Wladimir Klitschko is 3 wins away from being worlds most dominant ever heavyweight

By Gavin Duthie - 11/14/2014 - Comments

wladimir33by Gav Duthie: Once again Wladimir Klitschko 62-3 (52) will take on the #2 heavyweight in the world when he faces Kubrat Pulev 20-0 (11) tomorrow night. If he wins tomorrow and then a further two particular bouts against the Chisora-Fury winner on Nov 29 and whoever the WBC champion is by the summer next year he could hold a legitimate claim to being the most dominant heavyweight champion of all time. 

Competition

I want to distinguish that I see the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman as greater fighters on the all time greatest fighter list but in terms of pure heavyweight domination Klitschko is hard to rival.

A lot of this is due to a lack of competition in his era but a person can’t choose when they are born. For me the biggest competition is Joe Louis who won 26 consecutive title fights before losing to Ezzard Charles. Larry Holmes was heavyweight champion from 1978 when he pipped Ken Norton until 1985 when he lost to Michael Spinks. Lennox Lewis touched two era’s with wins over Holyfield, Tyson, Tua and Mercer and then fortunately against Vitaly Klitschko. Rocky Marciano retired undefeated with wins over an aged Joe Louis, Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles. The only other would be the great Jack Johnson who kept knocking out any white hopes that came along for years. 

Wladimir Klitschko

For me Wladimir’s achievements match up to any of these legends whether he gets the credit he deserves or not. All his achievements are even greater when you think he was considered finished 10 years ago after his 3rd knockout defeat against Lamont Brewster. Since then he has dominated the division for a decade. He has won 16 fights and beaten the number 2 fighter of different times in Ruslan Chagaev, David Haye and Alexander Povetkin. One can perhaps question the competition but he has simply beaten whats put in front of him. He has beaten 10 previously undefeated fighters and never been out-boxed his entire career. He has completely reinvented his style to cover for his suspect chin with the help of the late Emmanuel Steward and could be the undisputed champion by next year. 

3 big fights

He has 3 fights he needs to win to make a huge claim and cement his legacy. Kubrat Pulev is one of his toughest fights to date. He is the only fighter that has boxing skills that can rival Wladimir’s. Pulev has great footwork, hand speed a good jab and rapid straight right. He boasts wins over Dimitrenko, Ustinov and Tony Thompson so this is a huge test. 

I think Pulev has a much better chance than Fury or Chisora of beating Wlad but if he does get through tomorrow one of these Brits will be his next fight. Fury and Chisora fight on November 29 in a final eliminator for Wladimir’s WBO title. Fury would be interesting because he rivals Klitschko in height and is undefeated and Chisora because they simply don’t like each other going back to Wlad pulling out of two title defences against Del Boy. 

If he successfully defends again the governing bodies would surely give him the chance a nearly 40 years old to unify the division by winning the WBC title vacated by his brother. Haitian Bermaine Stiverne is the current champion but the undefeated American duo Deontay Wilder and Bryant Jennings are waiting in the wings. 

If Wladimir could become undisputed champion then who could argue his quality. Of course talk is cheap and Wladimir needs to win these fights in the ring. There are young, hungry fighters out there and perhaps defeat is waiting for Wladimir tomorrow night but I for sure wouldn’t bet against him completing this treble. 



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