How much did the Joshua fight raise Wlad's prestige?

He found a place in my heart after last nights performance, I'm genuinely gutted for the bloke because it's obvious he put everything into this fight.

As tempting a rematch sounds he should retire and accept it's one that got away, he had the fight won. I still can't believe Joshua got up from that shot and found a way to win.

Wlad, you've been a class guy in and out of the ring and you fully deserve to be ranked up there with the best of all time. Don't feel down, be proud about your performance because I am.

 

My take was a fun fight to watch. Wlad did himself proud in a losing effort. Both fighters showed heart in coming back. Nice to see an exciting heavyweight fight for a change.

I did think there was a bit too much feeling out in the early rounds before things heated up.

Joshua showed lots of skill and he has power. Chin? Might still be a bit of a question there. The one thing I really didn't like was how spent he looked in the latter part of the 5th round. I didn't see any reason for that.

Someone asked about the stoppage. I thought the ref was correct to step in when he did.

Yes, I think this is one of the few losses which will actually help a fighter's legacy. And, frankly, I personally hope Wlad hangs it up now. I think a rematch will just be a sad end for him.

 

I think he showed more heart in the Joshua fight than I've seen in any of his fights to be honest. Wlad is not accustomed to being in good fights so this was a breathe of fresh air.

 

For someone whose chin is always susceptible to pressure, wlad indeed has plenty of heart

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And gotta give props to Joshua... the guy is skilled and hung in there. 90% of heavyweights would have gone out like a light from that 6th round 1-2.

 

They're still sweeping up the glass so, not that much.

 

It ranks among the great losing efforts for a former champion, such as Jeffries Corbett I and Marciano Charles I.

 

He went up in my estimation for sure, he did far better than I expected. He was in against another athletic heavyweight of similar size and that really highlighted his skills for me. He usually has such a big size or speed advantage but this time it was all skills that's what really allowed him to do so well for so long in this fight.

He has better head and upper body movement than I had given him credit for, almost Vitaliesque in that regard. Showed more heart and desire than I have ever seen from him and you could really tell who was the experienced fighter and who the novice was, he had Joshua reacting to a lot of what he was doing even when he was doing very little. Had he pulled out a win people would be saying what a master class performance he had put on, he came so, so close and he hadn't declined half as much as I thought he had.

 

What a fake..

http://imgur.com/bsIkh2T

 

Wlads stock rose in the eyes of many fans last night.

Thats why i dont get why people duck each other. You can lose and your stock can get higher.

 

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A LOT for me. Never liked him in the ring. Congratulations to Wlad for fighting the fight of his life.

 

He went out like an old champ. He went out fighting.

 

he fought with the pride of a champion but the heart of a challenger. cheesey, and it's sad to see him go out on his shield but at least he went out with a bang