Will ONE frigging HW step up to the plate before it's too late?!?

[Gandalf]

Wladimir Klitschko ducked James Toney. If you haven't beaten James Toney at HW and he was active at the time then you are not all that. Manny Steward always knew that Toney was to be avoided at all costs and both of the brothers did just that. It is obvious that they knew Toney was only ever going to make them look sloppy. They are slimey and nobody wants to fight them because they enslave their opponents with stupid contracts.

HW is a rubbish division with no depth, meaning, nor narrative. It is a black hole with nowhere to go and thus people gave up paying attention long ago. Other divisions are full of exciting stars. Who cares about a formerly exciting division that is now effectively defunct and null?

Who is the next guy? Michaelangelo Peanut? Who the heck is Michaelangelo Peanut? Only the Bus Driver's Union has any evidence of the mans existence and seemingly the death records of some people he hit. It's a nonsense, it really is. "Fight Wlad and we will get you off the city centre route". That is just not what title fight contracts should be all about.

[bzkfn]

Wladimir Klitschko ducked James Toney. If you haven't beaten James Toney at HW and he was active at the time then you are not all that.

So by your logic, is Sam Peter an all time great?

[Beanflicker]

Toney made Sam Peters look like shit in their first fight, and got robbed.

[El Kabong]

Not only does Wlad have good power but he's just flat out a better boxer than every other fighter in the division and not just "by a little bit" he's WELL ahead of the field, that is just the reality of the division. Even people saying "Vitali looks old" or "Vitali looks slow" aren't suggesting that anyone will really test him, they throw in qualifiers "maybe", "might", "if"....but nobody says "will beat".

David Price got wrecked by a guy Wlad KO'd twice and the second fight was just a complete "You do not belong in the same ring as me" statement ass whupping.

Wilder could eventually get to where Wlad is, but he's got a LOT of work ahead of him, not fighting better fighters (which also is a must) but honing his craft....the kid is just too raw right now.

[Beanflicker]

To be fair to Wlad, it must suck that he's going to be taking on a young 6'5'', 250lb 28-0 southpaw and people are talking about it like he's going to fight Dustin Diamond.

Who knows how many of the so-called contenders listed above either turned him down or are already scheduled to fight other people.

Who knows, maybe this kid will show us something.

[El Kabong]

To be fair to Wlad, it must suck that he's going to be taking on a young 6'5'', 250lb 28-0 southpaw and people are talking about it like he's going to fight Dustin Diamond.

Who knows how many of the so-called contenders listed above either turned him down or are already scheduled to fight other people.

Who knows, maybe this kid will show us something.

It happens to all champions in their day, some more than others. I can't help but think if Wlad was American or British he'd be emensely popular. The guy has dated actresses, he's a doctor, he's politically aware & active, he's a charismatic guy (yeah I'm sure I'll take heat for saying that but those things are true), he's not the typical muscle head athlete....in America if we had a heavyweight champion like that ESPN would be wetting themselves with excitement covering him asking questions like "When will he run for President?" and "Could he beat Ali?" you must understand once ESPN gets their hooks onto something like that there's no telling how far down the rabbit hole they are willing to go (see Tim Tebow, Manti Teo, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Danica Patrick, et al).

People don't like Wlad's style of fighting, fine to each their own, I understand completely, I'm picky about the fighters I like too. But to drone on and on and on about a boxer who was completely different in style, upbringing, ability, physical size, etc it just doesn't make any sense....you want Wlad who isn't as strong in the chin department as other fighters to fight toe to toe, you want him to fight in a crouch, to take all his mental and physical advantages & experience and just brush it aside and be a brawler.....you wouldn't ask that of any other person in any other sport. You wouldn't tell Leo Messi to play CB, you wouldn't tell Andre Johnson to play linebacker, you wouldn't have Lebron James play Center, you wouldn't have Sidney Crosby play goalie....those guys are all extremely talented and they probably COULD play those positions, but their Gatural abilities and strengths make them best suited for playing where they currently play. You don't ask Floyd Mayweather to fight like Marvin Hagler and you shouldn't be asking Wlad to fight like Tyson...Wlad fights how he is comfortable, it's up to the opponent to break him out of that comfort zone and either the opponents aren't able or willing to do that.

[gest12645]

nice thread. you should add Fury to the list and Pulev

[TysonBomb]

To be fair to Wlad, it must suck that he's going to be taking on a young 6'5'', 250lb 28-0 southpaw and people are talking about it like he's going to fight Dustin Diamond.

Who knows how many of the so-called contenders listed above either turned him down or are already scheduled to fight other people.

Who knows, maybe this kid will show us something.

It happens to all champions in their day, some more than others. I can't help but think if Wlad was American or British he'd be emensely popular. The guy has dated actresses, he's a doctor, he's politically aware & active, he's a charismatic guy (yeah I'm sure I'll take heat for saying that but those things are true), he's not the typical muscle head athlete....in America if we had a heavyweight champion like that ESPN would be wetting themselves with excitement covering him asking questions like "When will he run for President?" and "Could he beat Ali?" you must understand once ESPN gets their hooks onto something like that there's no telling how far down the rabbit hole they are willing to go (see Tim Tebow, Manti Teo, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Danica Patrick, et al).

People don't like Wlad's style of fighting, fine to each their own, I understand completely, I'm picky about the fighters I like too. But to drone on and on and on about a boxer who was completely different in style, upbringing, ability, physical size, etc it just doesn't make any sense....you want Wlad who isn't as strong in the chin department as other fighters to fight toe to toe, you want him to fight in a crouch, to take all his mental and physical advantages & experience and just brush it aside and be a brawler.....you wouldn't ask that of any other person in any other sport. You wouldn't tell Leo Messi to play CB, you wouldn't tell Andre Johnson to play linebacker, you wouldn't have Lebron James play Center, you wouldn't have Sidney Crosby play goalie....those guys are all extremely talented and they probably COULD play those positions, but their Gatural abilities and strengths make them best suited for playing where they currently play. You don't ask Floyd Mayweather to fight like Marvin Hagler and you shouldn't be asking Wlad to fight like Tyson...Wlad fights how he is comfortable, it's up to the opponent to break him out of that comfort zone and either the opponents aren't able or willing to do that.

lmao

Was Holmes popular? He was American and nobody cared ... he was relatively obscure compared to past heavyweight champions. Wlad has a nonsense doctorate in "Sports Science." I'm not slamming any doctorate degree (I've come to realize that they're all rigorous ever since I started med school) but its meaningless.

I do agree that Wlad being non American or non British makes him less popular but the point is that he literally fights scared. Freaking cruiserweights have this guy shitting himself ... I mean, how many times did he clinch a senile and decrepit Mormeck?? And if IIRC, he clinched Sam Peter nearly 100 times in their first fight.