Measuring the Klitschko brothers

I got Showtime just in time to catch the double-header of Vitali Klitschko vs. Samuel Peter and Antonio Tarver vs. Chad Dawson.

I gave Peter a punchers chance and was shocked he showed so little skill. He just stood there, no bobbing and weaving, no feinting. Instead, he just ate jab after jab and then right hands over the top. This was no Frazier-Ali match for sure.

The Dawson-Tarver fight was much better. They were even for a while and then Dawson's speed took over and by the end Tarver looked like a shot fighter. The only drawback is that both were so good defensively neither really got a clean shot or an opening to go for a knockout.

Back to the Klitschko's though. Now the Klitschkos own two of the four major title belts and since they say they'll never fight each other it means we won't have a unified title anytime soon.

So that means relatively few options for those two to move up on my list of all-time greatest fighters. Their records are sterling -- Wladimir is 51-3 with 45 knockouts and Vitali is 36-2 with 35 KOs.

Yet Wladimir is ranked No. 114 on my list and Vitali is No. 131, one behind Valuev. For both it comes down to lack of enough title fights and neither will improve much in retirement because of a lack of Hall of Fame level victories.

Wladimir is 6-0 with 5 KOs in his major title fights and 6-2 with 5 KOs in lesser title fights. Of all his wins, the only fighter he's beaten who has even a small chance at the International Boxing Hall of Fame is Chris Byrd. So Wladimir needs to defend his title several more times to move into the top 100.

Vitali, because of his injuries, has even less of a chance. The win over Peter was his first fight in four years and he's 37 now. Vitali's greatest fight was a loss. He was ahead on points against Lennox Lewis when the referee had to stop the fight because of Vitali's chopped up face.

Had Vitali been able to stop Lewis, arguably one of the 10 best heavyweights ever, then he'd have a chance to finish in the top 100.

Really, both are hurt by the era they fight in. We'll never really know how good they were.