Wlad fought Byrd twice. Prime Byrd in 2000, and post-prime Byrd in 2006. He had an EASY fight both times. Golota might have deserved a win against Byrd, but maybe not. Quite a close fight if I remember right.
Its well known he beat Byrd. A guy deemed to irrelevant to step in the ring with the previous eras champion. But that didn't answer the question
I had no idea you were this big of a Wlad fan, but I can't disagree with your observations. Wlad is certainly an "atg" and ulnike Golota, he did beat Byrd from pillar to post.
I don't think Byrd was too irrelevant to step in the ring with Lennox Lewis. He was no less relevant than Kirk Johnson (who Lewis was planning to fight instead !), Frans Botha, Zelkjo Mavrovic ... was he ? .... or Hasim Rahman ! Your question is : why does Wlad fight like that?.... I guess because it works for him.
Plus their jabs are horrid !! They both have `push` jabs with hardly any snap on them ... Can`t believe they were even mentioned...
Larry Holmes promptly vomited when informed that the Klitchko`s were trying to scam their way onto this list...
I can plainly see you don't have the slightest idea of the various roles a jab is meant to perform, especially coming from a fighter with a size and power advantage. I suggest you get in the ring just onceĀ tho you wouldn't understand what Waldo is doing here until you've been in there for a decade.
ANYONE who thinks that Vlad`s push is anywhere close to the piston that Holmes used to shoot, doesn`t know boxing...Period... As for size and power ? I`d like to see him use it aggressively like Holmes,Lewis,Liston,Foreman etc ...
If you think a jab is only to be shot at one speed you are proudly proclaiming yourself as a simp. It amazes me at the lack of grasp of this complicated sport that people possess but feel the right to profess an opinion. If you know baseball, it's like a pitcher throwing fastballs, curves and change ups, to set a rhythm that an opponent can't follow or anticipate, to create an opening, to position an opponent in combination with shifting your feet, to hide a follow up right off rhythm. A jab is not something you simply pump out like a mechanical piston for 12 rounds. Otherwise, you are simply being one dimensional (see Ike Quartey). Waldo is also one of the best heavies at hooking of the jab, lulling a guy with his rockabye jab and turning on one for a hook. He has more than a few glaring deficiencies but his jab is not one of them. As for Holmes, he had a great jab, but wasn't he that guy who shot it from his hip and got tagged by counter rights?
Isn`t Vlad the one who when pawing with the `push` gets stopped and dropped by less than`s ? Holmes jab wasn`t just great (simp) it was the best ! As for talking about Quartey`s jab (not relevant to the discussion) or other boxer`s jab. It is THE jab we are talking about and rating them ! We are talking about fast,sharp jabs. Oh Vlad has a lullabye jab all right, and he hooks off it, wow ! But, (again) we aren't talking about left hooks,the thread is on the jab ! Vlad`s jab is way inferior to Holmes, Ali`s, Foreman, Liston and Bowe. FYI, Holmes shot it from the hip or chest, upstairs and downstairs with equal effectiveness. I just don`t think that the idea of the jab is to `lull `the opponent to sleep...
For your sake, I hope you are merely a really shitty troll because if this post speaks to your knowledge of the sport, I am a bit embarrassed for you. Try again.
I thought Lewis threw some of the hardest jabs I've ever seen when he was fighting Vitali, he literally stopped him in his tracks numerous times. That was one hell of a jab he had that night.
Nobody has mentioned Kenny Norton. Other than Bob Foster he is the only fighter I saw outjab Ali. Norton beat Ali to the jab in 3 fights. He was awkward and used his right hand to block the incoming jab. He also peppered Quarry with it brutally. Norton used it smartly against Jimmy Young as well.
Prime Greg Paige had the best HW jab bar none although he wasnt great mostly because of his own demons...besides Hearns' s its the best jab i've period.....the rest as follows Holmes, Biggs, C. Williams, and Tim Weatherspoon.....