The Sanders from the Wladimir fight - hugely motivated and in great shape How do you rate his chances of beating the sturdier mentally stronger granite chinned version of the Klitschko robot?
I think that a younger version of Sanders could have matched Vitali for timing and that his increased mobility and workrate might have been problematic. He had Vitali rocked with his counter-left, and if he'd been just a little younger, faster, more in shape ... he might have ended it. I was hugely disappointed at the condition that Sanders arrived in for that match. That said, Vitali really impressed me with his defence and ability to land over and over on Sanders without getting tagged back. His ability to judge distance was almost supernatural for a big HW, and Sanders' big punches were missing him by a whisker all night. I had written Vits off as a big lunk with a great chin and not much else; I was forced to severely reappraise him after that one. I'd say that Sanders could beat him, but that you'd probably have to favour Vitali even over a better version of Corrie. That ridiculous chin means he can eat power punches and stay in the fight.
Could, sure he could. Any big puncher with fast hands could beat anyone. Sanders did land some hard shots, only to find that his puncher's chance was mitigated by Vitali's iron chin. If Lewis fought the same Sanders and got caught, he's taking the count. Would he? Not likely. Sanders did well in round one ( the only round he won ) and had some moments in round three. He landed a few very fast counter lefts, but Vitali adjusted, and started to use his jab and mix in body shots. Sanders had no answer for either. Its actually a good fight to watch.
Vitlai was NEVER beaten in a fight. But he could get injured. Sanders was no slouch and could cut up Vitali, and force a stoppage if he came to the fight in shape. So yes, he could win of course.
I'm a little bummed that Sanders only got to face the really big names when he was just about done boxing. His gas tank and footspeed had gone by then. I think he'd have been a much bigger force in the HW division than he'd been, if only he'd had a promoter that could have got him the relevant fights earlier.
Sanders nukes had Vitali wobbling like a tower of jelly. Not even Lewis' uppercut had Vitali that hurt A prime motivated in shape Sanders could have continued the onslaught in the second, or caught him later, and brought the giant iron chinned machine to it's knees
Sanders would have a chance against any heavyweight in history, even the version who fought Vitali. I've mentioned it before; the punch that Sanders hit Vitali with in the first round was the single hardest punch I've ever witnessed anyone get hit with (in person).
I say definitely, but highly unlikely. I think Corrie Sanders is one of the greatest heavyweight punchers of all time. What really impressed me about Vitali, and not only in this fight, but really all of his except for Lewis is his ability to fight at range, his chin, and this ability to make his opponents fight at his pace. He doesn't have the one punch power of Wlad, but he's so much better in all areas. Somehow I don't know exactly how to describe it, he sets the tempo of the fight and gradually breaks his opponents down.