The right style to beat a prime Wladimir Klitschko?

My first thought was Lewis, he was the huge size to fully match Wlad, with slightly less height, but slightly more reach. I would say for safety-first boxing ability Wlad holds the edge & his hands are a shade faster when they're both bulked to maximum Peak size. However the difference is Lennox's lethal ability to slug & rough-house. If Lewis doesn't come out like a red hot killer (Golota destruction style), I see him being outboxed for the first couple of rounds, then employing the same sort of strategy he did against Vitali, with explosions of big bombs on the inside at the start of rounds, & vicious kidney-punching in the clinches. Except with a Peak, supremely conditioned Lewis, his timing would be impeccable & his accuracy practically laser-guided, plus he'd be able to work harder every round once in "seek & destroy" mode as the Lion's hunger burns inside of him. Ultimately, Lewis should wreck Wlad within the first 4 rounds. Then I noticed your height limit of 6'3, so Lewis is excluded I suppose.

My second thought was Tyson, although that heavily depends on the referee. If Wlad is allowed to excessively clinch & lean with his "concrete blanket", this could end up somewhat reminiscent of Tyson-Tucker, expect Wlad wins 5, 6 or 7 rounds of 12 rather than merely 2. This is down to Wlad being a superior, elite "Grade A" & larger incarnation of the safety-first boxer-puncher style which Tucker employs to a "Grade B" contender/beltholder standard. However, with a ref strongly opposed to clinching, & Tyson starting off like white-hot liquid mercury from the opening bell, Wlad is in for a nightmarish dirty savaging which may last anywhere from 2-7 rounds. Then I took notice of your rule against those with faster handspeed than Wlad, & a Peak Tyson certainly has lightning fast nuclear warheads in each fist, excluding him from the running...

So i'm going to be controversial & mention Ike. With 5 more fights experience to season him from where he was at after the Byrd destruction, against ranked decent contenders of course, & Eddie Futch in his corner... maybe Ibeabuchi had the raw potential to be something special. At 6'2 & without fast handspeed, he is very much acceptable under your rules. His insane Titanium Chin, ridiculous stamina & superhuman possible maximum workrate of heavy power-punches, make him ideal for intensely pressuring Wlad into eventually succumbing to fatigue. Although, Futch would need to teach Ike to use a good pressure-jab (don't know if this is possible), work the body far more, & improve the accuracy & consistency of his combination-punching ability. However, as it stands the actual 20-0 hot prospect Ibeabuchi is too raw & inexperienced to beat Peak Wlad, especially considering only 2 of those 20 victories were against quality contenders, plus a ref (for instance in Germany) who allows relentless usage of Wlad's "concrete blanket" of strength-sapping clinching & leaning throughout every minute of every round, would surely be enough to allow a one-sided out-boxing of Ike with ease.

 

solid chin,hard punch, combo puncher,stamina and some ability to cut off the ring and put on the pressure

 

Why stop there when Dempsey would be a modern welterweight, losing to Mayweather and old Mosley. :blood

I think with modern weigh in rehydration, Dempsey might even make light weight, not sure even that would help him though as he would still get outclased by.

 

Forget that dinosauer. You know Tyson only weighed 212 once, ...bah, he could drop some water weight and be a solid cruiser..maybe lose to Cunningham and Huck.

 

He wouldn't be in the same division today as Firpo either...

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Firpo would get nowhere today, hell even Tyson Fury would school that fool. :yep

 

He certainly has not proved he punch as hard any big man. He proved he had a huge speed advantage over those he fought but he didn't even fight the best of his era, let alone best of this era.

There's absolutely no proof his 1st round loss was a fix. He also got dropped throughout his career. There's no reason to believe he could stand up to wlad's power.

Best aggressive defence? He got timed and countered and arguably knocked out by slow firpo.

The only way he beats wlad is if wlad has two hands tied behind his back.

 

Tyson Fury needs to sweat off some water weight and challenge Martinez for the middleweight title.

 

How about a Catchweight of 205lbs for the Irish Heavyweight Title?

 

I agree that durability could be an issue, but at his best, Dempsey moved around the ring like a heavyweight Pacquaio, but could close the distance better than anybody I've seen.

He was also a great counterpuncher, and Wlad doesn't have a very good chin. I've seen Dempsey beat the **** outta a 247 lb fighter that kept getting up.

I'm certain he has enough power to put Wlad on his ass. The only issue against Wlad is whether or not Dempsey is durable enough to beat him because Wlad has a better jab than Williard, but he's no where near as durable.

Nobody gets up from that type of beating. Nobody except Williard.

If Demspey consitantly gets past Wlad's jab, I think he wins by KO. If Wlad can keep him at a distance with his jab, he wins.

In this case, Dempsey small stature and speed will work in his advantage.

Against Firpo, Dempsey just chose to go out there and wreck him, with no regard for defense.

Against the must larger Williard, he was far more cautious. Wlad ain't unbeatable, he's just a man.

I think Wlad is a great fighter and an ATG heavyweight, but Dempsey could very well push his **** in.

Tyson would for sure. He just don't have the durablity to handle Tyson.

And the way you make others from a different era out as if they weren't even human.

As if in general terms they weren't as fast as guys today. They were just as fast. So a speed advantage over guys then equals a speed advantage over guys today, especially when the top guys are Povetkin, Adamek, and Vitali.

Those guys don't have speed.

*keep in mind, Wlad has been down what? 13 times?

 

Dempsey is so flawed on film I can't imagine him lasting more than 4 rounds against Wlad. He is most decidedly not great at closing the distance as he usually loses his cool and rushes defenseless into his opponents wheelhouse. If he weren't fighting such hacks as Firpo or old part time pugilists like Willard, that porous defense would get exposed in dramatic relief. He had heart, was tough and could punch a bit. He just wasn't that polished or composed in the ring.

 

You must not have a good grasp of boxing then because he does a lot of subtle things in the ring which is one of the reason why he was so adept at counterpunching.

You should read his book. He's clearly a thinking fighter. And Wlad isn't exactly known for blasting opponents out in 4 rounds, and that's in era that's arguablly the worst in heavyweight history.

I suggest you read his book. He was at his best against bigger men and he looked untouchable against durable counterpunching Williard who had enough power to kill a man in the ring.

I think Wlad has better and faster footwork then Williard, along with a better jab, but Demspey destroyed Williard, so in my mind he could make it a signficantly competitive fight with Wlad who doesn't have much durablity at all.

The main problem with Dempsey is that he didn't adjust his style to fight smaller men. He was always aggressive.

Against Wlad, this is the only style he could use effectively.

 

In contrast, look at how guys close the distance at heavyweight today. Typical high guard defense that makes them a huge target. Completely inneffective against a guy like Wlad.

Then you got a guy like Chisora, no world beater, used a style at least similiar to Dempsey's, and gave Vitali the most competitive fight in years and clearly made him uncomfortable.

Chisora may very well be more durable than Dempsey, but that's his only advantage.

Speed and precision punching kills. Demspey had plenty of it.

The fact that Tyson can utilize a highguard defense and beat Wlad is mainly due to the fact that Tyson was a phenom, but also because unlike guys today, Tyson actually moved his head.

 

I don't think Haye moves or punches any quicker or harder than Dempsey. In terms of stature they really aren't that much different, except Haye is carrying extra muscle mass like most modern fighters. Haye's punches certainly hurt Wlad, his right hand in fact had him rocked in the 12th round. And Wlad's punches didn't magically reduce Haye to ash because he naturally falls in the cruiser range.

So given that Dempsey's punches could hurt Wlad and he isn't getting reduced to dust from the first punch that lands, all we are left with are skills and approach. And Dempsey certainly has that.

 

I have read Demspey's book and many more about him. He was my first crush in boxing.

Firstly, Willard was a 37 year old part time boxer who started late in life and never really showed a passion for the sport. Dempsey caught him at the perfect time, over-confident, undertrained, old... oh, and never really that good. Wlad has been groomed as a fighter since his teens. I have followed him since pre-internet days, 1994 or so. This is no side job for him. He is a very rare combination of speed, power and agility. The two fighters are barely comparable on any level. Not a good litmus test for how Dempsey would perform. Perhaps a better test would have been Wills but we know Slacker Jack was in no hurry to make that fight happen. He preferred the likes of Carpentier, sick Miske or the complete amateur Firpo. That, and sitting on his ass with belt for extended periods. Wlad, for all his faults and his stumbles along the way, has kept busy at the highest rank of the division.

As far as styles, Dempsey invites the right with his frantic, undisciplined rushes. He loved keeping that left low, as it was his favorite sweet spot for leverage. I don't think he lasts too many Wlad rights. I am not sure he even gets past the jab often enough to make any impact. Wlad controls this one from the start and ends it around the 4th or 5th.