sad state of boxing

[Nameless]

I never said that Vitali is invincible and is the best there has ever been. What i am saying is that the guy has the potential and the tools to beat almost any HW in history. HE has that potential, which doesn't mean he would have make it, the nuance here is very important. Vitali has a higher KO ratio than Ernie and Lyle, that's a fact. Does it mean that he's stronger then them? Probably not for a "one hit ko", Shavers and Lyle might be both in front of him in that respect. However, his power has still to be way above the average to achieve such feat of ko percentage and in the whole history of the HW, Vitali is perhaps the most talented when it comes down to grinding down your opponent to leave him in rubbles, the KO percentage plays in its favor in that respect.

This is a spot on post and I agree in its entirety. I wouldn't argue that Vitali would necessarily beat Ali/Holmes/Shavers/Lyle/primeForeman etc. I would argue that he would give any of them a tough fight and if he fought each of them a few times, Vitali would win a few. But, you only really stuck to comparing him to the best of one era, the golden age of heavyweight boxing, the 1970's and early 1980's. How about comparing Vitali to the best heavyweights between 1930 and 1970? I say there is a good argument Vitali comes up on top more often than not in those eras.

Totally agree too. The boxing scene has a big problem that deserves a deeper gaze: When it comes to the greatest of the past, they are always spoken of as saints, untouchables. They have a kind of "don't even thik to touch my legacy" halo and it is like if nobody of the modern guys could ever come close to them. I think that though they are/were great, they are not untouchable. Some of the guys of today would sure be able to dance between the four corners with them and some of those would also win.
I remember once to have read an interview with legendary Lou Duva and he was so partial in his analyse, he was even saying that the HW of today could never even carry the gym's bag of the heroes from the past, which I thought was absolutely ludicrous and the mere reflect of the golden years of an old nostalgic coach.

Because they are unexciting (at least, often), Wlad and Vitali are looked over like if they were just poor big guys in a piss poor era. It is far more complex than that and as we said, they (especially Vitali in his prime) would have the tools to at least have a very decent shot against most of the all time great.