Wladimir Klitschko retires from boxing

[UN talkz]

Wladimir Klitschko has announced his shock retirement from boxing with immediate effect, ending any chance of a rematch against heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua.

The 41-year-old Klitschko, who enjoyed a 21-year career in the win in which he won 64 of his 69 fights, was famously beaten by Joshua in an almighty heavyweight scrap on 29 April this year in an 11th round stoppage.

The Ukrainian retires as one of the sport's true greats, having held the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles, as well as the lineal crown, and remains the second-longest serving heavyweight champion of all time behind Joe Louis with 18 consecutive defences over a nine-year span.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...thony-joshua-rematch-off-boxing-a7874311.html

 

[shaz619]

Congrats to Wladmir on a wonderful career, he dominated for over a decade and more recently past his prime with 1.5 years of inactivity almost put away a young lion in Joshua and may have succeeded with better tactics.

Wladmir got nothing left to prove and his legacy has been cemented; an all time great who will be inducted into the hall of fame.

 

[KingKhanWC]

It;s not really a shock, he was at the end of his career. Wlad has been a very good heavyweight throughout the years even though many found his style to one dimensional or boring. He's been a good role model for youngsters and has done his country proud.

Wlad took some heavy punishment towards the end of his fight against AJ, so this makes sense.

 

[shaz619]

It;s not really a shock, he was at the end of his career. Wlad has been a very good heavyweight throughout the years even though many found his style to one dimensional or boring. He's been a good role model for youngsters and has done his country proud.

Wlad took some heavy punishment towards the end of his fight against AJ, so this makes sense.

Wlad said the motivation and hunger is no longer there otherwise he was seriously considering the rematch, makes sense since the legend has been in the game and dominated for over a decade and is now in his 40s. If anything I'd have been encouraged by the fight against AJ, Joshua did unleash some bombs in the 11th but Wlad largely dominated the fight and failed to pull the trigger when he had the fight won. Anyhow I think it's a good move because I really don't think he has anything to prove and has been there and done it all

 

[shaz619]

People tend to complain about the impact he left behind but the man inspired a generation and many up and coming heavyweights looked up to him when there was no other role model

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A very young me with the dreams of becoming a world champion, it was a pleasure to have the chance to train with this man. A true legend �� <a href="https://t.co/mqK1GOph2G">pic.twitter.com/mqK1GOph2G</a></p>— Hughie Lewis Fury (@hughiefury) <a href="https://twitter.com/hughiefury/status/893212973371707397">3 August 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bet it AJ, Wilder, Fury etc all these men have looked up to Wladmir as a hero, inspiration , role model and no.1 HW whom they had immense respect for given his standing as a fighter and his incredible accomplishments; it's no surprise to an extent that Fury has felt he no longer has anything to achieve given the significance of his monumental victory over Wladmir in 2015.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Wlad said the motivation and hunger is no longer there otherwise he was seriously considering the rematch, makes sense since the legend has been in the game and dominated for over a decade and is now in his 40s. If anything I'd have been encouraged by the fight against AJ, Joshua did unleash some bombs in the 11th but Wlad largely dominated the fight and failed to pull the trigger when he had the fight won. Anyhow I think it's a good move because I really don't think he has anything to prove and has been there and done it all

Fair point, after the AJ fight nobody could say he is washed up and over the hill. He really should of beaten AJ tho, having watched the fight back a few times, he really should have gone for the kills as AJ at one point wasn't even defending himself.

You are right he has nothing to prove to anyone and has been a great role model.

Where would you put him in terms of great heavyweights?

 

[shaz619]

Fair point, after the AJ fight nobody could say he is washed up and over the hill. He really should of beaten AJ tho, having watched the fight back a few times, he really should have gone for the kills as AJ at one point wasn't even defending himself.

You are right he has nothing to prove to anyone and has been a great role model.

Where would you put him in terms of great heavyweights?

He got really bad advice from his corner aka his brother Vitali who said go easy on him, take your time because AJ will gas and then you can take him out; it was an understandable piece of advice but it backfired big time and Wladmir himself should have known better as well.

I think he'd have been pretty decent under the guidance of Emanuel Steward and done quiet well in any of the HW's eras, I'd rank him in my top 15 HW's without a doubt but towards the lower end of that 15, what about you?

 

[KingKhanWC]

He got really bad advice from his corner aka his brother Vitali who said go easy on him, take your time because AJ will gas and then you can take him out; it was an understandable piece of advice but it backfired big time and Wladmir himself should have known better as well.

I think he'd have been pretty decent under the guidance of Emanuel Steward and done quiet well in any of the HW's eras, I'd rank him in my top 15 HW's without a doubt but towards the lower end of that 15, what about you?

In terms of ring intelligence and general smartness, he is up there for sure. I'd put him in the top 20 only because there have been so many great heavyweights in history. I really feel sorry him losing against Lennox Lewis back in 03, he fought a brilliant fight but the cut got the better of him. Lewis had just beaten Tyson the previous fight. I think that fight made a huge difference to his career but will still end up as a hall of famer.

 

[shaz619]

In terms of ring intelligence and general smartness, he is up there for sure. I'd put him in the top 20 only because there have been so many great heavyweights in history. I really feel sorry him losing against Lennox Lewis back in 03, he fought a brilliant fight but the cut got the better of him. Lewis had just beaten Tyson the previous fight. I think that fight made a huge difference to his career but will still end up as a hall of famer.

That was Vitali Klitcho who had Lewis in big trouble but got done due to cuts unfortunately and Lewis would then retire, Vitali would chase the rematch but it never happened.

My top 15:

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Mike Tyson
3. Larry Holms
4. George Foreman
5. Joe Frazier
6. Rocky Marciano
7. Joe Louis
8. Lennox Lewis
9. Evander Holyfield
10. Jack Dempsey
11. Sonny Liston
12. Wladmir Klitchko
13. Riddick Bowe
14. Floyd Patterson
15. Vitali Klitchko / Ken Norton

 

[KingKhanWC]

That was Vitali Klitcho who had Lewis in big trouble but got done due to cuts unfortunately and Lewis would then retire, Vitali would chase the rematch but it never happened.

My top 15:

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Mike Tyson
3. Larry Holms
4. George Foreman
5. Joe Frazier
6. Rocky Marciano
7. Joe Louis
8. Lennox Lewis
9. Evander Holyfield
10. Jack Dempsey
11. Sonny Liston
12. Wladmir Klitchko
13. Riddick Bowe
14. Floyd Patterson
15. Vitali Klitchko / Ken Norton

Haha yes of course it was Vitali, why did I assume it was Wlad.

My top 10.

Ali
Tyson
Foreman
Joe Louis
Holmes
Rocky
Holyfield
Liston
Frazier
AJ (for the future)

 

[shaz619]

Haha yes of course it was Vitali, why did I assume it was Wlad.

My top 10.

Ali
Tyson
Foreman
Joe Louis
Holmes
Rocky
Holyfield
Liston
Frazier
AJ (for the future)

Wow you have Tyson in your top 2 like me as well I thought I would be in the minority, not a lot of people do due to his polarizing career. AJ defo has the potential to get there but from what I've seen so far am not all impressed but he got a long way to go, am also not his biggest fan don't find him likeable; comes across as a little bit of an uncle tom type of dude who overly plays to the gallery. Am a bigger fan of Fury who I think despite is flaws is a lot more real and someone I can relate to, plus he's really entertaining and charismatic, I find AJ incredibly bland. I also believe that the Fury who fought Wladmir in Germany could have beaten many ATG HW's on that night never mind Joshua, but he has fallen off now but I think he has had a wonderful career; if you look at his resume it's fantastic in terms of opponent quality and it goes nicely with the monumental win over Wlad.