Has Wlad changed as a fighter or is it the opponents?

Soon after getting destroyed by Sanders, Wlad faced a bad stage at his career. He lost to Brewster, was down against Williamson and also against Peter. After that he has never been seriously threatened, never lost more than three rounds and he has KOed all but one of his contenders.

To me, it seems like Wlad has developed as a fighter. He has more confidence than before, he knows what he must do and he is able to follow the tactics without panicking. So on other words, I think this 'scared' way of fighting actually shows that he has matured as a fighter.

Do you see him being a more complete fighter now, or do you think it is the bad opponents that make him look dominant?

Turning career around after difficulties and clearly developing has happened before too, for example Lennox had a run of bad showings (Tucker-Bruno-McCall) before getting back on track

 

Wlad is obviously an improved fighter since teaming up with Steward. Just look at some of his earlier fights, night and day.

I remember Steward saying that prior to working with him, he rarely sparred more than 4 rounds at a time.

 

It's a combination of both. He's excelled at using his size and talents to their maxium but he's also been presented with challengers who are either undersized, fat and lazy or without much in terms of skills to execute an effective game plan.

 

These challengers are no different than his
earlier challengers, he is just better at shutting them down now.

 

Wlad is a better boxer now than he has ever been. If you watch him in the first Byrd fight, from 2000, and compare it to now...there is a world of difference.

In the first Byrd fight, he threw every punch with mean intentions, had a worried jaded look on his face all the time, threw too many punches, took things far too seriously and missed the overall.

Compare that to second time out.

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I am still worried about the instructions in the corner though....who is giving them and why is Manny preoccupied with getting guys out of there?

 

Wlad is a very good heavyweight...regardless of what the haters will say. I was disappointed when he lost to both Sanders and Brewster.

 

If Wlad keeps improving and keeps winning then the Sanders defeat will eventually mean as little to his overall reputation as Emile Griffith's loss to Hurricane Carter or Durans loss to Hearns or Mantequilla Naploes loss to Monzon.

Shocking, but not at all indicative or reflective of his career as a whole.

 

His punches look crisper, he's better at creating distance, and he's better at catching opponents coming in. His jab disrupts the opponent's rhythm and makes it hard for them to get on track. His 1-2 is well-timed and he's very good at taking the opponent's heart with it. His left hook is still awesome, but he uses it better to time the opponent moving in and it keeps them honest.

He also looks to have calmed down a lot, and he's great at moving back quick, setting, and hammering the opponent as they move forward. He snaps the 1-2, but when it lands, it SLAMS into the person's head.

 

I agree with that, but there is one thing that is indicative and reflective of his career as a whole: neither he, nor his brother, wants to be THE man. Boxing is about finding out who's better, and unfortunately we never will with these two. That's a damn shame because the sport is defined by two fighters getting in the ring and there being one victor.

I know they're brothers, but people don't want to see two champions unwilling to fight one another. People want to see an undisputed champ. It's symptomatic of the problem with the heavyweight titlists today, but at least either brother would be willing to unify with David Haye; Haye won't fight either of them, and that's gutless considering he had shirts made up and considering he called them out.

 

Buddy, for all the money in the world, I wouldn't fight my brother. And if we do so, we'd male sure to fix the fight as to avoid punishment. This is not tennis or other non-contact sport.

 

No, nothing is more important than proving you are the man. Even if you have to kill your brother.

 

:laugh11: ::

 

Agreed. I can't understand how Klitschkos cab live with themselves as they know they have not done their damnest to beat each other up

 

Hence why I never considered Hagler the true MW champion since he never faced his bro Robbie Sims

 

I agree. He's around the, 'Very good' mark. I would consider him (arguably) for one of the best fifteen HW's ever, all things considered. Those losses are an indelible mark against him, though, & so is the competition.

Having watched him for well over ten years now, I feel comfortable concluding this fella is a very good fighter (with no makings for greatness, unfortunately) who, in my view, could beat better opposition than he's been presented with --- but probably not dramatically better. For me, I don't feel there's any doubt on two things...

A) He has improved since his heavy knockout losses.

B) The competition-level has been the driving force, ahead of his talents, for his dominance.

The best thing either brother has ever given this sport is not their decent (but generally over-rated) fighting abilities, but rather something in desperately short supply...class, dignity & decency. It's tough not to like guys like that, however boring they may appear to be as boxers.

 

He has gotten better at all the stuff that kills boxing. Stiff arm, holding and punching less.

 

Yes. Wlad kills boxing. Bad for boxing. Bad Wlad. Bad Wlad.

 

The problem is none of those loses exposed a glass jaw in Griffith, Duran or Napoles. That chank will never be ironed out & it's a fundamental flaw.

That's not to say he can't be regarded as a fantastic fighter, anymore than Frazier's 1 dimensionality or Tyson's lack of heart or Liston's sluggish feet stop them being regarded as guys who might beat anybody on a given day with the right style.

 

Does this not make him an even better fighter then? Griffith lost 20 odd times and was stopped twice. I don't even know if he has a glass jaw. Nobody has ever laid him out. He's been stopped but he ain't never been KO'd clean and proper. Exhaustion played a part on two occasions. He's no Vitali, but he cannot be any worse than the supposedly teak-tough Gerry Quarry who was stopped by Chuvalo.

That's often been my rationale too. Wlad is the sort of guy whose style could give him a foothold in a fight with anybody....and after that, who knows.

 

I don't think he could have beaten a Foreman or a Prime Tyson in 100 tries. He would have had a fucking panic attack for one thing. But there are definitely very good fighters he could beat & beat well.

 

put him in against a live body and you'll see the same Wlad from the past

 

I think he could have beaten prime Foreman........under the tutelage of Manny Steward and with the seasoning he has now. It's just his jab makes me think he could survive long enough to get the run of things.

He reminds me a lot of Barrera. A lot.

Got found out having carved a reputation for himself as a banger. Made the adjustments, came back strongly, and only lost again to the very very best in Morales and Pacquiao.

Had things gone badly for Barrera early against Hamed I think that might have been the end for Marco. Instead he started brightly and it was Hamed who started to fall apart.

Many people felt that Barrera's chin would let him down with Hamed, as it had with Junior Jones, a guy with a fraction of the talent and less of the power than Hamed.

 

The biggest difference with Wlad's game today is the clinch. Namely he now knows how to.

 

In homage to your avatar:



Kid Azteca to Baby Arizmendi: "Baby, tell this guy that tonight it is strictly dressing gowns only".

 

Lol. Great stuff.

 

Fair comparison in some ways. The comparison of chins is not one of those ways...

(which you make indirectly by comparing the perceptions on their chins and tacitly, by extension, the legitimacy of those perceptions, before you say "i never compared them' which i just know you will)

 

No I am just saying Hut that logic suggested Hamed would KO Barrera the same way Jones had. Barrera's chin had not gotten any better from 1996 to 2001, but what had happened was his tactics and his defense had improved.

Hamed undoubtedly hit harder than Jones, and had the versatility and was a naturally bigger man.

But Barrera had changed his spots so to speak. In a way, Wlad has too.

 

OK, yes, but the degree of the 'problem' or weakness to compensate for (neither of which I think you can even really call MABs punch resistance) is of a different magnitude. This is more like say Terry Norris having learned to fight more cautiously and effectively. He might be better, he might be very, very good, but a problem like that doesn't go away.

 

The problem never goes away so all you can do is counteract it as much as you can. Wlad has done that and it's a testament to his bottle.

 

Agree, 100%. I've got allot of admiration for Wlad's mentality towards his career, generally. The guy's a winner.