Wlad's best win??

He seems like a Marciano to me... the ammount of defenses etc are very respectable and he has clearly been dominating the division. But I'm just looking over his boxrec... and I'm trying to find his stand out victory! I'm not blaming Wlad for this, but I can't find a marquee fight or a high calibre opponent, the most skilled fighter I could find was Chris Byrd, but he was never a true heavyweight... most skilled in the division at that time but just too small.

My question to those who know more about the current division than me is, who is Wlad's biggest scalp - and why?

This is what I was saying in another thread.

Wlads just been very unlucky that he has fought in a time that the heavy weight division has had nothing to offer in the way of contenders.

His best win probably was Sam Peter for the reasons El Kabong gave in that thread.

His most impressive KO has to be a toss up between Austin and Brock.

I think his best win is the first fight vs Sam Peter for the following reasons:
#1 At that time Wlad was believed to be "damaged goods" due to the shock losses to Sanders and Brewster and of course a poor showing vs Williamson.

#2 At that time Sam Peter was viewed as the next surefire Champion. Wlad was done or was about to be, Vitali had retired, and Sam Peter had just looked like a beast in the run up to this fight (that was the line of thinking at the time.

#3 It was the first fight where Wlad was put to the fire and came through the other side and since that fight he's had very little trouble in asserting his dominance.

Simply put the first Peter fight got this win streak rolling, it made Wlad a better more confident fighter, and he's been able to deal with adversity since then (like when Brock cut him, he went out and KO'd him because he knew he had to).

Chris Byrd was by far the best boxer Wlad has fought, but none of Wlad's other wins have meant as much to his career as the one vs Peter. That of course was also where Manny Steward proved his worth in the corner for the first time with Wlad as well. The Tony Thompson fight was pretty good as well. Tony is a good boxer, nobody wants to fight him.

Yes, nothing very special on the resume really, much like Calzaghe prior to Lacy. Some solid opponents, but nobody you would say was young, dangerous or seriously approaching a prime. The best you can give him was that Peter was his Lacy, but nothing spectacular around it. If anything at least this fight has got people talking, but I don't even think Haye is especially proven at HW either.

At the time I was impressed with his win over peter. In retrospect not as much though as Peter has ended up being a bit of a dud.

Plus that string of well dodgy losses, it's almost now like a style designed to mask the frail chin. And it is frail, there is no way to escape it. It is very much like Amir Khan's. That's why he is talking jab and jab and jab until the 12th because he knows he cannot do it any other way. Wlad cannot open up against anyone, even when safely ahead. But having said that, I think by using the safety first approach he beats Haye who probably doesn't have much of a chin himself.

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

At the time I was impressed with his win over peter. In retrospect not as much though as Peter has ended up being a bit of a dud.

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Some fighters just don't handle that first loss well.

On miles' point about the WBA title holder not being proven at heavyweight....that's exactly WHY I wanted that dude to fight dangerous fighters. Sure getting a title is great and all but having a few solid wins over some dangerous opposition would make the fight mean so much more.

But there's not much to choose from as far as consistency and skill so I understand every fight other than vs Wlad would be extremely high risk and seemingly little reward.

I'm hoping some younger heavyweights turn out as solid threats. Helenius is better than I thought he would be up to this point, eventually Povetkin has to step up to the plate, and I'm sure there are a few more challenges out there.

There's no one dangerous for haye to fight, other than wlad and that's his next fight. job done.

I'm frustrated with Povetkin. He should be facing a live body by now.

Is it or are the rest of the top ten heavyweights not facing each other for fear of a loss taking them out of contention for a Klitschko fight. After beating Arreola, Adamek hasn't faced anyone in the top 10. After losing to Adamek, Arreola hasn't faced anyone in the top ten. In all of Haye's heavyweight fights, he only faced Valuev who was in the top ten at the time. Povetkin hasn't faced anyone in the top ten. Eddie Chambers hasn't faced anyone in the top ten. Chagaev hasn't faced anyone in the top ten. Thompson hasn't faced anyone in the top ten. Helenius is moving up the rankings. The Peter win was a good win. He's maybe an exception. Boystov hasn't faced anyone in the top ten. When are we going to see Chambers v. Thompson or Boystov v. Povetkin etc. There are other good fights to be made outside of one with the Klitschko's.

I think all things considered, either Byrd or Chagaev. I was actually impressed with how easily he dealt with Chagaev who I actually think is pretty decent.

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Originally Posted by Hornfinger

There's no one dangerous for haye to fight, other than wlad and that's his next fight. job done.

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....No one more dangerous than Audley Harrison???

Even though Solis is a fat fuck I would have been very pleased to see that amateur loss avenged....I still say that should be done whether or not he wins the fight vs Wlad (he won't win the fight vs Wlad or make another fight but still).

Adamek? Thompson? Chambers? There were better fights for him than Harrison and if he just wanted a good backyard English battle why not try Chisora, Sexton, or Fury?

Because they wouldn't have bought as much money to the table... despite being better fighters than Audley... a lot of people in the UK knew who he was and then the was the whole 'best of friends' crap that they used to sell the fight.

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

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Originally Posted by Hornfinger

There's no one dangerous for haye to fight, other than wlad and that's his next fight. job done.

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....No one more dangerous than Audley Harrison???

Even though Solis is a fat fuck I would have been very pleased to see that amateur loss avenged....I still say that should be done whether or not he wins the fight vs Wlad (he won't win the fight vs Wlad or make another fight but still).

Adamek? Thompson? Chambers? There were better fights for him than Harrison and if he just wanted a good backyard English battle why not try Chisora, Sexton, or Fury?

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Someone else had his eye on chisora if I remember rightly.

Sexton or fury would have been the exact same out come as audley. Same with thompson and chambers.

I'll give you adamek tough even though you would have said something along the lines of 'adamek is practically a cruiser weight anyway.'

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

Because they wouldn't have bought as much money to the table... despite being better fighters than Audley... a lot of people in the UK knew who he was and then the was the whole 'best of friends' crap that they used to sell the fight.

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I understand the idea of it but honestly WWE matches are less staged than that fight was. Couldn't Audley have been his first or second heavyweight fight???

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

Because they wouldn't have bought as much money to the table... despite being better fighters than Audley... a lot of people in the UK knew who he was and then the was the whole 'best of friends' crap that they used to sell the fight.

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I understand the idea of it but honestly WWE matches are less staged than that fight was. Couldn't Audley have been his first or second heavyweight fight???

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do you ever get bored of typing the words audley harrison?