Where do you rank Wladimir Klitschko among the all-time great heavyweights?

[Fenster]

There are always questions that arise when considering greatness. Are we pitting greats vs greats or are we looking solely at records and what has been accomplished during their eras or are we doing a mix of the two. Also one HAS to consider the fact that there used to only be 1 belt and now there's a billion of them and it makes it difficult to compare and contrast title holders because you don't fight the exact same competition if you have the WBC belt or IBF belt or WBA belt. To his credit Wladimir did make the WBO a LEGITIMATE heavyweight title based on his performances as it's champion.

This is why Joe Louis is ALWAYS my A#1 Greatest Heavyweight Champion of All-Time. He fought anyone and everyone, he fought quality AND quantity, and he had the longest run as Champion AND he had years of his prime taken away due to World War II (which nobody ever mentions the way they mention Ali's layoff).

Now looking at Wladimir, he's a flawed heavyweight. He has had losses, but everyone (bar Marciano) on the list of Greats has suffered losses. Some shocking like Lewis-Rahman I, some understandable Ali-Frazier I or Tyson-Holyfield, and some were just bad calls Lewis-Holyfield I & II. Wlad's defeats were shocking, but all the more shocking is his ability to reinvent himself as a fighter, paper over the cracks in his game and become the dominant champion AFTER such shocking defeats...I mean the only other guys to get smacked down like Wlad did and bounce back to become even more dominant are Joe Louis (Schmeling I) and Lennox Lewis (Oliver McCall I). Wlad has had a reign as champion longer than everyone but Joe Louis, he's now been in more title fights than Muhammad Ali, he's defended his titles 14 or so times, he has held the IBF, WBO and IBO Heavyweight Championships longer than any other fighter in history, and he has defended those titles more than any other fighter.

He is an all-time great based on his accomplishments during his era, to deny it is to deny history. He can only fight who is in his era, and he has been willing to fight them all. Is Wlad "The Greatest", no and I don't think anyone is making that case, but he IS an All-Time great, there's very little to argue about when considering that just given the stats he has. He fights all the time, he defends his titles, he's undefeated in rematches, he wins by KO/TKO more often than not, what more do you want? Maybe he could fight in a more exciting manner, but shit if you're winning why change something that is working? Nobody asks Hopkins or Mayweather Jr to change their styles.

I'd put Wlad in the top 10

Wlad is a champion in an era that his brother helped to dilute. He hasn't fought the best challengers, he's fought SOME of them. Vitali has fought the others.

Wlad enjoys a luxury virtually nobody else in history has, not only was he able to avoid the "next best guy," that guy has also helped wipe out top competition.

Alphabet defenses are irrelevant. Chris John has defended the "world" featherweight title a thousand times, will he go into history as an all-time great? No.

[El Kabong]

Wlad is a champion in an era that his brother helped to dilute. He hasn't fought the best challengers, he's fought SOME of them. Vitali has fought the others.

Wlad enjoys a luxury virtually nobody else in history has, not only was he able to avoid the "next best guy," that guy has also helped wipe out top competition.

Alphabet defenses are irrelevant. Chris John has defended the "world" featherweight title a thousand times, will he go into history as an all-time great? No.

What luxury is there? Who has Vitali fought that Wlad would lose to? Sure we could bring Sanders up again, but #1 That was a long time ago and #2 Sanders is sadly dead so there's no hope for a rematch and redemption.

JC Gomez, Kevin Johnson, Cris Arreola, Derreck Chisora, Tomaz Adamek, Odlanier Solis, Albert Sosnowski, Shannon Briggs, Manuel Charr

Who in that group beats Wlad if you're so confident of your point?

[Fenster]

Wlad is a champion in an era that his brother helped to dilute. He hasn't fought the best challengers, he's fought SOME of them. Vitali has fought the others.

Wlad enjoys a luxury virtually nobody else in history has, not only was he able to avoid the "next best guy," that guy has also helped wipe out top competition.

Alphabet defenses are irrelevant. Chris John has defended the "world" featherweight title a thousand times, will he go into history as an all-time great? No.

What luxury is there? Who has Vitali fought that Wlad would lose to? Sure we could bring Sanders up again, but #1 That was a long time ago and #2 Sanders is sadly dead so there's no hope for a rematch and redemption.

JC Gomez, Kevin Johnson, Cris Arreola, Derreck Chisora, Tomaz Adamek, Odlanier Solis, Albert Sosnowski, Shannon Briggs, Manuel Charr

Who in that group beats Wlad if you're so confident of your point?

Some of those guys have been ranked much higher, and considered much better, than some of Wlad's opponents over the past 5/6 years. That is a fact. Therefore, Wlad would have been expected to face some of them if Vitali wasn't around to do the job for him.

Whether or not you believe Wlad would have beat those guys is irrelevant. If Wlad had never faced Corrie Sanders and I now claimed Sanders would smash him to bits inside two rounds you'd call me a moron.

[Rantcatrat]

Were the last ten years really the worst heavyweight era ever in the heavyweight division? I'm not sure that is true. Certainly, I agree that it isn't a good one. I don't think we'll ever see another good one either.

Will David Haye make the Hall of Fame? Is he Wladimir's best opponent?

I have Wladimir in the top 15 and his career isn't over.

The difference with Chris John is that during this era there have been many great featherweights that John hasn't faced. Gamboa, Garcia, Salido, JuanMa, the list goes on. Point is that there have been many other featherweights that many people considered The Man. In Wladimir's era of heavyweights, other than Haye, only his brother is someone that people considered The Man. And in Wladimir's defense, he completely outclassed Haye.

Are Gamboa, Garcia, Salido and JuanMa in a p4p sense equivalent to Povetkin, Chagaev, Ibramigov etc.?

[Rantcatrat]

I actually think we'll get to see Wladimir face Arreola and Chisora at some point. The rest of the guys don't pose any threat, at least subjectively.

For the people who rank Wladimir and Vitali outside the top 25 heavyweights, can you put up a list of 25 heavyweights that you would rank higher?

[BIG H]

I went for 16-25. On achievement on paper, Wlad is much higher, but taking into consideration opponents and the nature of his defeats, I can't put him higher than that

[powerpuncher]

I actually think we'll get to see Wladimir face Arreola and Chisora at some point. The rest of the guys don't pose any threat, at least subjectively.

For the people who rank Wladimir and Vitali outside the top 25 heavyweights, can you put up a list of 25 heavyweights that you would rank higher?

i could easily make a list of 15 HWs that i would for sure rank higher then 10 more who definitely has good potential to be ranked higher. i will list them for you if you want but i dont want to list them if you dont read this thread again. mainly because i dont want to waste my time.

[erics44]

you cant really call it boxing with wlad so, I would say he is unranked in the history of boxing greats