What if Wladimir continues until he's the same age as Vitali?

Much is being made of how the HW scene will pan out post the Klits. At 36 Wladimir is some 5 years younger than Vitali. Since his early losses he hasn't been in any wars. He also looks after his body perfectly and lives a clean lifestyle. Whilst much of the same can be said of Vitali, he appears to be the slightly more unpredictable and less professional of the two. Given this, how long can Wlad go on for? I would suggest he can at least reach Vitali's age of 41 still at the top, and may go into his mid forties. How will this effect the up-and-coming HW's who seem to be waiting for the Klit's to retire? Will they try and get Vitali's belt when he retires, then stay out of Wlad's way?

Then I think we will have around 5 more years of Wlad vs fat slobs.

I actually think it would be funnier if Wladimar won the WBC belt.

You will probably get Fury, Price, Wilder etc going after Povetkin's WBA nonsense belt and then claiming to be "World Champs" just like he is at the minute.

Completely off topic, how do you all think Andre Ward would get on against the likes of Povetkin, Adamek and Arreola?

kieran.johnfitness wrote:Completely off topic, how do you all think Andre Ward would get on against the likes of Povetkin, Adamek and Arreola?

Seriously?

It was serious. He dealt with the best light heavy in Dawson with ease. The 3 HW's I mentioned are quite light for heavy's (Adamek for sure). I think Ward would be competitive, but obviously if he get tagged he'd be in trouble. Think he'd definately have a chance with all 3!

Are you joking?

Ward is a super middleweight and beat a LHW at super middleweight

They may not weigh 250lbs but all three weigh in excess of 220lbs and are far too big for Ward

If Wladimir did reign for another half decade against all comers then, quite simply, it'd be impossible to deny him a place amongst the top half-dozen or so Heavyweights of all time at least.

Personally, I think he's good for another eighteen months or so, after which point a new man will emerge as the division's numero uno. Whether that's via Wladimir simply retiring as champion or by someone actually defeating him remains to be seen, but if my timeframe estimate is anywhere near the mark then I suspect it'll be the former.

I do get the impression from some recent interviews that Wladimir is perhaps just tiring of it all a little these days. I'm sure he'd love to complete the full set and get his hands on his brother's green strap, so that's something to hang about for as Vitali surely has only one more outing left, and then the other box for Wladimir to tick is taking care of a Price, a Fury, a Wilder, a Pulev. Namely, one of the young pretenders with ambition and the expectancy of the media.

From where I'm standing, all of those opportunities should present themselves in the pretty near future and, after that, what is there for Wladimir to achieve or aim for?

As for Ward some day competing as a relatively well-ranked Heavyweight, well I don't ever see such a scenario even being entertained by him, but I wouldn't completely rule it out. It's pointless in one sense to speculate as we're yet to see if he even fancies making a proper run on the 175 lb weight class (though based on what we've seen, he'd clean it out as emphatically as he has done at 168), but the likes of Jones and Toney have shown that some-time twelve stoners can eventually be competitive and put decent winning runs together against the 220 lb or more fellas.

Ward does have certain aspects of both those men's skills within his arsenal (Jones' speed, Toney's inside, short countering) so it's food for thought, I guess. But if he's sheepish (as of now) about taking on the Light-Heavyweight leaders at 175 for whatever reason, then I think we can safely say he won't ever be bothering with the big, big boys!

Klitschko is never a top twelve heavyweight (all time) yet his statistics will allow some to argue his case once he's gone.

His career is devoid of meaningful fights or impressive displays. A good technician ruling in the worst of eras for big men.

The up-and-coming lot -- a tad green for Wladimir right now -- might well end up wiped out (as the 2000 lot were by Lennox Lewis) if they rush ahead, leaving us in a worse position than we're already in.

They say there's always someone around the corner. I wish he'd show himself...

kieran.johnfitness wrote:It was serious. He dealt with the best light heavy in Dawson with ease. The 3 HW's I mentioned are quite light for heavy's (Adamek for sure). I think Ward would be competitive, but obviously if he get tagged he'd be in trouble. Think he'd definately have a chance with all 3!

You do know heavyweight is not the weight after light-heavyweight?

Theres also a little suspicion about Wards tank, Not an ideal situation when you have to put on at least 20 lbs and more like 40 lbs to be competitive.

Your classing Cruiser as a valid division?? Ward could be a special case like Jones Jr, and I don't see the likes of Povetkin as much better than Ruiz. Not sure Ward's tank is an issue - look like he eased off in the Froch fight as he had it won

I don't see Wlad sticking around longer than a year..

People are forgetting the amount of hard work that goes into fight preparation....roadwork, sparring, dieting, early nights...

All of it gets harder as you get older...plus motivation..

I see him disappearing into retirement unless Price or Fury steps up..and enjoying himself..

TheMackemMawler wrote:

kieran.johnfitness wrote:It was serious. He dealt with the best light heavy in Dawson with ease. The 3 HW's I mentioned are quite light for heavy's (Adamek for sure). I think Ward would be competitive, but obviously if he get tagged he'd be in trouble. Think he'd definately have a chance with all 3!

You do know heavyweight is not the weight after light-heavyweight?

It's not the craziest thing 've ever heard, I would say Ward has enough talent to overcome the size of some of the big men, of course talking about a Wladimir etc. would be a stroke too far, but him slowly building himself into it I think he would be ok against the lieks of Adamek etc. Roy Jones did it, granted he was a freak, but I would say Ward is also a freak.

Ward is too short......He'd have to get inside......That means in most likelihood tasting a 250 pound jab...

One 250 pound jab on the whiskers and he's cleaning the canvas..

problem for Ward that Jones didnt have is that he likes to fight close up and on the ropes. its in fact one of his best strengths. its allows him to take a breather whilst frustrating his opponent, and its a big part of his gameplan. can anyone see him pinning arreola or even adamek on the ropes?

Forget it..He couldn't take a heavyweight shot..

If Wlad stays on top for another 5 years then he would have to be seen as a top 10 ATG. There is no way that wlad could be the champion and number 1 guy around for 15 years and not be seen as a top 10.

Imagine how many title defences he will have if he stays at the top until 2018.

lets not forget if he fights fury, price, povetkin and arreola in those 5 years then he will have some very good names on his record.

price and fury will both be looking to fight Klitschko at the end of 2013 or in 2014 (hopefully).

Anyway I think Klitschko's impressive KO percentage, 15 years as the number 1 and the number of successful title decences not to mention he will probably hold ALL of the belts will make him a top 10.

i for one will never rate Wlad above Vitali. im not a david haye fan

Only way it happens is if he avoids fighting the top fighters out there. Our boys like Price and Fury will do him if they get the chance and Haye smashes him into retirement if they have a rematch. I reckon Wlad will avoid em all though.

hazharrison wrote:Klitschko is never a top twelve heavyweight (all time) yet his statistics will allow some to argue his case once he's gone.

His career is devoid of meaningful fights or impressive displays. A good technician ruling in the worst of eras for big men.

The up-and-coming lot -- a tad green for Wladimir right now -- might well end up wiped out (as the 2000 lot were by Lennox Lewis) if they rush ahead, leaving us in a worse position than we're already in.

They say there's always someone around the corner. I wish he'd show himself...

Going for 8 years barely losing a round is pretty impressive.

severe-mma wrote:Only way it happens is if he avoids fighting the top fighters out there. Our boys like Price and Fury will do him if they get the chance and Haye smashes him into retirement if they have a rematch. I reckon Wlad will avoid em all though.

You mean if he acted like Haye - who he humiliated without even stepping out of first gear

kieran.johnfitness wrote:Your classing Cruiser as a valid division?? Ward could be a special case like Jones Jr, and I don't see the likes of Povetkin as much better than Ruiz. Not sure Ward's tank is an issue - look like he eased off in the Froch fight as he had it won

The question isn't the talent or lack thereof at the weight but the actual weight itself. It's overcoming another obstacle in putting the weight on but by maintaining efficiency also. Could you imagine an Arreola/Fury/K Bro just leaning on him and zapping all his energy out of him.

I really don't see that happening myself.

Top ten ATG in what context? P4P or just heavyweight?

Either way neither is going to happen.

RJJ campaigned for over a decade at light heavyweight (and was one of the best ever at this weight). Toney was on PED's, RJJ maybe also. Ward is fast but not in the same league as RJJ. Ward is also less powerful and less skilled.

Ward relies on strength and rough house tactics as much as skill and speed.

The first two of those attributes would be out the window against the Heavyweights therefore Ward would be fighting with only half of his strengths/attributes (RJJ fought with all of his)

I'm afraid that is not enough to pull out the win. Saying that, who knows how he'll develop.?

I think Arreola would look silly for a while, but essentially walk through him and eventually connect and goodnight, same with Povetkin.

I also think you are doing Adamek a huge disservice. He is a top top fighter even if not a top top heavyweight.

.

Adamek fights at heavyweight purely for the money, far more to be gained from being an average heavweight than there is from being a very good cruiserweight.

It's a shame really, I'd pay to watch him fight Lebedev or Huck.

Think the cruiserweight could have gained quite a bit of credibility were Haye and Adamek still competing there.