Ibragimov was a pretty damned good fighter..a clever, underrated fighter...I think he was Wlad's best opponent.
Nobody said size has no advantage. I pointed out to McGrain the non-truths you speak about Wlad. Let me go one step further. Buster Douglas could be classed as a SHW. Lets compare his fight against Mike Tyson and Wlads fight against Povetkin. Douglas has Tyson in front of him. Wlad has Povetkin. Right off the bat we can agree that Tyson was the better and more dangerous fighter by a landslide. No contest at all. How according to you does the best mover in HW history of all the big men fail to keep it long against Povetkin every minute of every round? If his feet are the basis of his defense , why was he on Povetkins back more times than he threw punches? Povetkins feet constantly beat Wlads feet. Wlad failed horribly at keeping him at bay. His only defense was breaking the rules by bear hugging the **** out of him. What your making up about Wlad is what Douglas did to Tyson. A masterclass in stick and move against one of the greatest HWs of all time. He kept Tyson on the outside every round. Using a real jab , taking a step back and out to the side. He never once had to jump up on Tyson for dear life. Thats what you call controlling distance. Vitali also controlled distance better than Wlad. You jsut need to look at their common opponent - Sam Peter. Manny had to beg Wlad to stop holding Peter. Even the Germans began booing him for clinching so badly. This is against the woefull Peter who couldn't pick up a pace to catch a million dollar bill. In the first fight , Wlad used space so well , he was crawling around on all fours. Peter couldn't get anywhere Vitali. He never came close once and Vitali never once clinched or held onto him. Same with Chisora. He lead Chisora around the ring out boxing him cleanly albeit in a hard fought fight. You can bet your ass Wlad would of been all over Dell Boys back something horrible. But it never came to that because Wlad pulled out of that fight. Wlad having the best and quickest footwork out of all the big men is a load of bollox. Buster Mathis moved around the ring better than Wlad.
What non-truths? Me repeating what his trainers, his opponents and his opponents' trainers have said? Those non-truths? Dude, give it up. You are on island regarding Wlad... and it's tedious hearing your half baked, biased rants that have no logical flow, that display no knowledge or understanding of how the game works inside the ropes and which are contradicted by the statements of professionals of the highest order.
Many Steward said what was in his fighters best interests. I can pull many statements from pro fighters that conflict what you said. Everything i post is based off the reality i see in front of me. Lets not have a game of what he said-she said , yeah? About not knowing knowing what goes on inside the ropes, ive sparred many, many rounds and train two times a week. In my 20's i boxed 4-5 times a week and first entered a boxing gym when i was 12 years old.
U hit the nail on the head. Although I think Lewis is overrated. Wlad is way way overrated. The Povetkin fight was the last straw. I'll never wach him again. That wasn't even a fight it was really awful.
Sure, Wlad is supremely good when dictating the pace. But with "defence" I mean when having to fight outside your comfort zone. Controlling a smaller fighter with your jab and right hand is offense, not defense. Defense is when you have to react to your opponent (as opposed to forcing your opponent to react to you). An Wlad is hands down one of the most terrible fighters I've ever seen in this aspect. He's beyond bad. He's so awful it's embarrassing for an elite pro. These are harsh words, but I feel they are justified. When he gets hurt or just badly pressed, he doesn't move his head, hardly blocks or parries and moves straight back. It is really, really bad stuff. At best, he manages to hang on for dear life. With that said, Wlad is fantastic at what he does best and I'd bet on him against the great boxers like Ali and Holmes. But Lewis would take him way out of his comfort zone more times than not and finish him off something brutal.
Not getting hit is not the same as a good defense. You can manage that with reach advantage and a good offense. And, as in Wlad's case, with also getting away with way too much holding. Wlad is one of the very best SHWs at controlling range. But when he can't, he's more clueless than any elite pro I've ever watched. Probably more clueless than any pro I've watched, period. And that's not the sign of a good defense.
Good call. Assuming Lewis ego is in focus and his perpetration is as good as Wlad's I favor him slightly as he has more confidence early in a fight. Lewis for whatever reason wasn't good at controlling the tempo of a fight. I think he needs to win in the first half of the fight.