Joe frazier (rip) would be the smallest opponent wlad....

[Peter Plys 44]

Yeah, they fight who's out there... Can't fault them on that.

What I do fault is anybody who thinks the division today is better just because fighters are bigger.

Other sports and opportunities have sucked a lot of the talent away from modern heavyweight boxing, the 70s had more talent in my opinion... Talent doesn't evolve, physical knowledge and technology does and in my opinion if you applied it to 70s heavies then you'd have a division as physically fit as today, but vibrant with talent and hunger.

It's a shame for the klits, they'd get more creditfor being a nose a head of thr competition than they do for being a mile a head of it... Philosopher dumbing everything down to 'they're big' is a gross over simplication.

Well what I have a problem with is no matter how good these guys are there seems to be a ceiling as to how great people can perceive them of being. Only Rocky Marciano retired the undefeated undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, only Joe Louis made 25 consecutive successful title defenses and even if the Klitschko's had done that they'd never be considered greater than those fighters. Even if Wlad had rivalries where he had to fight tooth and nail to win he wouldn't be considered as great as Ali. If Wlad talked trash and was very intimidating he'd never be considered as great as Tyson. I just don't agree with that, the guys are the best this era has to offer and they are as you said MILES ahead of their competition. They are great no doubt, but Wlad is still writing his legacy.

B/W-syndrome - everything in the past was better than today.... - like talking with ones grandparents: "when I was young the winter was a lot harder than today - and the summer was much more sunny than today" - gnæk gnæk gnæk gnæk :-D

They don't call it the Golden era of the division for nothing. I think younger generations do the exact opposite when it comes to fighters of eras gone by. They gravitate to what they know and live, its completely natural. Regarding the heavyweight division in a Foreman, Frazier, Ali etc etc era though, thank God they-we recognize the quality and competitiveness of that time and not just blow it off as some blurry photos and dusty fossils when compared to todays guys, well, most do not. It was just deeper and far more fan friendly.

It surely was a very exiting era and no one denies that fact - but that is not the same as postulating that The Smoker would stand a chance against Wlad. Carl Lewis is greater than any of today's sprinters or runners since his prime (at least until Bolt maybe wins medals in OL 2016) - but since CL's unbreakable 1991 100m record it has already been surpassed more than 80 times. Many of the runners with far lesser talent than CL but they are still better runners than CL ever was even CL is the greatest.

JF was great in his time - but I doubt he would be in top20 today even he is a greater boxer than every single one of them except Wlad and maybe Vitali.