This bandwagon, is for people who enjoy watching HW fighters. Who enjoy a guy with limitations who just does his shit and goes out hard. This wagon affirms that apart from the Klitschko bros, david Haye, and talent to come, Arreola is the best HW in the world. All aboard:bears:
by "does his shit and goes out hard" i guess that means is completely unprofessional and absent of dedication to his occupation.
This bandwagon won't last long. He doesn't impress me at all. I wish he did, because he is a local fighter to me. I just don't think he is polished enough for the top level and doesn't have the discipline to go as well. I bet the bandwagon gets derailed in his next fight.
Guys are pathetic... I'm on the bandwagon of course. I'm with Jaws...he is top 5 easily, and has potential if u ever saw the guy train, you know what he really is capable of... Hopefully he actually uses it though...
After Saturday's abomination of a heavy-weight it's pretty hard not to root for the guy. He brings it. Wlad is a perfect example of a fighter who fights not to lose. I guess that's your best bet when you're 6'6", have a jab like a right hand, and a chin like glass. Man I can't wait for the next time he gets knocked out. It will happen. Sooner or later, like Lewis did, he will respond to the complaints regarding how boring his fights are, and try to go out there and earn his money. This will give his opponent the opportunity they need to crack his chin. Wlad should take note of the fact that his last fight was shown on ESPN Classic. It's an indication that HBO knows how boring he is, and that only the right opponent can force a fight worth showing. I was critical of HBO for not showing the fight, but in retrospect, it was a good idea. That was one of the worst heavyweight championship fights I've ever watched. Especially considering it was billed as a unification fight. Chagaev absolutely embarrassed himself with his lack of courage. And Wlad with his lack of fire. What an awful fight that was.
My guess is that he did notice that. You know, you don't have to be a smart-ass in every response you make. It's not compulsory.
Well that was simply a function of his opponent, "Fighting not to get knocked out." Do you think there's a single fight fan other than Wlad groupies that enjoyed that fight? It was one of the most boring fights I've ever seen. And as pathetic as Chagaev's performance was, you could make the claim that Wlad's was pretty pathetic too from an entertainment stand-point.
I was more entertained by that fight than I was watching Arreola fall over himself to load up on some poo-shot against a hand-selected opponent. I'm entertained by someone who respects the sport enough to always come into fights trained and prepared, and who makes the effort to fight top opponents. If he's able to dominate guys because of his size, his skill, his preparation, his discipline, and a lack of challenges...too damn bad. Arreola inhabits the same waste-bin division and he still hasn't stepped up.
I like Arreola. He is the only heavyweight that is entertaining. Wlad has skills but watching him throw 3 right hands a round is boring as hell.
It is the monotony of Wlad's fights that obviously make him boring,.. he engages OFTEN,..but it's the same thing, over and over again,.. if he varied his offense, mixed in an uppercut or that deadly left hook, he'd be great to watch,... even better, if he dispursed a hook/ right combo,.. or an uppercut right combo,..into the skull of his opponent, a lovely spectacle indeed coming from a 240lber,..... still,.... he does like to clinch to defend himself,..which is illegal,...but in light of Hopkins groupies "lettin' it all riiiiiiide" ... boxing has become much poorer for it.
Oh, come on, are you really saying you enjoyed that fight? Forget about the exact terminology used, you must understand the spirit of the post. Wlad fights in INTENSE and UNCHANGING safety mode virtually all fight long, time after time, and maybe opens up for one minute of one round when he feels TOTALLY convinced his opponent has nothing left. It is really sad if you think of the fact that Wlad could likely have KO'd or TKO'd Chagaev in 2 rounds had he simply taken a token amount of risk. Wlad reminds me of playing a video game with a glitch. You know, like on an old boxing game from 15 years ago where you find out that if you create a freakish boxer who is like 7 feet tall and then you just jab all fight every fight, you are unbeatable due to flaws in the gameplay. But then nobody will ever want to play you, and unless you have a very distinct OCD anal type of personality you probably would have no desire to play that way yourself. That is Wlad in a nutshell, and Vitali isn't far behind. You'd think that as a MAN and as a SPORTSMAN, you would realize that making a mockery of the game by simply using your enormous size and clinching ability to drone through fights is really nothing to be proud of, particularly when with a bit of fire & risk you could be crushing other heavies and making names for yourself as all-time great, devastating boxers. The Klits see boxing as a clinical game, devoid of passion, devoid of emotion, heart. To them, emotion, risk, passion, all things which make a boxer something special both in his own eyes and the eyes of the public are to be AVOIDED and are UNDESIRABLE. Why even take a 2% risk, even when the reward is a spectacular 1st round KO, when you can take 0% risk and jab for 11 rounds and finally have your opponent tire and quit in the 12th? Seriously, does anyone here believe that with some good scouting you couldn't locate a young athlete who is say 6'10'' or so, and just DRILL him for 5 years on a Wlad/Vitali style of jab, jab, jump back out, jab, jab, jump back out, hold/clinch, repeat... and make him a virtually unbeatable heavyweight champ? As long as he put the roadwork in and did not tire too badly within 12, he would become another "unbeatable" heavy. Because when taken to the extreme, any sport becomes sort of stupid, and for that reason most do not pursue that sort of angle, or if they do, good sports leagues change the rules so you can't get away with that crap. NASCAR changes rules whenever they want to make races more exciting, and the NFL and NBA recognize, albeit slowly, whenever someone has developed a cliche formula for boring themselves into victories, and then they fix things. But not boxing, never boxing. Pretty soon all ther will be at the top of the heavies ar 7 foot jab machines with decent right hands, all trained by Emmanual Steward. Like Double L said, I'd like very much to see someone get in there a la Corrie Sanders and blast the shit out of Wlad again. Then maybe he would feel the need to fight harder, and in a more pleasing fashion to get back the title and win some fans so they actually WANT to see him fight. That would be better for all of boxing.
Outlander, what you're saying is true for Wlad, but why do you hold Vitali in the same regard? He's fighting in a completely different style, he's rarely jabbing, instead he's throwing power(arm)punches at different angles, and i wouldn't say he's too defense-minded. Sure his style might be ugly and robotic, but at least not as monotonous and boring as Wlad's.
Agreed. And in fairness Wlad tried the other fan-friendly style and lost twice due to it. He knows his limitations and fights accordingly. I don´t like the guy, but I´d do the same thing. Not his fault, that all these other guys suck.
I kind of feel the same way about Wlad. I don't like watching him fight, but the reason for his turtle style is quite simple - his chin. He does what he has to do, given how shit his chin is.
agREED. Due to his shaky stamina and chin...it is smart of Wlad to fight the way he does. Why take a chance of gassing out or getting bombed out again when he can win with room to spare against this bleak division? Entertaining us should not be his priority...winning fights should be.