Vladimir Klitschko really this good or just bad contenders??

[Balboa]

Excellent post on Wlad vs Tyson. Spot on.

VITALI vs Mike is equally intriguing.

Vitali, and some of you may disagree, has NEVER been beat in my opinion. He pulls out of the Byrd fight (and damaged his reputation somewhat) and I believe (hugely and respectfully debateable) he would have taken Lennox if the fight had not been stopped. Conditioning arguments aside, and how Lewis MAY or MAY NOT have come on late aside, I think Vitali had his number. It said a great deal to me also that Lennox never wanted a rematch.

That said though, Vitali vs Mike. How juicy is this?

I consider Vitali to be the smarter of the two brothers as far as boxing approach and experience. He's always been ridiculously well composed and calculated in the ring. Sounds safety first, yes? Check out the KO ratio. Yes he's safe, but he's simultaneously knocking out EVERYBODY. He does not get overly emotional and I believe even more than Wladimir, Vitali has the patience and mindset to weather tropical storm Tyson in the first five to six rounds. Earmuffs up, jabbing off the back foot, tying up, and keeping range.

The thread is about Wladimir I know, I just hate to see the opportunity of a Vitali/Tyson possiblity go untalked about.

I am a HUGE Tyson fan, and that said I STILL think Vitali would wear him down, in their primes, and KO Iron Mike late. Lennox Lewis landed some hellacious shots on Vitali. They cut him up, yes, but Vitali was nowhere near put away. Ive always wished to see the end of that fight, and I maintain had it not been stopped we would have seen (similar to Foreman/Lyle) two very tired heavies in the later rounds teeing off with Vitali getting the better of it. It's impossible for me to picture Vitali hurt by anything short of a Howitzer.


Someone tell me of a punch that wobbled the hell out of Vitali. Ever. Or a time when he fought scared because he was concerned of incoming thunder?

The brothers Klitschko are underrated. And Vitali, especially, is seriously underrated. Hell the guy is 40 and Im still not sure there's anyone out there that can beat him.

[El Kabong]

Someone tell me of a punch that wobbled the hell out of Vitali. Ever. Or a time when he fought scared because he was concerned of incoming thunder?

I will say Vitali should have had 1 knockdown scored against him vs Sanders....I think Corrie Sanders is one of the most underrated punchers in the game, he had hellacious power, he just didn't bother training. Vitali also got rocked by a few Lennox Lewis uppercuts but held on obviously.

I would have loved a rematch of Lewis-Vitali, I think that coupled with Lennox Lewis' aversion to give due credit to Vitali really robbed fight fans of a "torch passing" moment. But I understand why Lennox wouldn't do such a thing.

I think a Tyson-Vitali fight would have really favored Vitali based on his chin and awkwardness. Vitali also has a very underrated defense when it comes to blocking punches to the body. Since both Vitali's arms are down he covers his body completely and he's 6'8 so unless Mike has a step stool he's not going to catch him in the head all that easily....I would say 70/30 in favor of Vitali, the 30 being if Tyson was able ot break down the body or Vitali gets hurt or cut or what have you....hard to justify a Tyson early KO of someone as durable in the chin as Vitali, equally hard to justify seeing Tyson take away a points win....not saying it couldn't happen though