Since these giants of the modern division are the flavour of the moment, what with the dramas with Haye & all, how do you see them, at their best, against the following? Ron Lyle Kenny Norton Jerry Quarry Earnie Shavers Jimmy Young Gerry Cooney
Norton and Cooney have the best chances. (for different reasons) Obviously if Shavers connected on Wlad it would be over, but that's a simplistic view.
Ron Lyle -KO's either Klit within 5 Kenny Norton - for SURE.. he would knock them both out on the same night Jerry Quarry - This might be the only guy on here that I give him a remote chance to even be a contest Earnie Shavers - Earnie would prolly KO either gay in 1 rd Jimmy Young - He'd KO either Wad or Vite within 10 Gerry Cooney- Cooney might get KO'd but woudl have a great chanhc
I think Jimmy Young has the best chance against Vitali. It's gonna take somebody who will take the fight to Vitali to beat him, but who does so in a mobile, in and out manner. As I said a few months ago, somebody who'll take a leaf out of Herbie Hide's approach in the first round of their fight. Leading, but leading from range on the outside of the ring, punching in bunches and moving out again. Somebody ideally like a prime Evander Holyfield, who'd definitely pick, but I think Jimmy Young showed enough of that general strategy against Foreman to give him a fair chance. I'd give Young about a 50/50 chance or slightly better. Lyle's ability to get inside intelligently would also make him a tough opponent for Vitali & have him looking VERY ungainly and ugly as he backed up to establish the range he relies on, but I think in the end he loses a close decision. And Cooney's height makes him awkward for Vitali too, who obviously relies on that leaning defensive style, but I think Vitali's toughness & greater punch variety gets him through that one to a late stoppage. I'd favour Vitali over the rest comfortably. Conversely it'll take somebody more straight forwardly aggressive against Wlad as we've seen, there's no mystery to solve there, just the question of who's capable of it. Lyle is, IMO, I'd pick him by mid round KO. Shavers I think is too slow of foot and after scaring the living bejesus out of Wlad in the early rounds starts getting taken apart from the 4th and finally KO'd from fatigue in the 9th. Personally i think Wlad does a very good job of neutralizing the left hook as a rule and I'd favour him to stop Cooney early in a shaky one which is dramatic to watch live since you always feel like anything could happen at any moment but in the end it never does and Wlad wins one sided and early. To summarise - Young beats Vitali, with Lyle having a good outside chance, Lyle beats Wlad with Shavers having a good outside chance. The brothers win all the other match ups 9/10 IMO.
Klitschkos beat them all. All of those guys lost to fighters inferior to either Klitschko. Cooney has the best chance as he could reach and bang with Vitali but shorter guys like Norton and Quarry get bombed out of there. If 197lbs and 6'0" tall Quarry can bust up and beat down Shavers then so too can Klitschko{s}. Is Shavers really fast enough and durable enough to last long enough to land bombs? Unlikely.
:bears: Hard to fault much of that. To give the proposed fights a whirl... Vitali Klitschko vs... Ron Lyle - Klitschko MD12 Lyle Kenny Norton - Klitschko SD12 Norton Jerry Quarry - Klitschko UD12 Quarry Earnie Shavers - Klitschko TKO8 Shavers Jimmy Young - Young SD12 Klitschko Gerry Cooney - Klitschko TKO5 Cooney Klitschko against Lyle, Norton, & Young (who did not defeat a past-it, but still deadly, Foreman as convincingly as history remembers) would be tight. I gave him the benefit of the doubt in two of the three. I think he reels in an early points deficit against the faster Quarry, who has success countering & moving at angles early, before succumbing to the range & strength at close-quarters Klitschko possesses. Shavers is rather over-rated to me, & loses most of the skirmishes in this one before running out of petrol. Young runs into problems with Klitschko's height & awkward effectiveness against smaller men --- Klitschko, slightly more problems with Young's speed & countering abilities, costing him a close decision. Klitschko shakes off an early scare from a Cooney left hook to crumple his man with two knockdowns in the fifth. Wlad Klitschko vs... Ron Lyle - Klitschko SD12 Lyle Kenny Norton - Norton MD12 Klitschko Jerry Quarry - Klitschko TKO9 Quarry Earnie Shavers - Klitschko UD12 Shavers Jimmy Young - Klitschko UD12 Young Gerry Cooney - Klitschko UD12 Cooney Very close call between Klitschko & Lyle. Lyle was a good boxer with decent footwork, to go along with his brutal punch & formidable toughness. I think he suffers a bit against Klitschko's jab & ultra-defensive game, but wins his share of rounds. Either Lyle cuts through the D abruptly & knocks him out, or Klitschko eeks out a decision. Today, I went for the latter. For different reasons, it's another close one against Norton, against whom I fancy Klitschko would play it safe --- Norton was surprisingly vicious against opponents who adopted this style, & his work-rate & ability to sustain it, far superior to Klitschkos, grant him the chocolates. His ability to deal with Klitschko's jab carries the day. Quarry runs out of petrol trying to cope with Klitschko's jab & effective use of range & clinching. The left busts him up down the stretch, & a cuts-&-bruising TKO ensues. It's apparent in rounds nine-through-twelve Klitschko can end the night of a Shavers who has run out of answers for Klitschko's defense & excellent jab, but no chances are taken. Shavers hears the final bell, but goes down convincingly, 8-4, 116-112. Young can't find the openings he needs against an ultra-tight Klitschko, whose great jab again comes to the fore. In the end, Young is over-matched at close-quarters, & unable to establish enough punches from the outside to convince the judges, losing a decision. As with Shavers, Klitschko is simply a better fighter in an all-round sense than Cooney, & also like Shavers, has Cooney hurt once or twice, but opts not to follow-up. With the limited Cooney figured out at mid-range, Klitschko takes no chances for the UD. Big brother goes 5-1-0 (2 KO's). Junior, 5-1-0 (1 KO).
