Yep, Wlad at his best verse Jack Johnson, the heavyweight champion of the world. Rules of the time and 40 rounds!??
I'll agree with the stopping him but I don't see it being so easy George. Johnson faced so many different styles, sizes of opponents that by 1908 he' had a wealth of experience. I know people will say that he never faced a guy like Wlad but we have to remember, this would have been the Era that Wlad was born in to. He's bringing nothing from the future here so it's more a even footing. Saying that, just the physical advantages would give him a edge over Jack but I don't see it been a one way, one sided fight. Nevertheless, I've got Wlad winning but Jack makes him work for it imo.
I'm confused! In the OP you say Wlad at his best - but now you say, we're talking about a Wlad, who was born in Johnson's time. We have obviously no idea, how he would have turned out in that era.
Jack simply wouldn’t have the physical advantages he enjoyed in most of his fights, although the clinches in this one would be very interesting! I think Wlad would be able to stay on the outside enough to make his jab the dominant force here, outscore Jack and win a fairly convincing ud.
The rules of that era, would tip the odds strongly in Johnson's favor. Jabs were not even taken into account in scoring by some officials, and aggression was heavily favored. Wlad would basically need a knockout to win. Wlad almost certainly couldn't outlast Johnson, so all Johnson has to do, is not get stopped in the first twelve or so rounds. The smaller gloves would be unfamiliar to Wlad, and they would permit a whole myriad of clinching technique, that was totally alien to him, as he would find if he ever entered MMA. Also he would probably need to put Johnson down for a ten count, because the referee is unlikely to stop it!
Wlad's strength would overwhelm Johnson and wear his down, making him ripe for a KO. Everyone who has spent the last decade and a half complaining about Wlad's clinch work need now give him his propers. You can't do what he did unless you are Herculean strong.... especially given the strength of his opponents relative to what Johnson faced.
Well just imagine the best version of Wlad fighting in the early decade. His strength and weaknesses but with out modern input. Can we do this? Do we do this in most match ups, can we see Wlad still being as good as he was, as successful in Johnson time? It's a little like when we have say, a Dempsey V Modern day fighter matched up. Do we bring Jack, his actual size and weight forward against the today fighter and is that unfair? Whereas here, it's Wlad going back.
Johnson, but not confident. Definitely don’t see a KO either way. Very competitive matchup. I don’t think a fighter in history had more dominant performances at their peak than Johnson. Burns was small? Yeah, but Johnson was also announcing his moves to Burns before executing them. During a professional championship fight he was laughing, toying with his opponent in ways no boxer should ever be good enough to do, trading jabs with ringsiders, talking to photographers, joking with reporters, and lifting Burns up off his feet with his punches.
