Weights: Vitali Klitschko 252, Chris Arreola 251

[Phirsole]

How is that a good comment?

Peter (...)

It's one of the most idiotic, delusional posts I have ever read in my life, and by quoting it approvingly, you have shown that you know little or nothing about boxing.

Sorry, I tugged the post out of context. The post is a good summary of HYPE:

Currently, there is no true competition in HW for the Klitschkos. Their opponents, past and present, NEED to be hyped (for sales reasons). And there is some success with the media - several posts mentioned there will be an Arreola victory, even after the weigh-in. And I found a poll with about 15% of the votes going for Arreola.

BEFORE the fight, wishful thinking gives Klitschko's opponents better chances than they truly have, especially if they prepare as shabby as Arreola did now. AFTER the fight, all people think the challenger was crappy from the beginning.


Vitali has problems finding a challenging opponent. Currently, there is none - except for his brother. And thus, his resume will remain somewhat lackluster - there will be no great names on it when he steps down. Which is a shame, considering his skill, dedication to the sport and domination of the division. The best names on his resume are his losses - to injuries, which Vitali was not responsible for, but still losses.

That being said, Peter will be remembered as one of his strongest victories. Vitali come back after four years and did not only WIN against the far younger world champion (which was expected by 70% of the "experts" on the boards), but also ground him morally to dust. The reigning champion quit on his stool. Vitali let Peter look like they were in a completely different leages.

[Dave Rado]

Sorry, I tugged the post out of context. The post is a good summary of HYPE:

Except that it undermined its case by massively exaggerating what hype there was.

And no serious boxing experts really expect Arreola to give Vitali a real challenge, especially given his weight - although of course they hope they turn out to be wrong. The best most people expect is that Arreola will manage to make it exciting for a few rounds.

Given that Arreola hasn't beaten anyone meaningful yet, for Vitali to get a lot of credit for beating him, not only would he have to beat him in style, but Arreola would have to go on to prove in subsequent fights against other top 10 opponents that he really was a serious top 10 fighter and wasn't overrated.

That being said, Peter will be remembered as one of his strongest victories. Vitali come back after four years and did not only WIN against the far younger world champion (which was expected by 70% of the "experts" on the boards), but also ground him morally to dust. The reigning champion quit on his stool. Vitali let Peter look like they were in a completely different leagues.

I agree with you on that.

Vitali's problem, legacy wise, is that he has had very few fights as a champion, given his age (partly because his career started very late, partly because of his injuries); and what serious contenders there are have to be shared between him and his brother, which greatly dilutes the number of meanigful fights available to either of them; and he probably hasn't got many fights left.

As ~Alar~ mentioned, it is possible for a champion to achieve ATG status in a weak division if they have sufficient longevity, as Holmes did; but Vitali is running out of time.

[Lacrimosa]

As ~Alar~ mentioned, it is possible for a champion to achieve ATG status in a weak division if they have sufficient longevity, as Holmes did; but Vitali is running out of time.

For this reason, i believe Wladimir has better chance to achieve that status, with some good fights ahead of him: Chambers, Povetkin, Haye/Valuev, Arreola (if he comes back good), maybe Boytsov/Kevin Johnson/Odlanier Solis if they continue their progress and get rid of some weight