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

[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

[TitoFan]

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

Thanks for the observation, you're right. Fury has youth and size on his side. Pulev is a cagey enough fighter... but somehow I don't see him being able to stand in there with a Klitschko. One thing that stands out is the low number of pro fights at his age. In Fury's case... he's got to be careful he doesn't run into a "Tony Thompson" on his way up. Hopefully, one or two legitimate threats to the Klits will clearly emerge in the next year and a half or so.

[#1FightFan]

what about Solis & Charr they were doing well before they were injured with cuts/knee accident! in fact charr was starting to get to Vitali!!!

[TitoFan]

Well..... hopefully, Solis will do a few leg presses before getting into the ring with a Klitschko again.

[Freedom]

The inactivity of several highly ranked heavyweights and the refusal of promoters to make meaningful matchups is ruining the division.

Vyacheslav Glazkov's management was turnd down by at least 10 heavyweights before they settled on Malik Scott. It would have been a good payday and an appearance on NBC television, but surprisingly the managers/promoters even of heavyweights who seem to be going nowhere (like Franklin Lawrence and Joe Hanks) turned it down.

There are a LOT of interesting matchups that could be made in the division between the top 25 rated boxers, but the promoters seem to be unwilling to do it.

[TitoFan]

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

Thanks for the observation, you're right. Fury has youth and size on his side. Pulev is a cagey enough fighter... but somehow I don't see him being able to stand in there with a Klitschko. One thing that stands out is the low number of pro fights at his age. In Fury's case... he's got to be careful he doesn't run into a "Tony Thompson" on his way up. Hopefully, one or two legitimate threats to the Klits will clearly emerge in the next year and a half or so.

I'm glad for Fury that he won. But I don't see a threat to Wladimir anytime soon. Fury's too raw, too chinny, and there's no telling how he'd react to the bright lights of a Wlad fight.

[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.

[El Kabong]

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.

Larry Holmes was popular enough I'd say, sure he was "the guy after Ali" so I'm certain nobody allowed him to forget that. But the guy was well known, people followed his career, went to his fights, and yeah he (like Wladimir) had a division devoid of true threats.

You say "Wlad fights scared"....if he was "scared" he wouldn't be in the ring to begin with now would he? Wlad likes to avoid getting hit in the head and he fights accordingly. Perhaps David Price should follow suit...also it'll catch up with Tyson Fury soon enough as well. These heavyweights are bigger than they have ever been, they're fast, they're athletic, and it probably doesn't tickle if you get punched in the face by one.

As for the clinching, Wlad has longer arms than most of his opponents and therefore it benefits him to not be in so close. Also Wlad is bigger and uses his size to wear down on a fighter. Tyson used his size to his advantage as well...you don't see anyone bitching about that? Well why didn't Tyson ever fight from the outside? He always had to get in so close before punching, rabble rabble rabble!!!!

[Rantcatrat]

In my opinion, they are saving Wilder for the post-Klitschko era. He has the chance to be a mega star in the US. So, they'll have him hone his craft fighting below average fighters for a while. No rush.

The truth is that there is no one out there that would be a good challenge for Wladimir. Povetkin is the best fight to make, but it's not like he's on a different level compared with the other guys in the division.

Assuming the Povetkin fight can't be made, out of the available guys, Wladimir should face the Arreola/Stiverne winner, Kubrat Pulev, Malik Scott, and Tyson Fury (assuming he beats Cunningham).

[Beanflicker]

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.

Well Kabong said Wlad would be popular if he was American because he is...

1) Charismatic
2) Educated
3) Involved romantically with mainstream celebrities
4) Politically aware and active

How does Holmes fall into any of these catagories? He was an obnoxious blowhard with the charisma of a dinner plate, who loved to toot his own horn whenever he could. People hated him already for whipping Ali and disrespecting Marciano. He was also a grade 7 dropout.

[Beanflicker]

This "fighting scared" stuff is rediculously stupid. Watch the David Haye fight: he took the center of the ring and he was the one moving forward pretty much the whole fight.

[Spicoli]

I've stopped waiting for Wlad to lose and just wanting quailty heavyweight match ups. They are there. If you look at a rung or two under Wlad its very active with some potential for division and the fact Wlad can completely dictate who-what he fights and makes money hand over fists in his comfort zone he'll retire before he takes on some of these 'perceived' threats who are just beginning to sort each other out.