Wladimir Klitschko will go down as one of boxing's all-time greats, despite his reputation

In this “what have you done for me lately” society, it’s unfortunately unsurprising that the career of Wladimir Klitschko fails to garner the respect it deserves.

In a way it’s understandable. Fans pay good money to watch sports. In return, they expect excitement. Entertainment. Fulfilment. Long story short, Klitschko’s decade of heavyweight boxing dominance seldom provided any of those. And while athletes can send some fans into raptures with a victory by any means, Wlad was only really adored unconditionally in his native Ukraine as well as Germany.

But it’s also important to remember that to an athlete, entertaining the masses is but a bonus objective. If one doesn’t prepare to their fullest and attain as many wins as possible, they’ll be forgotten all the same. Their primary focus is to be the best, no matter how this is achieved nor how deep or shallow the pool of competition is.

READ MORE: Wladimir Klitschko announces retirement from boxing

That is why Dr. Steelhammer will go down in history as an all-time great heavyweight.

Much like those names many Wlad critics will compare and contrast to the behemoth, Klitschko will be remembered far more fondly in retrospect than he was during his active career. My personal favourite has always been hearing people moan that Wlad was nowhere near the champion Lennox Lewis was. Britain’s Lewis was indeed fantastic – and yet he too was criminally underappreciated and second-guessed after every successful title defence until he himself hung up the gloves.

Nobody wants a champion’s reign to consist of one-sided yawners against weak challengers such as Alex Leapai and Francesco Pianeta. But a true champion takes on whomever is placed in front of him. Unlike a Floyd Mayweather, Klitschko wasn’t one to cherry-pick opponents based on marketability and safe outcomes. Occasionally, a Tony Thompson or a Kubrat Pulev would threaten to breach his infamous defensive strategy – only for Wlad to meet them coming in with some serious offense.

Nobody wants a champion to use such tactics. Klitschko would hold his opponents, flirt with a points deduction from the referee and keep his foes on the end of his jab at all times unless forced to slug it out, despite being rather good at landing big shots. Well, nobody except the champion himself, that is, if that champ wants to remain at the top as long as possible.

But in a sea of unsavoury modern boxers using unsavoury language and behaviour to sell their fights, not to mention those who turn out to be doping (including a few Klitschko victims), the classy manner in which Wladimir and his also-retired former world champion brother Vitali carried themselves counts for a hell of a lot. Not to mention all the charity work.

Boxing could certainly do with more representatives like Wladimir Klitschko. The man who effectively retired him, Anthony Joshua, seems to be cut from the same cloth, at least. Having spent a good amount of his early pro days training with Wlad, he has seemingly learned a lot from the Klitschko brothers when it comes to how a champion should carry themselves outside the ring. And at Wembley Stadium in April, it was clear that AJ inspired Wlad in turn.

Perhaps knowing even back then that this was his last hurrah, Klitschko let it all hang out against Joshua and the result was one of the most thrilling heavyweight encounters in ages. It was a tribute to just how much the veteran respected the threat of the young lion seeking to permanently replace him atop the heavyweight scene.

It also made many of us wonder what would have been, if he had been so open throughout his career. It may well have come at the cost of his legacy and his 10-year reign, but he certainly went out on a high – out of his comfort zone and no longer feeling the burden of being The Man.

It was a hell of a way to bow out. Passing the torch to Joshua and yet very much on his own terms, with his finest performance in quite some time. And the further time takes us from April 29 at the national stadium, the more we’ll appreciate what the Klitschkos did bring to the table and the less we will lament what they did not.