the irony of both vitali and wladimir ...

[man]

... is that they had dominating careers
and yet earned most respect in two KO
defeats.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Ironic that wlad proved to be the better brother at 41.

[asdfjkl]

Vitali gained a hell of a lot more respect then just during his 2 defeats lol.
In his first defeat he actually lost quite a bunch since many people said he didn't have the "American" style, by fighting till you can't any more.
Vitali was dominating that American so badly, he only needed to keep standing to win against him. But he didn't, he sat on his chair saying his shoulder was injured, stop the fight.

[RScarf1]

... is that they had dominating careers
and yet earned most respect in two KO
defeats.

And against British boxers, likely both Hall of Famers, although Joshua has more to accomplish.

[Ossyrules]

OP I agree.

In sport, especially boxing, there are times when a L isn't all damaging for your legacy. Having the guts to take the fight, to get up off the canvas (x3), to roll back the years and show your skill set, fall agonisingly short, leave it all in the ring. I love all that stuff. You find something out about a man when your in deep waters. Loads of the greats had it, Ali Frazier, Leonard Duran, benn eubank etc.

I don't want to turn this into a mayweather thread, but it's an area I feel harms mayweathers standing. Always safety first, crafty match making after the oscar fight. Yes he can say he's TBE (he's not) and he's 49-0, but there's better men before him that have been beat, cos they take chances and it exposes them at times during a fight

[ValMar]

... is that they had dominating careers
and yet earned most respect in two KO
defeats.

Yes, it is very interesting....Difficult to explain, but true....

[Perseus]

It's not uncommon for boxers to gain respect and fans in defeat.

Another interesting thing about the Wlad/Vitali era is that it was perfectly acceptable for the #1 and #2 heavyweights to never consider fighting each other.
Hopefully, that situation never happens again boxing needs the best vs best as much as possible.

[Noxy]

Anyone who knows boxing would realize how good the Klitschkos were without looking at their losses. They were two serious operators, their dominance shows that. Vitali didn't get Ko'd by the way. Granted, the Lewis fight did stop questioning his bottle though

[man]

I don't want to turn this into a mayweather thread, but it's an area I feel harms mayweathers standing. Always safety first, crafty match making after the oscar fight. Yes he can say he's TBE (he's not) and he's 49-0, but there's better men before him that have been beat, cos they take chances and it exposes them at times during a fight

i agree. in the end he was businessman
first and boxer second. which is a real
pity since he was indeed brilliant.

[man]

It's not uncommon for boxers to gain respect and fans in defeat.

Another interesting thing about the Wlad/Vitali era is that it was perfectly acceptable for the #1 and #2 heavyweights to never consider fighting each other.
Hopefully, that situation never happens again boxing needs the best vs best as much as possible.

and reality is that in the end this era
was not as weak as one might think
at first glance. what is missing is the
trilogy wlad and vitali might have had,
were they not brothers.

[man]

Anyone who knows boxing would realize how good the Klitschkos were without looking at their losses. They were two serious operators, their dominance shows that. Vitali didn't get Ko'd by the way. Granted, the Lewis fight did stop questioning his bottle though

still, both losses boosted respect for
either man.

[Jip]

... is that they had dominating careers
and yet earned most respect in two KO
defeats.

Interresting and true. It is rare, but sometimes you can be in your prime and showcase your best perfirmance in defeat.