My take on why each guy didn't finish the other in rounds 5 and 6.

From an American point of view, here is why this fight did not end in either round. Don't fly off the handle until you see my point.

Both guys showed tremendous chins and heart in this fight tonight. What Americans are used to is watching heavyweights land to the head and body when finishing guys. These two guys punch so hard that I wondered why they didn't go downstairs. But then I realized that neither guy was or is an effective inside fighter. It's either jab, land a bomb and clinch. Most fighters do keep up the heat and try to connect to the head, but what's missing imo in today's fighters is using the body attack to help finish guys when they're hurt.

Lennox Lewis was able to fight inside and he would go to your body when he had you hurt. Holyfield too, Tyson too. Now you have anomalies like an Ali who didn't go to your body if he had you hurt because his connect percentage to his opponents head was amazing. Vitali too though Vitali did land some body shots.

Joshua did attempt to and landed a few body shots in the fight. He didn't land any on Wlad after he knocked Wlad down. Wlad, I didn't see any body punching after knocking down Joshua. The European fighters in the lower weights do pressure and body punch. Some of those guys stay inside, but most either use angles or box like the heavies.

The art of infighting has been lost in both Europe and the states. How many guys can you name today who fight on the inside? Roman Gonzalez, Loma, Crawford, Beterbiev, Bradley??? There are a few others that I haven't mentioned, but I'm talking about fighters who can and will fight you on the inside whether hurt or putting on the hurt.

So my point is that while I used to think that it was a European thing that they didn't like fighting inside...many fighters here in the states also while great boxers don't fight inside either. And I don't think that it's because they don't want to, it's just how the sport has changed.

I have to admit that the game has changed. More fighters are using more angles and more movement rather than sit down and scrap ala Castillo Chico. On the lower levels of boxing you do see more inside fighting, but in the big fights more lateral movement is happening. Phone booth fights are disappearing yet we are still getting great fights.

Tonight's fight was a great fight. Props to Joshua and Wlad.

 

Wlad's timing has gone to the dogs, he was missing with his right hands and hooks.

 

I think Wlad was just gunshy after getting dropped and didn't want to overly commit. Joshua was throwing far to wild and burnt out. IMO that was why it wasn't ended in 5 or 6.

It was very impressive to see AJ come back. I had him written off after that bomb.

 

Hands.

 

Those were some of the worst hooks I've ever seen him throw.
Manny would have blown wlad eardrums in the corner

 

I would say its a lost art but some of the smaller guys right now are amazing body punchers. When wlad had AJ hurt, he should have gone downstairs first then came up. Same with AJ when he first had wlad hurt. Instead of blowing your load all on head shots, set them up with the body first.

 

I don't think that Wlad became gunshy. He's 41 guys. He fought tons better than he did against Fury but i just think that his age was why he couldn't keep up the heat. Had Wlad or Joshua waded in and threw head and body shots they could've either caused more damage or finished their quarry in those rounds.

Leonard hurt Hearns to the head and finished him to the body. He kept Hearns hurt to the body after landing to the head.

 

Both went out of gas after the first knockdowns.

The younger Joshua Recovered better , faster from all that action and klitschko not.

 

Good point. You see how both guys had to rest? Joshua needed more rounds to rest, but he got his second wind.

 

Agreed, but he's 41.
Had he waded in more he could've been more successful. Same with Joshua.
They might've taken more punishment but they also mightve caused more damage.

 

You don't have to be on the inside to land body shots, heck you can just throw a straight cross to the body or a sharp jab like Floyd/Ward does. I made a similar post in my thread though, if Wlad had a better arsenal of punches he could have easily got Joshua out of there in rounds 5-6, Joshua did and he won (though he still had a similar preoblem in round 5)

If you have a guy ready to go, he's instantly gonna go into a shell and you have to find ways to break open that shell, you can't just keep looking for a single massive shot, someone like Joshua will see it coming and evade/block it or just take off the sting of it in some way.

I mean Wilder, for all the criticism I give him is a good finisher, when he has you he throws so many punches from so many angles there's nothing you can do.

 

I thought the biggest difference between Wlad in this fight and Fury was that -- in addition to having a target who was more in front of him and not elusive -- in this fight Wlad did a lot of leading.

His timing in this fight and against Fury on counters was off -- sometimes he pulled the trigger late, most of the time the opening was gone before he could pull the trigger. That's old age, reaction time being blown. Timing is far less important when leading as opposed to countering. And he did a lot more leading, a credit to game-plan adjustment.

But I 100 percent agree on the lack of body shots. A few well-placed ones by either guy while trying to finish the opponent could have gone a long way toward ending it earlier.

 

It's far more dangerous to throw straight rights to the body or jabs to the body. Only a Ward or Floyd and maybe a few others can do that because they have the speed and athleticism to recover. Other than that good post.

 

Good post, Blizzy

 

Well said.