Of the current Belt holders at HW who do you consider the Man.

[rjj tszyu]

...I don't know about that, people are so certain Vitali would beat Wladimir, but it's not like Wlad is a slouch, it's not like Wlad can't box, it's not like Vitali is head and shoulders better than Wlad. Wladimir has a better arsenal than Vitali and is far superior as a BOXER and if he was to press the action I doubt Vitali (who fights in spurts) would be able to handle it.

I think Vitali is underrated as a boxer. Ok he might not be as text book as Wlad but he doesn't make many mistakes either and when he does he has a very good (although i'm not sure it's as good as it once was) chin.

Another thing is Wlad nearly always has height and reach on his side and when he doesn't it's against someone who is not anywhere near his league (not that there are many in the Klits league at the mo), but against Vitali he would be giving up 2 inches in height and I think they both have 80" reach so that would be equal.

It's a shame they are brothers really because there is a genuine big time HW clash there and we will never see it!

[El Kabong]

...it's fun to speculate, but I'd back Wlad in a fight vs Vitali he's more fundamentally sound

[rjj tszyu]

...it's fun to speculate, but I'd back Wlad in a fight vs Vitali he's more fundamentally sound

True..... But isn't that what people were saying about Michael Spinks going into the Tyson fight??

[El Kabong]

I wouldn't know, but Spinks could be as sound as Ray Robinson it wouldn't change the fact he was basically a light heavyweight

[Kev]

It's a farcical situation imo. Of course Wlad probably deserves the spot as he's defended his belt many times and tried to unify the division.

His brother coming back has thrown a wrench into things though. He won't ever unify of course, and will never fight his brother but if they were not related and could go up against each other, I have little doubt, that even at 38 Vitali beats the snot out of the younger Wladimir.

[Drago]

i am going with vitali, just because he fought lewis & lewis was such a dominant HW champ that the fact vitali stayed in a real fight with him that i gotta go for him! if vitali fought wlad i would defo go for the older brother by KO

[Jody Lane]

I voted Wlad based on his skill. But I think he has more skill to win than Vitali, and Vitali has more will to win than Wlad. I think that will beats skill, but by the fact that Vitali retired, he doesn't just come back and say I am still the man any more than Lennox Lewis could. I could make my logic seem better or worse for that fact but I have been up 24 hours. Night all.

[Master]

Wlad gets my vote, he is the best of the current crop.

[SaltyBacon]

wlad

[bzkfn]

...it's fun to speculate, but I'd back Wlad in a fight vs Vitali he's more fundamentally sound

Vitali. He is simply awesome. I don't understand your point of view Lyle. Wlad is a joke for me. I'm waiting for somebody to test his chin again.

[Drago]

i think vitali beat sall the heavys out there at the moment

dont know if i can say the same abt wlad

[El Kabong]

...it's fun to speculate, but I'd back Wlad in a fight vs Vitali he's more fundamentally sound

Vitali. He is simply awesome. I don't understand your point of view Lyle. Wlad is a joke for me. I'm waiting for somebody to test his chin again.

...so you've been waiting 5-6 years for Wlad to get KO'd again? For a guy you don't consider dominant and who has fought the best competition out there that's a long time to wait for something you assume is easy to do.

[bzkfn]

...it's fun to speculate, but I'd back Wlad in a fight vs Vitali he's more fundamentally sound

Vitali. He is simply awesome. I don't understand your point of view Lyle. Wlad is a joke for me. I'm waiting for somebody to test his chin again.

...so you've been waiting 5-6 years for Wlad to get KO'd again? For a guy you don't consider dominant and who has fought the best competition out there that's a long time to wait for something you assume is easy to do.

No I'm not denying he is a talented boxer who knows how to negate his opponent's skills. I just can't abide by having a Heavyweight Champion who seems so afraid of getting punched. Every time Chagaev got within punching range, he grabbed hold as quickly as possible. Against Ibragimov he had him finished in the 9th, but let him out of trouble to put us through 3 more rounds of crap. Against Rahman, he could have finished him in the 1st, but again let it go. I just think his lack of belief in himself will be his undoing. Vitali is a real champion. Fights the more dangerous opponents for me and I think he'd KO his brother if they every fought.

[rjj tszyu]

Vitali. He is simply awesome. I don't understand your point of view Lyle. Wlad is a joke for me. I'm waiting for somebody to test his chin again.

...so you've been waiting 5-6 years for Wlad to get KO'd again? For a guy you don't consider dominant and who has fought the best competition out there that's a long time to wait for something you assume is easy to do.

No I'm not denying he is a talented boxer who knows how to negate his opponent's skills. I just can't abide by having a Heavyweight Champion who seems so afraid of getting punched. Every time Chagaev got within punching range, he grabbed hold as quickly as possible. Against Ibragimov he had him finished in the 9th, but let him out of trouble to put us through 3 more rounds of crap. Against Rahman, he could have finished him in the 1st, but again let it go. I just think his lack of belief in himself will be his undoing. Vitali is a real champion. Fights the more dangerous opponents for me and I think he'd KO his brother if they every fought.

Wlad knows as does everyone else in boxing that his biggest problem is his chin, and boxing is first and foremost about winning.

So Wlad spoils a lot now because he knows if he holds when his opponent is on the inside it will basically nullify pretty much anyone out there at the moment because he can use his size and reach to control from the outside and there are not many fast HW's at the minute who can move in under the jab and fire bombs and move away without being held.

For me a prime Tyson would be the Nightmare opponent for modern day Wlad because of the way he bobbed his way in so fast and then hit so damned hard when he did connect, which was often. I think that particular fight would be similar to the Tyson - Holmes fight where Tyson fought the greatest jabber of all time IMO, who fair enough was past his prime
but was still very competent and lets face it no matter how anyone tries to build Wlad up he isn't on the same level as Larry.

But to get back to the point, Wlad isn't the most exciting fighter in the world, but since his last defeat to brewster, except maybe when he was down against Peter (I don't think he looked too troubled) he has not looked at all troubled due to his safety first approach and he won't change a winning formula until it is no longer that.

[El Kabong]

Wladimir might be the nightmare opponent for Tyson when you look at what limits Tyson's style had. You can bob and weave all you want, but the 1-2 of Wladimir plus the FACT that Tyson throughout his career was easy to tie up...those wouldn't make it an easy fight for Tyson. Now if Tyson connected he'd probably end the fight quickly, but Wladimir is very good at controlling the pace of a fight these days.

As a true fan of Wlad's I am frustrated when he doesn't "go for the kill", but I understand the reasons why he doesn't: Purrity, Sanders, and Brewster. In the Ibragimov fight, Sultan was loading up for a counter left cross for the whole second half of the fight, he just shelled up and was in a position where Wlad had to move Sultan to land any punches on him. In the Rahman fight...I have no idea what happened, when Wlad floored Hasim that SHOULD have been the end of the fight.

I think not only may Wlad be nervous about getting hit, I think he's also apprehensive about someone being able to take his best punches.