let's talk about the klitschko era

[TownBiz]

I just feel it should go on record that the klitschko era was the LOWEST point in modern boxing history....the klitchsko era was the hangover from the glory days of the 70's, 80' and 90's when stars like ali, frazier, foreman, tyson, holmes, holyfield and lewis shone bright.

The thing is, the klitschko era lasted about 10 years...practically killed boxing in the USA and much of the world. I STILL cringe when i hear talk of an upcoming hw title fight...just a conditioned reflex from so many years of wlad and vitaly at the top...but then i remember that its wilder or AJ instead of the klitschko bros...and AJ and wilder's fights are usually (except for parker-aj which was a throwback to the wlad era) EXCITING and ACTION-PACKED!...you know, like REAL boxing how it's supposed to be.

i remember when HBO announced they would no longer show a klitchsko hw fight...it was weird. because it was like, for so many years, boxing had YEARNED for a white hw champ...and now the sport had, not just one, but two! and nobody cared to watch their fights!...intellectually i understood it was because they were dreadful to watch...boring and tedious as shit. almost painfully so...but i figured there had to be another reason...i got it in my head it was because they were russian/eastern european and americans still held a grudge even so many years after the cold war...all those years of people complaining about the lack of white hw champs, it had never really occurred to me that people also wanted or expected white hw's to be exciting and entertaining to watch.

fight after horrible fight, we endured the klitchsko era...seemed like it would NEVER end...kept wondering when is the rest of the world gonna start producing hw boxers to finally end this misery...but in america, all the hw talent was in basketball or football..in the UK they had bums like chisora or CWs like david haye...it was the perfect storm of mediocrity meeting a declining interest in boxing thereby fostering a complete stagnation in the hw picture.

when all was said and done, the klischkos were not great or anything remotely close...they were only the least horrible of a truly abysmal era and one i, as a fight fan am eternally grateful is gone forever.

 

[CrimsonFan]

Well it was worse because they were brothers


HW boxing had a low period. Its coming back.

No fun when 2 Russian brothers go 50-0. Imagine if they fought each other

 

[Philtard]

Agree with first comment. It was made shit by them being brothers. Although that was probably compounded by it also being a relatively shit era for boxing. I don't blame the klitchkos for it tho.

 

[TownBiz]

Agree with first comment. It was made shit by them being brothers. Although that was probably compounded by it also being a relatively shit era for boxing. I don't blame the klitchkos for it tho.

well, of course the klitshko brothers are not to blame for it being a weak era...i'm blaming them for being almost unwatchable, even as they were winning fight after fight...it's not too often you see hw boxers who dominate for an entire decade and the average person couldn't give two shits about them.

 

[Philtard]

well, of course the klitshko brothers are not to blame for it being a weak era...i'm blaming them for being almost unwatchable, even as they were winning fight after fight...it's not too often you see hw boxers who dominate for an entire decade and the average person couldn't give two shits about them.

I think them being based out of Germany didn't help either. But you are correct. I'm glad there is a resurgence now.

 

[cottagecheesefan]

I think you are being a bit to hard on them. Vitali had a fun style, just sucks he had injuries and did fight more often.

Wlad had a much more fan friendly style, but it was conducive to a man his size (cardio wise), or with his chin. I love how Wlad learned from a great trainer, and developed a near unbeatable style for his time in the ring.

It was weaker than the Tyson/Lewis era, and like the Ali/Fraizer era... a little worse than the Larry Holmes reign.. but come on. I dont think one can genuinely say there were many killers in the Marciano, Louis, Dempsey, Johnson eras, etc.

 

[Fluffernutter]

I just feel it should go on record that the klitschko era was the LOWEST point in modern boxing history....the klitchsko era was the hangover from the glory days of the 70's, 80' and 90's when stars like ali, frazier, foreman, tyson, holmes, holyfield and lewis shone bright.

The thing is, the klitschko era lasted about 10 years...practically killed boxing in the USA and much of the world. I STILL cringe when i hear talk of an upcoming hw title fight...just a conditioned reflex from so many years of wlad and vitaly at the top...but then i remember that its wilder or AJ instead of the klitschko bros...and AJ and wilder's fights are usually (except for parker-aj which was a throwback to the wlad era) EXCITING and ACTION-PACKED!...you know, like REAL boxing how it's supposed to be.

i remember when HBO announced they would no longer show a klitchsko hw fight...it was weird. because it was like, for so many years, boxing had YEARNED for a white hw champ...and now the sport had, not just one, but two! and nobody cared to watch their fights!...intellectually i understood it was because they were dreadful to watch...boring and tedious as shit. almost painfully so...but i figured there had to be another reason...i got it in my head it was because they were russian/eastern european and americans still held a grudge even so many years after the cold war...all those years of people complaining about the lack of white hw champs, it had never really occurred to me that people also wanted or expected white hw's to be exciting and entertaining to watch.

fight after horrible fight, we endured the klitchsko era...seemed like it would NEVER end...kept wondering when is the rest of the world gonna start producing hw boxers to finally end this misery...but in america, all the hw talent was in basketball or football..in the UK they had bums like chisora or CWs like david haye...it was the perfect storm of mediocrity meeting a declining interest in boxing thereby fostering a complete stagnation in the hw picture.

when all was said and done, the klischkos were not great or anything remotely close...they were only the least horrible of a truly abysmal era and one i, as a fight fan am eternally grateful is gone forever.

They were great. Heck, Vitali would match up well in any era.

The issues (IMO) were:

- They fought a lot in Europe, not great for the live US TV audiences.

- They fought cautiously, and people want heavyweights to fight recklessly.

- People like to cheer for people they can relate to (or think they can relate to....the underdog). But, giant PHD wielding politicians born in Kyrgyzstan are hard to wrap your head around...or relate with.

- Oh, and they never talked smack about an opponent. They didn't make for interesting interviews or sound bites.

 

[ironfist05]

both klitschkos had plenty of good fights.

"not great" my ass.

 

[Blazeblack]

My biggest gripe with the Kilitschko era is that they never fought each other. The clear #1 and #2 should always settle shit and figure out who the top dog is if at all possible.

 

[nac386]

I think you are being a bit to hard on them. Vitali had a fun style, just sucks he had injuries and did fight more often.

Wlad had a much more fan friendly style, but it was conducive to a man his size (cardio wise), or with his chin. I love how Wlad learned from a great trainer, and developed a near unbeatable style for his time in the ring.

It was weaker than the Tyson/Lewis era, and like the Ali/Fraizer era... a little worse than the Larry Holmes reign.. but come on. I dont think one can genuinely say there were many killers in the Marciano, Louis, Dempsey, Johnson eras, etc.

The Klitschko era pretty much sucked, but that's not the fault of the Klitschkos. The blame for that is on the rest of the field that couldn't beat them. I never liked either one of them, I just did not enjoy their styles. But I was almost just annoyed that the American system wasn't producing a heavyweight to get them the hell out of the top spots.

 

[BluntTrauma21]

My biggest gripe with the Kilitschko era is that they never fought each other. The clear #1 and #2 should always settle shit and figure out who the top dog is if at all possible.

Nah brothers don't fight, that's ridiculous. Wlad and Vitali are very close, they used to spar but it got too ugly so they stopped. Thing is, sparring and fighting are two completely different things. You don't go into a boxing match where somebody can get killed and fight your own brother unless you really hate each other. They were in each other's corners for most of the fights I can remember, helping one another, let alone wanting to fight each other.

 

[wilddeuces]

Some of the criticism is earned, some of it is unjustified.

I wonder how public perception will change toward them with time.

 

[Breakfast Bar]

If the Klitshkos hadn’t come long we could have enjoyed the Byrd-Ruiz-Valuev era for longer.

 

[treelo]

Wierd this, while i didnt like Wlads style, he still beat some fairly decent fighters before he retired to Europe.

Wlad has a good resume, the only thing he doesnt have on his record is a big US named fighter, which may be why people dont like him....but in all honesty the only US fighters he should have fought(Peter, Brewster, Byrd, Rahman) he did, and won(one of them an avenged loss).

He has a record that stands up to at lot of the heavyweights people adore and celebrate

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

in america, all the hw talent was in basketball or football.

I always find this a ridiculous cop out excuse for the decline of American HWs. Pretty much a "oh you're only winning because I dont wanna play anymore" statement. The NFL and NBA werent around in the 70s, 80s and 90s? every HW sized guy outside of America goes into boxing? wut?

 

[grapplejuice]

sorry man. They owned the game and were unbeatable for far too long not to be considered great. Not fan friendly, but great, nonetheless.

 

[Kassitus]

I think a lot of their criticism is unjustified. Yes they often fought boring tactical fights when it was the most logical path, but they could also fight very aggressively and had high KO ratios. They had the intelligence to know exactly when to use which style. I can't help but feel much of the Klitschko hate is born out of insecurity - people see tall muscular handsome educated men dominating a violent sport full of impoverished dullards and they feel inadequate before the pillars of excellence that were the Klitschkos.

 

[Blazeblack]

Nah brothers don't fight, that's ridiculous. Wlad and Vitali are very close, they used to spar but it got too ugly so they stopped. Thing is, sparring and fighting are two completely different things. You don't go into a boxing match where somebody can get killed and fight your own brother unless you really hate each other. They were in each other's corners for most of the fights I can remember, helping one another, let alone wanting to fight each other.

It’s not unheard of for brothers to fight each other. Its understandable why they would decide against it, but it’s been done.

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

This is just the casual American hater stance seeing East European dominance. Both Wladimir and vitali had some legendary fights and amazing finishes. This simpleton mindset guess what Lewis had some boring ass fights too, as did Tyson, as did hollyfield and every other great title reign. The only reason people hate "their style" is because they won too many fights too often and were not American.
They were so good a b fighter like Tyson Fury is a glorified legend for getting a boring decision. And AJ who really ended the Wladimir era is doing his best wlad imitation now and no one cares.

 

[DeJulez]

I think a lot of their criticism is unjustified. Yes they often fought boring tactical fights when it was the most logical path, but they could also fight very aggressively and had high KO ratios. They had the intelligence to know exactly when to use which style. I can't help but feel much of the Klitschko hate is born out of insecurity - people see tall muscular handsome educated men dominating a violent sport full of impoverished dullards and they feel inadequate before the pillars of excellence that were the Klitschkos.

I dont think thats it.
I think that they didn't bring excitement to an American audience that sees them as not as good as the prior legends, which they weren't.
None of the beloved HWs of the past would have lost to Fury the way Wlad did.
I will also follow that with my belief that Wlad was going to absolutely beat the shit out of Fury in the rematch, hence Mr. Fury falling apart and all of a sudden he's now coming back.