[CLIP] Wlad v. Ibragimov: distance control

Straight legged, carries his hands low, brings his jab back insanely low, chin in the air, flat footed. Clear lack of fundamentals.

He'd get destroyed by modern heavyweights.

 

If I was, I'd still be smarter than you...and I'd still be able to ask you a question that you can't seem to answer.

 

Competition, competition,competition , or lack of it.

 

For sure. Would you say the ref's were quite lenient on the holding as well or was that ok?

 

Does distance control in this case mean the control I have over my head travelling the distance between my forehead and the table after falling asleep?

 

Max Kellermen almost seems confused as to why Wlad wasn't following the jab with right hand towards the end of the clip. I think the better question is why would he? Complete control and dominance over distance, no need to risk eating a counter left from a fighter who is very fresh at that stage of the fight and a live contender. Excellent performance from Wlad, demonstrating the art of boxing

 

I can't tell if your being sarcastic BE, I'm hoping not, because to me this kind of control over a fighter is what boxing is all about. All these fans calling for 'exciting' fights are dilusional. As the great Freddie Roach said, boxing should never be left to chance.

 

Wlad was a brilliant boxer, but he was so cautious as to render fights no more than foregone conclusions in many cases. I'm constantly vacillating between awe at his mastery over the art of pure boxing and frustration that he didn't open up more in situations where the risk was so minuscule as to be non existent.

 

I get your point, but he earned the right to take/not take the risks he did in the ring. If people want to judge his legacy on being a 'boring' fighter that's their problem and a wasted opinion.... In my opinion....

 

I think that's an excellent analogy. As a boxing fan I admit that I find dynamic slugfests between well matched foes far more enjoyable and easy to appreciate that clinical deconstructions of overmatched opponents, but I try not to let that blind me to the high degree of skill that the latter approach takes to be successful.

However, I can't help but feel that were refs more hardline on cutting down on Wlad's clinching he would have had a lot more hairy moments, since, as good as he was at controlling range, fighters were sometimes able to slip past his jab yet were never given the opportunity to capitalise on their moment of success. It's a type of fighting predicated on lax rule enforcement, and I can see why a lot of older school fans resent it.

 

I don't begrudge him the choice to play it safety first, but I do think he should be rightly criticised for the excessive clinching he employed as an integral part of his strategy in later years. It was a flagrant twisting of the rules to suit his ends and it should have been more strictly enforced in a fair and honest playing field.

 

That I cannot argue with!

 

It’s not confusion.

 

No, it could just be old fashioned bias I suppose.