Would Vitali's legacy be seriously damaged if he loses to Chisora tonight?

runboyrun

If Vitali should lose tonight, although unlikely, how would it affect his legacy?

I doubt Chisora has what it takes to make a top class HW so if he beat Vitali tonight would it undermine Vitali's achievement up to this point, considering the questionable opposition?

What are your opinions fellow boxers?

nacho libre

runboyrun wrote: »

If Vitali should lose tonight, although unlikely, how would it affect his legacy?

I doubt Chisora has what it takes to make a top class HW so if he beat Vitali tonight would it undermine Vitali's achievement up to this point, considering the questionable opposition?

What are your opinions fellow boxers?

It would indicate to me father time has caught up with Vitali. For his detractors they'll probably be of the view he was overrated and finally exposed. They may go further and say Derek Chisora is his first credible opponent since Lennox Lewis :pac:

cowzerp

It would not look good but he is 40 and eventually it will show-I don't think now is the time though. Real fans would know not to write off his previous achievements over poor loss at end of career

barney4001

NO HOPE OF VITALI LOSING TO THAT JACKASS,THAT SLAP MIGHT WELL BE THE ONLY TIME HE CONNECTS

Jayob10

Vitali at 50 years of age beats Chisora at his peak

Hits too hard, he can box (Chisora cannot)

I expect to see Chisora be crude for all of 2 minutes before he feels Vitali's stiff jab for the first time. It may not be as devastating as his brothers but it will be the hardest shot "Del Boy" has ever felt.

Vitali will decide what happens in this fight, he may let it go a good few rounds to give people their moneys worth or if Chisora has properly pissed him off then it could be a 1st round KO.

Either way, Chisora is nowhere even near world level, let alone the level of prob the best heavyweight for the last 10-15 years. Even at 40 years of age.

runboyrun

Yeah Vitali is definitely the big favourite to win.

He looked very fast and agile in a recent clip I seen of him hitting pads, especially considering his size and age.

He is also in tremendous shape, not a morsel of useless weight.

Although unlikely, if Chisora wins I feel a lot of ppl will totally question the reign of Vitali, whether rightly or not. The Americans are waiting the the shadows for one of the Klitschko's to slip up and as soon as they do there will be a media attack.

For me Vitali is a very good fighter, extremely effective at what he does.

I feel he just isn't top class in terms of excitement. I never really youtube his fights like I would say Tyson, Ali, Bowe, Holyfield etc.

cowzerp

runboyrun wrote: »

I feel he just isn't top class in terms of excitement. I never really youtube his fights like I would say Tyson, Ali, Bowe, Holyfield etc.

That's a fair point and mostly I'd be the same, but at the time I usually do be watching in awe of how usefull he is and how he is such a technician.

Dirk Gently

What time is this due to start tonight?

walshb

2130 hrs the programme starts. So, I would say between 2200-2230 hrs they will be in the ring.

RiseToTheTop

I think Vitali will be good for another 4-5 years.

Dirk Gently wrote: »

What time is this due to start tonight?

Between 9 and 10. It's in Germany, not the US, and Germany is 1 hour ahead of us.

efb

Free until 9:30 on Box Nation Sky 456

RiseToTheTop

Ring walks were originally supposted to be 9.55PM GMT, but is delayed a bit now.

AngryBollix

Klitschko has won the first five rounds so far.

It would be an undoubted black mark to lose to this guy no matter what way you look at it

runboyrun

Now that the fight is over and Vitali gave a relatively poor performance, has his legacy been affected considering Chisora is not a great opponent?

walshb

runboyrun wrote: »

Now that the fight is over and Vitali gave a relatively poor performance, has his legacy been affected considering Chisora is not a great opponent?

The guy looked far from special yet won convincingly. He is also clearly past his best days. Is 41 in 6 months time. I mean, he looked as good as any past great champion for that age.

I don't thnk it is fair to judge him today or tomorrow and then use theses judgments to question his legacy.

RiseToTheTop

He won't have a great legacy anyway.

People think he will be rated up there with Lennox Lewis, saying when Vitali retired he will be looked at like Lewis. But for Lennox's legacy he beat Holyfield twice, Tyson (a faded Tyson, but the public will see it as a win against Tyson), David Tua, etc.

Not Vitali's fault, but that's the way it is. The biggest fight of Vitali"s career was against Lennox, by far.

ebbsy

RiseToTheTop wrote: »

He won't have a great legacy anyway.

People think he will be rated up there with Lennox Lewis, saying when Vitali retired he will be looked at like Lewis. But for Lennox's legacy he beat Holyfield twice, Tyson (a faded Tyson, but the public will see it as a win against Tyson), David Tua, etc.

Not Vitali's fault, but that's the way it is. The biggest fight of Vitali"s career was against Lennox, by far.

Although Vit would have won that fight only for that cut. As for beating Tyson, Tyson's career came to a halt after jail and anyone who beat him after that could only claim a cheap victory in my opinion.

minty16

ebbsy wrote: »

Although Vit would have won that fight only for that cut. As for beating Tyson, Tyson's career came to a halt after jail and anyone who beat him after that could only claim a cheap victory in my opinion.

It's not clear if he would have won. I think most likely yes, but it's not clear. If he has a win against Lewis his legacy is greater. He has fought a lot of bums in a time where the heavyweight division is dead. I think he would have beaten lots of great fighters and his brief performance against Lewis shows this, but unfortunately he has not, and for that he will never be widely regarded as a great.

cowzerp

Same can be said for most heavy weight champions ever, with Ali's era been the exception and not the rule, that is why Ali is widely hailed as the greatest despite 5 defeats-that era was truly full of potential champions

walshb

Regarding the Lewis fight which I watched again the other night, it is far from clear that Vit would have won. Point is that he did not. Now, it was Lewis' shots that did that damage, not some foul, headbutt etc. Lewis' punches did that. Vitali was every bit as out on his feet as Lewis that night. I just cannot see a prime Lewis losing to Vitali. Vit would be trouble, but I see Lewis winning on points most times.

BTW, that uppercut that Lewis hit Vitali with in rd 6 is for me the cleanest and heaviest shot I have seen where a fighter didn't go down, or even look wobbled. Unreal. Lewis actually set it up, it was so deliberate, he got every inch of power into it.

minty16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiC-n9-XqL4

I dont think anybody can KO this man.

RiseToTheTop

I know some people will say that Marciano fought in a weak era, and that Vitali should be up there with him.

I feel though that Marciano was very exciting, he had loads of KO's and went toe to toe with his opponents. I feel that helps Marciano legacy.

runboyrun

I agree that Marciano fought below par opposition as well as Vitali but your right in the thing that separates their legacies is Marciano's exciting style.

At least Marciano beat a few big names in Charles, Moore, Walcott Louis etc. Although they were faded they were all time greats

Vitali could not beat the only great fighter he every fought in Lewis, even though Lewis was faded and it was his last fight. Vitali was in his prime then.

PPl make out as if Vitali would have won except for the cut. I don't agree with this, Lewis was coming on strong and was taking over and I feel he would beaten Vitali or even KO'd him. He was starting to land big shots and his experience was starting to kick in

sxt

walshb wrote: »

Regarding the Lewis fight which I watched again the other night, it is far from clear that Vit would have won. Point is that he did not. Now, it was Lewis' shots that did that damage, not some foul, headbutt etc. Lewis' punches did that. Vitali was every bit as out on his feet as Lewis that night. I just cannot see a prime Lewis losing to Vitali. Vit would be trouble, but I see Lewis winning on points most times.
.

Bar that freak cut and it was a freak cut at the start of the third , I think Vitali would have won that fight comfortably, probably by tko. He dominated the first two rounds and was first to all the punches. Lewis could barely get out of his seat at the end of the fight, while Vitali was jumping around. Even with that gaping wound , his eye closing and blood coursing into his eye , dramatically hindering his peformance, he was still winning by two rounds on all the judges cards. The fight had top be stopped or Vitali would have been blinded so that was the correct decision. Not having a rematch was not the correct decision and says alot.


Vitali gained alot more respect than Lewis after that fight. A great champion would not decline a rematch under those circumstances in my opinion.


Could you imagine Ali or Tyson or Foreman or Holyfield or Vitali himself refusing that rematch? Not a chance

runboyrun

Would the Vitali from Saturday's fight have beaten a peak Lewis?
I seriously doubt it, Lewis was fighting in a similar scenario when he faced Vitali and he still won.

sxt

RiseToTheTop wrote: »

He won't have a great legacy anyway.

People think he will be rated up there with Lennox Lewis, saying when Vitali retired he will be looked at like Lewis. But for Lennox's legacy he beat Holyfield twice, Tyson (a faded Tyson, but the public will see it as a win against Tyson), David Tua, etc.

Not Vitali's fault, but that's the way it is. The biggest fight of Vitali"s career was against Lennox, by far.

Lewis's legacy was the only legacy that was affected in the aftermath of that fight and was diminished in my opinion. Not the sign of a great champion, refusing a deserved rematch. Not many of the greats would have done that...

sxt

runboyrun wrote: »

Would the Vitali from Saturday's fight have beaten a peak Lewis?
I seriously doubt it, Lewis was fighting in a similar scenario when he faced Vitali and he still won.

Vitali fought with a tear in his tendon of his left shoulder from the 4th round on apparently , which meant he could not use his left arm/ jab to any great great affect for the last 8 rounds. Not sure i would use that performance

The version of Vitali at 38 vs lennox at 38, and I think Vitali wins again. This is man that greatly honed and developed his skills. He came back after a 4 year lay off in his boxing career, and ends the career of a promising fighter in Sam Peters. ( cue, he was a bum repsonse)

Vitali's legacy > Lewis's legacy .

tryingmybestt

chisora, a relative novice, limited skill......he was the first fighter in a while to attack vitali and put him on the back foot.....vitali was useless on the back foot and lacked power when forced back

all of a sudden vitali is old......i don't agree.....this is the furst fight he was forced back.....if this happened years ago i feel he would have been exposed too

although i had vitali winning, most of the rounds were close......chisora is very limited......i feel a better pressure fighter such as tyson, frazier, foreman, liston etc. absolutely destroy vitali.....once they put him on the back foot it's over

lewis was also considered a bit boring too so its not just eastern european fighters.....the americans never really took to lewis....nor did lewis really set the public alight......his biggest moment was because he was fighting a faded tyson

sxt

Vitali is old, I don' think anyone would dispute that , he is 41 years old for pete's sake.

Vital lacked power on the backfoot because he only had power in his right hand for most of the fight, and he still won nearly every round

walshb

Not quite 41, and even on the back foot he was still the one winning and landing! The guy is very capable and versatile, and very confident too.

He merely did what he had to. Had Chisora brought even more firepower I bet Klit responds and shuts him down.

tryingmybestt

vitali's biggest power punch is his right hand.....he landed it all night long flush against chisora and nothing happened

befroe the fight vitali was going to steam roll chisora.....now he's old......if he's old and past it that highlights further the poor quality of his recent opponents.....if an old faded vitali dominates everyone so easily when he's 'old and faded' then either he's superman in disguise or his level of opposition is sh1te !

RiseToTheTop

sxt wrote: »

Vitali fought with a tear in his tendon of his left shoulder from the 4th round on apparently , which meant he could not use his left arm/ jab to any great great affect for the last 8 rounds. Not sure i would use that performance

The version of Vitali at 38 vs lennox at 38, and I think Vitali wins again. This is man that greatly honed and developed his skills. He came back after a 4 year lay off in his boxing career, and ends the career of a promising fighter in Sam Peters. ( cue, he was a bum repsonse)

Vitali's legacy > Lewis's legacy .

Lennox major victories: Holyfield (twice), David Tua, (a past it) Tyson, Golota, (a still good) Razor Ruddock.

Vitali major victories: Adamek, Arreola, Sam Peter, Danny Williams.

You decide. Tua, who Lewis beat, would have blown away all of the above IMO.

walshb

And he met a far fresher Briggs. Also, Morrisson and Mercer are two names superior to anything on Vit's record. Add in Mason and Bruno too.

Littlehorny

I watched the fight again tonight and apart for walking forward with his hands up high and swinging the odd wild hook i think Chisora landed maybe half a dozen clean power head shots the whole fight and not once did he even shake Klitchko never mind hurt him. If Klitchko had been able to throw his jab regularly then he would have had an even easier night. For all his bulling Chisora did very little but he was better than i thought he would be.