The general concencus (which I agree with) is that the HW division is no worse off by losing an overrated Great White Hype who seemed adverse to fighting anyone with a pulse. Frankly, I'm looking forward to HBO and Ring Magazine trying to spin this tale so as their golden boy doesn't look like a total bust.
there were a lot of commercials about klitschko's fight, but taking into consideration his previous injuries, his retirement is not a wonder. still, i was looking forward to watching him.
its really hard to tell if this makes the HW division better or worse. At the moment it has to be the weakest its been since.. ages. Maybe this is David Tuas opportunity
Sorry can't agree with this. Whatever was the matter with Klitschko he certainly wasn't overrrated - most observers had him pegged correctly as a big strong but awkward fighter who certainly wasn't the second coming of Muhammad Ali but was the best HW out there by some way. He was beating Lennox Lewis when cuts forced him to retire - LL got very lucky in that fight. He would have murdered Rahman had they fought. The HW division is a mess now with his retirement. Klitschko was the only one who looked remotely like unifying the division. I mean even Audley Harrison might win a version of the world title now.
I agree with Doppleganger. If you watch that fight you can clearly see Lewis was on the back foot throughout most of it.
Hmm. Interesting. I won't particularly miss his lurching Eastern Bloc style of boxing though. Jeez he was never pretty to watch. Big and had some power... but not an ounce of grace.
Yeah.. not much grace at all, but I think grace is something that is generally lacking in the heavy weight division.. in what i've seen of it anyway..
It's been discussed ad nauseum already, but Vitali's best chance to take out Lewis in the bout had already passed, and the combination of Lewis looking stronger in the last 2 rounds and Vitali's cut worsening with each punch leads me to believe that the odds of Vitali beating Lewis at that point were rather slim. As for calling him overrated, while he matches up well with most other fighters in the division, I think it was a bit premature to declare him as boxing's best heavyweight when he had yet to beat anyone of note. Three of his biggest name opponents (Lewis, Sanders, Johnson) came into their bouts with him out of shape and ill prepared, which though not Vitali's fault, hardly makes his performances in any of the fights overly impressive. Yes, he most likely would have taken out Rahman, but it seems we'll never know. I'll not miss him much. Assuming he refrains from mailing it in from now on, I'd much rather have a guy like Lamon Brewster representing the heavyweight division than Vitali.
or perhaps a john ruiz snozathoin........jab...(the guy has a fair jab), cross while falling into opponent, clinch...........repeat
Heavyweight boxing is in a bad state at the moment, you got B-type boxers now champions in that category with Hasim Rahman, John Ruiz, Chris Byrd and Lamon Brewster. Gone are the days of Evander Holyfield, Ridd-i-c-k Bowe, Lennox Lewis.
In my humble opinion, Vitali was a great fighter. Awkward, true, but very, very smart in the ring with surprisingly fast hands. I'm not going to hate on anyone for retiring after getting their back rebuilt. The only real sickness it makes me feel is the thought that rahman can now say he was ducking him. Rahman is...well, hard to take seriously.
nah not rahman......the man who was made famous by landing a lucky punch....then turned down a huge mulitmillion dollar deal to hold out for more cash....only to get destroyed a fight later........smart move
You mean genuine skill? Klitschko was the only one of todays HWs who was actually any good. Lord knows what'll happen now
