Where do you rank Wladimir Klitschko among the all-time great heavyweights?

[Freedom]

Based on what he's done so far, where do you rank Wladimir Klitschko among the ATG heavyweights?

[DavilaJones]

I think people's memory of his fight with Poveitken will skew the result of this fight by the same token that most people don't remember Ali's fight with Floyd Patterson will skew his. Mind you I'm not saying one is better than the other, its just that timing is poignant here.

[IamInuit]

I don’t know. The dude takes a lot of hate and at times I'm one of the guys dishing it out. He's boring with all his pawing and grabbing but on paper he has not lost in many years. W/o checking probably closing in on Holmes.

Part of the problem thus far is as much the opponents as it is Wlads. We or rather I at times tend to blame only Wlad. He's not going to stick his chin out and take a bunch of chances to satisfy a pizza delivery generation ergo his future earning. Neither is Floyd.

The division is scrutinized by many and most likely more then any other. Its been looked at as the alpha division since it landed on the shores of Britain. Speaking for myself I've always been a bigger fan of 126, 135,147 and 160.

If not for his brother he would have been the first unified/undisputed champ since Tyson. That is all 4.
If you are smaller then he is, there are only certain ways to get to him. He's figured that out largely because of Manny (rip). Lets remember that springs on the bottom of shoes were outlawed by the Queensberry rules. Anyone near his stature has the skill of a tree trunk. I do think that Wilder is a guy that could get over the top in the first few rounds. Just the game over the top with skill/speed is something Wlad has never seen before and its not cause I think Wilder is better then him.

Wlad has no obligation to open up the fire wall. Its the challenger that needs to hack it. Come in low head down and underneath to the chest is going to get you grabbed.

See but here is where I have a problem ranking him. His competition has been a bunch of gold diggers. Not only short but short on talent. Its an era along the lines of Marciano. Marciano fought a group of men with big names years past their prime and Wlad has fought a group of men who could give a flying U-KNOW about legacy. Now that's not Wlads fault. He's not in control of other peoples lives but this division is pretty lame and has been since Lennox left. To be perfectly honest I rank Vitali over Wlad. Not near the paper trail but would probably still knock his brother out.

[DavilaJones]

I think 7 times out of 10 vitali would KO Wlad and I do like him, I think he is more fluid even with his apparent robotic style. he's far more adaptive and I challenge anyone to point me towards a successful heavyweight champ who ducks punches a la Roy Jones Jr.

However I also believe Emanuel Augustus Burton had the talent to be a multi-weight division champion if not for poor management. Potential and actuality regrettably don't mix.

[powerpuncher]

2 votes so far put him in the top 10 ever? haha. is that a joke.

im somebody who never used to give wlad credit but i give him a lot more credit now than i used to. he is nowhere near top 10 ever though. my main argument is that he started dominating once the competition died out. no more lewis, tua, ruiz (yes, i just said ruiz), holyfield (even an older holyfield), or even a prime rahman. there are a few other alright HWs at that time but im not going to take time to check out who i missed.

my point being that he lost to lesser opposition earlier in his career. and some of these fights were when he was a vetran like against sanders and brewster. he had quite a few years experience under his belt at the time of those losses. then the loss he should have had that people forget about is davaryll williamson who knocked him down with a jab and then the fight was stopped due to a headbutt i think. anyways, williamson should have gotten the decision but they gave it to wlad.

i admit that he did get better since that time due to manny working with him, but since then, he hasnt actually fought one fighter i would consider "good." the best fighter he faced was haye and he isnt a HW and ran most of the fight. i actually probably rank him higher on this list because of his accomplishments rather than where i think he actually deserves to be.

[Hulk]

2 votes so far put him in the top 10 ever? haha. is that a joke.

im somebody who never used to give wlad credit but i give him a lot more credit now than i used to. he is nowhere near top 10 ever though. my main argument is that he started dominating once the competition died out. no more lewis, tua, ruiz (yes, i just said ruiz), holyfield (even an older holyfield), or even a prime rahman. there are a few other alright HWs at that time but im not going to take time to check out who i missed.

my point being that he lost to lesser opposition earlier in his career. and some of these fights were when he was a vetran like against sanders and brewster. he had quite a few years experience under his belt at the time of those losses. then the loss he should have had that people forget about is davaryll williamson who knocked him down with a jab and then the fight was stopped due to a headbutt i think. anyways, williamson should have gotten the decision but they gave it to wlad.

i admit that he did get better since that time due to manny working with him, but since then, he hasnt actually fought one fighter i would consider "good." the best fighter he faced was haye and he isnt a HW and ran most of the fight. i actually probably rank him higher on this list because of his accomplishments rather than where i think he actually deserves to be.

Very well said and pretty much how I feel. Although I think I give Wlad a lil more credit than you do, but not by much.

He's a different fighter than he was in the Sanders and Brewster fights. Much more confident and effective.

The Davarryl Williamson fight was a shit show and sham with stopping the fight before Wlad most likely was KO'd.

Again he's progressed a lot since then, but these things did happen.

[brocktonblockbust]

Top 10 All Time (not in order):

Marciano
Louis
Ali
Holmes
Dempsey
Johnson
Foreman
Lewis
Frazier
Holyfield

11-20

Schmeling
Baer
Tunney
Liston
Walcott
Norton
Tyson
Charles
Bowe
Jeffries

21-30
Shavers
K1
K2
no higher than 22 and 23

[Gandalf]

16-25. Tyson stops him in 2 and Ali bamboozles him in 7.

Vitali Klitschko is the better fighter of the two.

[Beanflicker]

I disagree with a lot of what is usually said about the Klitschkos.

1. I firmly believe, peak for peak, Wlad was the superior brother. He never had Vitali's chin but I think his boxing skills surpassed those of his brother.

2. I think Wlad and Vitali often suffer from the perception that cleaning out the division was a two man job as opposed to one individual, and to a certain extent that is true.

3. I don't buy the fact that this HW division is as weak as people think.

4. With the skills and size that Wlad has, he's a brutal night for ANY HW fighter in the history of the sport.

I rank him top 10 for sure.

[Hulk]

16-25. Tyson stops him in 2 and Ali bamboozles him in 7.

Vitali Klitschko is the better fighter of the two.

Tyson is quite short and it may take him a few rounds to catch Wlad, but once he did...

[Britkid]

If the word is to mean something, Wlad, like all but arguably the top five or so (purely) Heavyweights is not a great.

As for his placing in the grand scheme of things, I would say he is top 30, slightly behind big brother, who was more consistent.

[El Kabong]

If the word is to mean something, Wlad, like all but arguably the top five or so (purely) Heavyweights is not a great.

As for his placing in the grand scheme of things, I would say he is top 30, slightly behind big brother, who was more consistent.

Why? I mean given the length of reign as champion, the amount of title fights, the successful defenses in a row, the sheer dominance he has shown...why only "top 30"? And why behind Vitali?

[ross]

He hasnt ever even been the undisputed best in his own era so very, very low.

Go back through all the greats over the years, there was never another fighter around that could also letitimately call himself a world champion.

There are fighters he couldnt beat that his brother had to fight.

[El Kabong]

There are fighters he couldnt beat that his brother had to fight.

Such as?

[ross]

There are fighters he couldnt beat that his brother had to fight.

Such as?

Sanders