CLASSIC FIGHT NIGHT THREAD:Wilder-Fury II

I know how to fight and, more importantly, I know how to watch and evaluate fights. If you knew anything about boxing you would know that Wlad K. is plenty skilled. You seem to be confusing a lack of action with a lack of skill. A common noobish mistake that boxing fans can usually overcome, but seeing how you've been watching fights for many decades, you're probably hopeless at this point.

The funny thing is that if you woke up tomorrow and saw some grainy black and white footage from the early 1900s of a man 5 inches shorter and 50 lbs smaller than Fury moving half as well as him, controlling the distance, using great head movement, etc. you'd be on here crowing about how he's the greatest heavy of all time*.

*edit: actually, you would probably need to read other people make such a claim in magazines and books first.

 

I know, I was citing his two best results pre-Ali sarcastically. Drawing with LeDoux and beating Righetti doesn't make you fit to contend for a Cracker Jack prize, let alone the HW crown.

 

Super heavyweight boxing has become a sport of its own. This isn't boxing (unlike other divisions) and I have been saying it for years. Once fighters get over 240 it's about who has the longest arms or can control the superheavyweight pace. Furry has the longest arms and for now, he sets a better pace than the last champion.

Klit depended on control just like Lewis did under Manny. When you have control nobody can exploit your weakness. It used to be about overcoming the other guy, forcing superiority over the rest without depending so much on physical advantage and stopping the other man working.

Super heavyweight boxing depends on a big champion who can control the pace, stop the other man working as well as land from a distance beyond that of which his opponents can reach. For many years the Klit boys mastered this format. Then along comes a bigger guy who (for now) had more pace.

It's not willingness to engage. If your used to getting by on advantage what do you do when you need to get past a long reach yourself? Superheavyweight are often too big to slip a jab in the way fighters from all other divisions can. Work rate is much too measured to develop such sophistication.

 

Talk about delusional..... atsch

 

Sad, Sad day for boxing... the graves of greats are spinning.

not only one of the most unworthy challengers to disgrace the squared circle, but as I stated early it'd be even more proof of just how bad it has become if this boy should win.

Best of luck to Fury, nothing to do with him personally, though boxing in general and the HWs (S-HWs), STINK!

 

You're probably right.

They've both got a reputation for dodgy chins and neither wanted to get knocked out. So neither really took any risks. I'd have liked to have seen the Mercer version of Klitschko against Fury ... somebody who wasn't afraid to mix it up.

But maybe a fire got lit under Wlad's ass for the rematch.

I think his problems are more mental than physical.

He needs to go into the fight with the attitude of "do or die".

 

Fury could go on to become a very good champion.
People need to give him credit now, surely.
He's got an ugly, awkward style, but he doesn't lack skill and ability. And he tried to win the fight, which he did, fair and square.

Yes, Wlad was old, what's new?
Wlad built a large part of his reputation beating up old men too.

IF Fury can keep it together, he can IMPROVE a lot. He's only had 25 pro fights !

 

I've got to give Fury credit I thought he'd be knocked out, but he won the fight comfortably.
Infact I think he exposed Wlad for what he is, a limited fighter.

 

This was the first Wlad fight I watched since Haye, I think. Not because I think Fury is an exciting fighter with a pleasing style, but because I was genuinely interested in seeing how Wlad fared when being at disadvantage rather than advantage in reach and height. I felt he could have trouble adjusting his style, and he had.

Terrible, terrible fight really, but interesting to see nonetheless.

I always felt Valuev would have been a tricky proposition for Wlad and feel even more so now.

 

See the thing is, I would favour Haye over Fury.

So I don't believe that at all Choklab. I think Fury is clearly a superior boxer to this version of Wlad, and by clearly I mean he was able to beat him to the punch and out muscle him inside. But I don't think Fury is as daunting a task for traditional sized HW fighters.

 

I was as suprised as everyone else, but people claiming this was the best version Vlad is just plain silly. The man is 39 years old, there is just no way around it. Just look at the fight, he stalked and stalked without ever throwing. That's what happens to old fighter, look at Louis and old Foreman. They can still see the openings but they just don't react fast enough.

Vlad has always been skilled in the way that he knew how to best use his assets, but he was never some master boxers. The key to his success was his massive punching power, people tend to forget that because he is so defensive. But it was the power that won him fights, when other fighters tasted it they went in to their shells.

Like all big punchers he becomes a different fighter when his reflexes erode and he can't land anymore. Against a smaller guy that he can reach from the outside he will probably still be able to dominate, but Fury is to big and mobile and didn't give Vlad the time he needed to get set. I think Fury will dominate a rematch, he will be more self confident and his opponent will be even older. A puncher like Vlad is never more than one good punch away from victory though.

Fury is better than I thought, and he will probably get much better still. It will be nice to see him in with some of the other young fighters of the division. We may finally get a fun heavyweight scene again, the future looks bright!

 

The end of the Klitschko era.

Fury did what he had to do. I thought he'd be layed out by a good right hand, but it took 12 rounds for one to land. Wlad can't pull the trigger anymore and Tyson has an awkward style, almost like Vitali. Still, the Brit is a character, an entertainer. Good to see him take over the crown. Would love to see him vs Joshua or Povetkin - who has scored devastating KOs recently. A unification bout for Wilder's WBC title would be even better. :bbb

When Wlad beat Byrd in 2006, I thought a couple of defenses plus his initial alphabet reign would make for a nice, Patterson-esque legacy. But the amount of title defenses he's racked up since then is unbelievable, look at all the green:

http://boxrec.com/boxer/7035

Still undefeated with Steward in his corner!
(If you don't counter Brewster I. :yep)

I hoped he would retire, but it looks like he'll exercise the rematch clause. :!: I think Fury can get a TKO win, now that he knows Wlad's timing is gone. He almost got it in the 11th when he upped his offense output.

Generally, unless the first fight was a fluke, rematches are won more easily by the same winner. And yesterday was no fluke; Wlad's timing is shot to pieces. Just a puncher's chance now. As I've repeatedly stated here in the past, he's been declining since 2009, and by the Jennings fight he was in really bad shape. Yesterday reminded me of an uglier, older version of Louis vs Charles.

Sidenote: Lennox Lewis was part of Germany's RTL telecast team, interviewing Fury, Wlad and Vitali. Post-fight, Lewis was verbally pushing Vitali a bit, and asked him if he'd come back to fight Fury, upon which Vitali pointed to Lewis "You come back and fight me first!". :dead

 

Leon Spinks, and that’s about it.

So how damaging is this loss?

Not particularly in resume terms, because Wlad has already built an all-time resume.

How damaging it is to have lost his title specifically to Fury, is hard to judge at this time.

Fury has not beaten a ranked contender previously, but he has not fought one previously.

The positive of this result is that we won’t have to listen to Klitschko fans proclaiming that he has surpassed Joe Louis’s record, when he defends the Indifferent Boxing Federation belt for the 27th time.

The negative of this result, is that we are going to start to see people picking Fury over all the greats of the past.

 

Has Wlad ever beat a boxer with a greater reach and height than himself (too lazy to check Boxrec)?

 

It would be interesting to see Mikes reaction on a guy who was specifically name after him winning the title.