How well Will Wladimir return?

[cold187]

2017 sees the return of future hall of famer WLadimir Klitschko.
it would be 17m out the ring with his last W april 2015

2015 was the year he looks to have fell off, particularly that jennings fight.

however he is still a specimen and if he is in the same form as he was in training prior to FUry rematch, i see the following

1. UD victory vs Ortiz...due to height and jab difference. wlad has face shorter southpaws with chagaev, ibragimov and shorter boxers with good combos like povetkin, and he bullied them all around like kids
2. KO victory vs AJ ... both guys will be apprehensive, but wlad still has more speed in his jab than AJs previous opponents, and AJ turns very stiff once cracked on the chin
3. UD vs Parker - he has dealt with parker with ease in sparring on 2 occasions - no problem

VS wilder i think its a case of 50-50, whoever hits first wins!!!!!!!

only guy who has wlads number is fury to due speed, range and style

i still believe wlad beats the rest over the next 2 years, but hopefully we will get our answer soon

[gilgamesh]

I'm surprised you think he beats Joshua, but not Wilder.

I doubt he puts together the run you see for him, that would be more phenomenal than any 3 wins he's gotten in his career up to this point.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

He has a punchers chance against Joshua. As aggressive as Anthony is he'll either force wlad to open up or wlad will get steamrolled. I'm guessing the latter.

[Ricky_]

Tough to say, nobody really knows why he performed the way he did vs Fury.

I suspect he was injured. I've read much about personal problems involving his wife and child. Or it could just be father time.

He's not a guy that really needs to move a great deal so his style has suited him well into his late 30's, so he could have a couple more fights in the tank, and if he does, then he's probably he most difficult man to topple a the top of the HW div.

[ValMar]

Wlad has deserved to be remembered as a great champion, so, he ought to retire. Now.......

[gilgamesh]

Wlad has deserved to be remembered as a great champion, so, he ought to retire. Now.......

How well he'll be remembered took a big hit when he gave up his title without fighting.

[ValMar]

Wlad has deserved to be remembered as a great champion, so, he ought to retire. Now.......

How well he'll be remembered took a big hit when he gave up his title without fighting.

Should he be destroyed like Ali ? Should he become someone like RJJ ?

[Rob3_142]

however he is still a specimen and if he is in the same form as he was in training prior to FUry rematch, i see the following

1. UD victory vs Ortiz...due to height and jab difference. wlad has face shorter southpaws with chagaev, ibragimov and shorter boxers with good combos like povetkin, and he bullied them all around like kids
2. KO victory vs AJ ... both guys will be apprehensive, but wlad still has more speed in his jab than AJs previous opponents, and AJ turns very stiff once cracked on the chin
3. UD vs Parker - he has dealt with parker with ease in sparring on 2 occasions - no problem

VS wilder i think its a case of 50-50, whoever hits first wins!!!!!!!

I'm pretty confused that you see him knocking Joshua out, beating Parker in UD and 50:50 with Wilder.

Even if he did beat all the mentioned fighters, surely Parker's lack of size and defence makes him more prone to the knockout than Joshua? You say AJ goes stiff when he's cracked on the chin. How many times has that happened? Once vs. Whyte. And then he recovered pretty well and knocked him out a few rounds later.

I'd wager Joshua and Wilder would be same/similar outcome.

[gilgamesh]

Wlad has deserved to be remembered as a great champion, so, he ought to retire. Now.......

How well he'll be remembered took a big hit when he gave up his title without fighting.

Should he be destroyed like Ali ? Should he become someone like RJJ ?

Certainly not, but I think if his next performance is anywhere near as poor as his performance against Tyson Fury it needs to be his last. Because you're not gonna beat much of anybody if you don't fight.

[Kalan]

How well he'll be remembered took a big hit when he gave up his title without fighting.

Should he be destroyed like Ali ? Should he become someone like RJJ ?

Certainly not, but I think if his next performance is anywhere near as poor as his performance against Tyson Fury it needs to be his last. Because you're not gonna beat much of anybody if you don't fight.

HIs brother fought until he was 41, but he actually fought hard.. Wlad couldn't get his punches off.. Part of that is Fury being so tall and long and having such a big edge in reach.. But part of that had to be the age factor.. You can't retire at 65 in this job.. If you get to 39 and have a fight like Wladimir had against Jennings??? I think you just need to quit before you embarrass yourself---because you're slipping badly.. That's just me.. It's very hard to quit when you have a new daughter at 40, and a clinically depressed girl friend you're responsible for.. You make millions for every fight.. You'll need the money and there's not a lot of jobs that can match boxing at the top of the Heavyweight Division.

I don't see WK beating Joshua, Fury, or Ortiz.. I think he should quit before he stinks it up again, but he won't.. Maybe he can't.. It's Ali all over again.

[Lackeos]

Given Wlad's series of injuries the past few years, his age, his couple of competitive performances recently, and the extent of his current layoff; I think he should consider staying retired. If I were him, I would consider maybe a fight against someone ranked approximately #20 in the world, and then depending on how smoothly it goes and how the health is looking, either retire or return to top tier opposition. He doesn't need the money, there's nothing he can do to improve his legacy; he might as well take an easier fight and make a few million and not push himself too hard.

[Freedom2013]

Joshua will knock out Klitschko, who turns 41 in March.

Faded old Wladimir should have fought someone he can still beat like Parker, Ruiz or Browne to win back a title, instead of fighting the best in the world.

[man]

i am afraid he would not be competitive
against joshua, possibly losing a mid
round knock out. he would do better
against wilder, but still lose and possibly
not make the distance either.

he is damaged goods, missed the point
of a dignified farewell and hopefully is
not trying to reverse time.

in my view joshua would have beaten a
prime wlad and possibly with ease. once
the physical playing field is even, wlad's
weaknesses would become apparent. in
my view his main flaw is that he is in a
certain way not a fighter that can dig
real deep. doesn't mean he is not trying.
he did - and actually did well - against
sam peter. but then again even a prime
peter is not a great heavyweight and i do
not think joshua would let wlad of the
hook like peter did.

[cold187]

Given Wlad's series of injuries the past few years, his age, his couple of competitive performances recently, and the extent of his current layoff; I think he should consider staying retired. If I were him, I would consider maybe a fight against someone ranked approximately #20 in the world, and then depending on how smoothly it goes and how the health is looking, either retire or return to top tier opposition. He doesn't need the money, there's nothing he can do to improve his legacy; he might as well take an easier fight and make a few million and not push himself too hard.

i agree he should have took the browne fight to shake off the ring rust
i think his 2 intense rematch camps for fury rematch took it out of him.

how would Wlad get on with the guys AJ faced, i think he would also be 18(18)-0 with them even at the age of 41.

i see a wlad badly destroying AJ if he is on form,

i can see eddie hearns plan, to beat wlad better than tyson did (but tyson had the perfect style). Aj is not a back foot fighter with fury's foot speed.

i see Wlad winning inside 3

[SaadOffTheDeck]

If the proper style was stick your chin out and beg wlad to hit it. I could adopt that. Fury is big, made wlad timid. That's it, Joshua would slaughter Tyson.

[jbizzle20]

He just doesn't look right without Steward. In his fights since Steward's passing, it seems like Klitschko is hesitant to engage with any kind of commitment. He looked like he was second-guessing himself constantly, against Fury, even though Fury's chin was more wide open than the Grand Canyon. He looks fine, physically. He just has to get right mentally but, with all of his personal issues, that's going to be tough.

[man]

He just doesn't look right without Steward. In his fights since Steward's passing, it seems like Klitschko is hesitant to engage with any kind of commitment. He looked like he was second-guessing himself constantly, against Fury, even though Fury's chin was more wide open than the Grand Canyon. He looks fine, physically. He just has to get right mentally but, with all of his personal issues, that's going to be tough.

i think pulev was his best fight.
he had to face someone who
fought back and managed not
only to stand his ground, but
move in despite being hit. i had
actually hoped that this was the
"new" wlad back then ...

manny made him win fights and
lose the crowd.

[gilgamesh]

If the proper style was stick your chin out and beg wlad to hit it. I could adopt that. Fury is big, made wlad timid. That's it, Joshua would slaughter Tyson.

Yeah. Wladmir showed what a pussy he is against Fury. Literally giving up his title without a fight. I lost a lot of respect for him in that fight, and his all time standing dropped at least 10 spots for me right there.

[Bard of Boxrec]

please retire wlad. You would make billions of people happy.

[caldo2025]

OH WHO GIVES A FLYGING F**K ABOUT WLADIMIR?????!!!! With all of the great fighters in the world and great fights on tap, why do people continuously want to talk about a 40 year old statue that was the worst thing to happen to boxing in decades. Move on already. Did you hear that there might be a good fight on tonight. Somebody said something about that, not sure who's fighting. dopes.

[stellar]

Klicko is still number one than joshua povetkin wilder haye ortiz parker

[cold187]

OH WHO GIVES A FLYGING F**K ABOUT WLADIMIR?????!!!! With all of the great fighters in the world and great fights on tap, why do people continuously want to talk about a 40 year old statue that was the worst thing to happen to boxing in decades. Move on already. Did you hear that there might be a good fight on tonight. Somebody said something about that, not sure who's fighting. dopes.

great fighters in HW?
who would that be, wilder and joshua whose camps call them "work in progress

wlad kept the division tidy, now we gonna see worst ducking and diving since 2003

[caldo2025]

OH WHO GIVES A FLYGING F**K ABOUT WLADIMIR?????!!!! With all of the great fighters in the world and great fights on tap, why do people continuously want to talk about a 40 year old statue that was the worst thing to happen to boxing in decades. Move on already. Did you hear that there might be a good fight on tonight. Somebody said something about that, not sure who's fighting. dopes.

great fighters in HW?
who would that be, wilder and joshua whose camps call them "work in progress

wlad kept the division tidy, now we gonna see worst ducking and diving since 2003

Wlad hijacked the heavyweight belts and decided to fight in Germany on cards that weren't even televised across the world. He was the worst champion the sport has ever seen. He single handedly killed the heavyweight division for years. Not to mention that he's about as interesting as a bowl of rice.

[SteveO]

Wlad hijacked the heavyweight belts and decided to fight in Germany on cards that weren't even televised across the world. He was the worst champion the sport has ever seen. He single handedly killed the heavyweight division for years. Not to mention that he's about as interesting as a bowl of rice.

Wladimir became a multi-millionaire fighting in front of sold out venues in Germany.
The contests were shown on TV in the U.K and many parts of Europe.
The USA is not the world and I don't know if Wlad's fights were shown there or not but I suspect Wlad is not too bothered about it.
Admitedly Wlad is not the most exciting boxer to watch but he was a very effective champion - he fought all his mandatories and ducked no one.

[man]

... he was a very effective champion - he fought all his mandatories and ducked no one.

no serious fan can take that away from him.