is more questionable than Razor's. It's ok to give Wlad his props.... but a prime Tyson takes him apart.

Wlad would not fight Tyson like Buster Douglas fought him.... driving him back.... refusing to be bullied.... trading with Tyson. That's not Wlad's style. And if and when Tyson ever connected one of those haymakers against Wlad, it would be "good night Irene". Gotta keep it real.

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by Master

Peak Tyson beats Wlad, who will not be able to hold off the ferocity of Tyson’s combination punching, speed, accuracy and power. Wlad will try and hold, paw with his jab, panic and get knocked out in 5-6 rounds. Other than that Wlad does OK against Tyson.

Wlad 6'6....Mike Tyson 5'10
Wlad's reach 81".....Tyson's 71"
Weight Wlad 244...Tyson 218

Sure he's quick and fast and all, but I just don't see Tyson beating Wlad at Wlad's peak.

I don't see the point of using height and reach as arguments. Razor Ruddock was 6-3, with an 82" reach..... and prime Tyson handled him just fine. And Wlad's chin is more questionable than Razor's. It's ok to give Wlad his props.... but a prime Tyson takes him apart.

Wlad would not fight Tyson like Buster Douglas fought him.... driving him back.... refusing to be bullied.... trading with Tyson. That's not Wlad's style. And if and when Tyson ever connected one of those haymakers against Wlad, it would be "good night Irene". Gotta keep it real.

Exactly.

There are two Wlads in the same career. The pre-clinch Wlad and the post-clinch Wlad. I’m sure the Wlad that learned how to clinch gives Tyson a tougher out but really the prime Tyson prior to getting ruined completely by King would have butchered Wlad and I’m no fan of either. Reach and height are negated here by speed, pin point freight train punching and some of the best head movement ever. Add this to Wlads notorious slow starts and he’s a goner. He might want to put a couple of ads on the bottom of his shoes.