Boxing in general was fairly dull compared to today. The gloves had very little padding so fighters didn't throw a lot of punches. Too easy to bust up your hands. Plus because of the lengths of bouts guys clinched repeatedly to preserve energy.
Greatest heavyweight who ever lived, and subsequently would have beaten any pro fighter whoever lived, especially when fighting in an aggressive manner which he occasionally would do against the bigger heavyweights. One taint against him though is that apparently he never fought a southpaw,..power punches coming from a direction you're not used to can really shake you up, so it would have been nice to see him tested with just one southpaw opponent at the least.
No. Steward has him copying Vitali's original style. You watch Vitali's first 30 fights and it is exactly what Wlad does now. Lennox throws his punches differently than either Klitschko. Not only did he do the pitching mound right hand (credit to Robert on Shant's board for that analogy), but he also mixed in a lot of uppercuts which is something neither Klitschko has ever done.
Lewis was definitely superior to Wlad in his punch variety and Vitaly in his technique and to both over all.
So Steward didn't train him in any of the techniques he used for Lennox Lewis? :dunno: I didn't say they were the same fighter or have the same skillset but he definitely incorporated many of the same techniques Lennox used. Mostly the ones that are least aesthetically pleasing but help Wlad protect his chin and keep his distance against opponents. Either all the way out or all the way in (on top of).
I hated him when he fought, but he was a great fighter. He could box from the outside and control range. He had a nice arsenal of shots as he threw uppercuts on the inside or outside effectively (although they were usually aided by his left glove on the back of his opponent's neck), his right cross was one of the best ever, he could throw a thumping jab or a pawing one to get the right distance for his right hand, had a decent left hook as well (see Bruno fight), and could go to the body at times too. Although his chin let him down against Rahman and McCall, he took some good shots from other guys throughout his career. Overall I'd say his chin was alright, as was his defense (or ability to use his offense as his defense). He faced a huge list of big or at least pretty good punchers (Weaver, Ruddock, Tyson, Holyfield, Rahman, Klitschko, Briggs, Tua, Morrison, etc) and only hit the deck twice, so his punch resistance and defense were good enough most of the time.
ATG Hwy. One of the best ever. The best of his era, & on his best night, tough to pick any fighter in history over him except Ali. (footwork would be the key here).
I'm sure he's using training techniques, but the style of Wlad's recent fighting is not like LL's. His style is exactly how Vitali used to fight. Jabs constantly..intermittent hook...protect melon at all times...unleash rights only when safe. LL, otoh, would engage, but he would then close things down by grabbing on. LL also used more fuel. He would try to get into position to fire his jabs and other punches. The Klitschkos don't like to burn any gas. Wlad knows what it is like to run out and I doubt we'll ever see him in that positition again.
I disagree, IMHO Wlad stylistically is closer to Lennox than to Vitali. Vitali throws 70 arm-punches per round. Wlad keeps jabbing and throws full throttle right hand every third round
Lewis is an ATG heavyweight and an absolute handful against any other heavy who ever laced em up. I understand why some people don't like him, because he was cagey at times (especially after McCall I), he was so good that most of his fights were one-sided clinics and that he has the charisma of a particularly dull fencepost. But the cold hard fact is that Lewis was a fucking tremendous fighter and the HW division still hasn't recovered since he retired. MTF
