Was Vitali better than Wlad

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MoreKane

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i always saw Vitali as being the better fighter, but Wlad obviously has the greater resume and legacy
 
Vitali is the fighter, Vlad the athlete.

V by beat down.
 
Abezal said:
Vitali is the better fighter, Vlad the better athlete, the better boxer & harder puncher.

V by beat down.
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FTFY.

One was a monstrously-sized dude who used his size incredibly well but never stopped boxing like an ex-kickboxer; but he would try (shoulder injuries & other "mysterious" steroidal side-effects aside--like, say, getting busted before the 1988 Olympics) to win no matter what. He was also an arm-puncher who never learned to punch like a boxer or get his bodyweight properly behind his punches.

One was a slightly more regular-sized but still humungous natural athlete who possessed the footwork & body mechanics to be a proper puncher. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to pace himself, had a dodgy engine, a dodgier chin & a somewhat fragile psyche (when pushed back or not physically intimidating an opponent, he was often cautious to a fault). He could be brave, but it took more than half his pro career before he learned how to use his own physical gifts without self-destructing.
 
Both are great athletes i don't know why Wlad is supposed to be the better one. Vitali had the more athletic style some things he did were almost RJJ kind of things even if obviously not quite the same.

Wlad just hit harder but his style is more fundamental and relies less on athleticism.

Vitali is also the better fighter he is much more durable, has better cardio and he has no isses with a dogfight while Wlad crumbled in some really tough fights or even went away mentally when he couldn#t find his way vs Fury, Vitali had a war against Lewis where he took a ton of punishment and he wasn#t going away unless the ref stopped it or he was knocked out.

Wlad does fundamental things better but Vitali can dig deeper and if they had fought he would have most certainly won and I also think Vitali matches up better against most other HW greats.

Wlad has the better resume though and a more established legacy
 
Very different style but I believe Vitali was the better technical boxer. The way Wlad fights borders on being completely illegal. Vitali is one of those rare guys who has real technical ability to go along with his physical gifts.
 
Seano said:
Very different style but I believe Vitali was the better technical boxer. The way Wlad fights borders on being completely illegal. Vitali is one of those rare guys who has real technical ability to go along with his physical gifts.
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They are both pretty shady (when it comes to quasi illegal moves/tactics); backhand jabs, stiff arming their opponents, constantly clinching and holding, resting their body weight on top of others, etc...
 
Seano said:
I'm not sure I agree with that.
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Who did Vitali beat? I think Vitali would have beaten any of Wlad's opponents as well but Vitali let Wlad get the big wins and only disposed of the rest plus potential threats like Peter. Vitali seemed content letting Wlad get the nice shiny fights while he was in the background doing his thing and also being a politician.
Allthough stylistically Haye would have been an interesting fight for Vitali especially since Vitali was clearly past his best by that point
 
KingOfTheDojo said:
They are both pretty shady (when it comes to quasi illegal moves/tactics); backhand jabs, stiff arming their opponents, constantly clinching and holding, resting their body weight on top of others, etc...
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Sounds like a perfect describtion of Ali, Mayweather, Hopkins and 90% of all the greatest boxers....

Backhand jabs are only illegal if you connect not with the knuckles and honestly it's a dumb rule anyway and outside the amateurs many refs only complain if the punches are very obviously not landed with the knuckles (tons of boxers slap their hooks), stiff arming should be legal and is done by any boxer ever I can't think of anyone who doesn't from Tyson to Ward, Vitali doesn't clinch a lot you are generalizing the Klitschko brothers because Vitali was never a big clincher especially for such a big boxer and if you clinch and don't lay your bodyweight on the opponent and do it properly then you are simply lacking skills if you do it do it at least properly
 
Vitali's fights crap all over Wlad's when it comes to excitement
 
PivotPunch said:
Sounds like a perfect describtion of Ali, Mayweather, Hopkins and 90% of all the greatest boxers....
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There's a difference between holding and clinching. All boxers will hold from time to time but Wlad does it excessively and it makes for bad fights.
 
Seano said:
There's a difference between holding and clinching. All boxers will hold from time to time but Wlad does it excessively and it makes for bad fights.
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Yeah Wlad is one of the biggest clinchers but Ali was also. Even his first fight with Frazier which was a good fight had a ton of clinching and wrestling and the 2nd fight was unwatchable if you watch it for excitement and not for other purposes.

I think holding and hitting and pushing and everything should be legal first of all it would mean that the clinch wasn't as much of safe zone as it is and someone like Wlad would at least be able to attack from there.
Peter made Wlad his bitch in the clinch in their first fight when the ref allowed it to happen and if it was legal then Wlad would have finished Povetkin most likely and we wouldn't have to sit through the mess that this fight had become after a few rounds
 
PivotPunch said:
Who did Vitali beat?
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Sanders, Kirk Johnson, Hide, Adamek, Solis- those are all quality wins. Larry Donald was an OK win. JC Gomez, and Arreola were good wins. Vitali beat guys who beat Wlad, with ease at that.
 
Seano said:
Sanders, Kirk Johnson, Hide, Adamek, Solis- those are all quality wins. Larry Donald was an OK win. JC Gomez, and Arreola were good wins. Vitali beat guys who beat Wlad, with ease at that.
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Sanders was to get rid of him for Wlad as I think Sanders was his Nate Diaz and was in his prime and even slightly afterwards always a bad matchup for him.

But he was also always a gatekeeper and far from elite allthough dangerous and betetr than his record suggested.

The other guys you listed are nothing special in hindsight. obviously you have to look at the wins in the context of when they happened but still.

Kirk Johnson doesn't even tell me anything right now I'll have to look him up. Hide was a flash in a pen even if he did have talent. Adamek even back then had his best win vs an injured Arreola. Solis did well until his knee gave out which tbf was partly also because of Vitali's punch (he entered the fight with the original injury though). He was really talented but even at his best vs Vitali wasn't in the kind of shape he should have been in nor was he healthy

Gomez was a good win.


Arreola was.....Arreola

Wlad on the other hand has Haye, prime Peter and Povetkin not that much either but those 3 are probably betetr than all of Vitali's wins
 
Wlad clearly has the better resume, but Vitali was likely always the better fighter.
 
Seano said:
I'm not sure I agree with that.
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What exactly is there to disagree with? lmao

Wlad beat the better top opposition,and Byrd who beat Vitali on a technicality.....clearly one Cannot compare resumes of better/persistence fighters.
 
Vitali is way tougher, reason I favor him as a fighter.

Wlad is the better athlete and better technically but the difference in toughness and chin is big.
 
Wlad was technically much better.

Vitali was tougher, had the better chin and more of a mean streak.
 
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