Two incredible fights. Probably the best Heavyweight fights of this century tbh. High action, back and forth drama, really amazing stuff. But which was better? The two Brits won each of these classics. Each fighter in both fights touched the canvas, thatβs how special it was. I would probably lean towards AJ and Klitschko but it could really go either way.
I was never really sold on deontay Wilder being the hardest hitting heavyweight of all time . There have been rumors that Murat Gassiev is harder hitter or on the same level.
Title basically explains it. I have Wlad taking it by decision. The jab, footwork, and mobility just feel like too much for Usyk.
He beat Chris Byrd in 2000 when he was 24 and went on to fought 33 times before finally retiring. I would be surprised if we ever see that longevity ever again, as we live in an era where fighters do not fight more than twice a year whereas Wladimir was fighting 3 times a year many times after he became world champion.
Often we hear about Wladimir's opposition though looking closer at his resume, you can see the quality of opponents he fought consistently. He fought the best available and they were all at the peak of their careers, many undefeated at the time of facing him (Wach, Pulev, Jennings, Peter, Chagaev, Ibragimov, Brock, Pianeta, Povetkin). He then went onto to fought the best of this generation at the age of 39 & 41.
I done a google search to find what other people think are the best heavyweights of all time and was surprised to see Wladimir included in just one of these lists and that being in 10th place. I have a lot of love for some of the fighters in these lists such as Mike Tyson but I just do not see how you can have him above Wladimir in the ATG Heavyweight rankings. Is Wladimir underrated and people just DKSAB?
Top 10 - https://www.oddschecker.com/us/insight/boxing/boxing/20210601-top-10-best-heavyweight-boxers-of-all-time
Top 10 - https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/the-top-10-heavyweights-of-all-time/
Top 12 - https://www.thefightcity.com/top-12-greatest-heavyweights-boxing/
Top 10 (Wladimir at 10) - https://www.sportszion.com/ranking-top-10-greatest-heavyweight-boxers-of-all-time/
Top 10 - https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/boxing/11781015/george-foreman-top-10-heavyweights-tyson-fury/
Top 20 (Wladimir at 20) - https://www.ringtv.com/410833-bill-caplans-20-greatest-heavyweights/
Top 10 - https://www.givemesport.com/1620283-boxing-who-are-the-greatest-heavyweight-boxers-of-all-time
He said it numerous times in the past. Wlad is 45 now, so what are the chances he comes back in the next year or two? How do you see him competing with the top 10?
Wlad is one of my favourite fighters, so obviously I'll be very excited if that happens and he is in good shape. I can see him beating the likes of Whyte, Parker and Ruiz, but probably loses to AJ, Fury and Wilder.
I think his best chance is to fight for vacated title. What are you thoughts on this?
Title says it all. Who wins? Old man Klitschko from the AJ fight or Old man Foreman from the Holyfield fight.
Edit: This poll is really close, looks like I did a good hypothetical for once π
I watched oceans 11 today and realized that the fight taking place was Lennox Lewis vs Wladimir Klitschko (I didnβt notice the first time because I wasnβt into boxing then) but they never mention Klitschkoβs name I think he was just βBoxing opponent #2β at first I thought it was just because he was a prospect at the time and they just got him for the movie but the movie was in 2001 and Lewis fought Vitali in 2003 so did the Klitschko brothers just rise to fame really quickly? Did vitali become famous before Wlad? Iβm pretty sure Wlad was a champion at the time so it seems kinda weird that him a Lewis would be in a movie together if they could potentially end up fighting
He was the longest reigning Heavyweight champion ever, beat 23 opponents as heavyweight champ which is more than any other heavyweight and is charismatic and built like a brick house.
So why wasn't he popular. I only heard about him after his fight with AJ. I wasn't really a boxing fan before that fight but even then I knew about Mayweather, Pacquiao, De la Hoya etc. but never heard about Wlad.
Why not? Shouldn't he have been more popular?
I thought this would be an interesting discussion. Which heavyweight do you rank higher and why?
Edit: The reason why I asked this question was because I recently started looking into lists published for Top 10 and Top 25 Heavyweights of all time. I was not only surprised to see Wladimir so low but lower than Mike Tyson in every list, so wanted to hear what others thought.
I see these two ranked near or at the top of Heavyweight GOAT rankings but have never seen them theoretically put up against each other. I donβt have an opinion since Iβm a newbie of boxing history, so I want to see what this subreddit thinks.
This might seem like a strange post, but lots of people seem to agree that one of the biggest reasons Wlad got schooled the way he did against Fury was because of his gunshy attitude on the night. So how would a younger, more aggressive Klitschko fare against the current version of Fury? Which for me is the best Fury has ever looked.
Would it go differently or would the outcome be similar?
How does this one play out?
Who would win???
