Why did dethroned, 17 month older, inactive, away Wlad at 41 do so much better against AJ than Fury?

Styles make fights

 

Styles

 

Didn’t take Fury seriously and didn’t think he could lose in Germany. Wlad from AJ’s fight beats Fury.

 

He wasn't focused when he fought Fury. He was very focused against Joshua.

 

Styles mostly, although a few other factors are at play. Aj is more robotic and easier to hit and easier to outbox than Fury. Wlad was not a good infighter or a good combination puncher and loved to stay at range. Fury's slickness, mobility, and reach took away Wlads jab, grab tactics. Fury sort of shut him down. He did not have the heart to drag Fury in a dogfight, wheras Joshua had little head movement and was practically out on his feet gassed and hurt in the mid rounds and Wlad had more opportunities to land. I think Fury would still beat 2017 past it Wlad in a much harder fight.

However like i said it isn't just that. Wlad was more gunshy against Fury even though Fury wasn't countering anywhere near as much as Aj nor did he hit harder. I did see that something was a bit off that night. Wlad was on a mission to get his belts back after the Fury loss. He was noticeably more focused. Thats why he wanted to rematch Fury badly and Waldo himself claimed he would let his hands go against Fury when they were supposed to fight again. If that rematch happened i genuinely believe he would have had a 50/50 chance of beating Fury, even at 40 years of age.

Styles make fights. A decent sized world class heavyweight who can put his punches together and walk Fury down has a good chance at beating him. Thats why i am 99% sure Joshua is going to beat him. 1% unsure because the bodybuilder has a glass chin

 

Against AJ he was in there with a less experienced and much more stationary and hittable fighter than Fury.
I also think he went in to the fight regretting not letting his hands go more in the Fury fight, and he had it in the back of his mind, that this time he was gonna make sure he'd throw.

I also think that, as others have said, Wlad didn't take Fury too seriously. I reckon that he had more respect and fear for AJ as an opponent going into that fight than he did for Fury.
AJ was a heavily hyped olympic gold medalist and knockout artist, and as we all know Wlad didn't tend to take shots from hard punchers all too well.

Fury on the other hand had been dropped by two non punchers and was a bit of a joke in boxing for having punched himself in the face. His unimpressive physique and animated personality didn't help in getting fans to take him seriously either. He didn't have nearly as much hype behind him as AJ did.

 

Well, I don't know if Wlad did a LOT better against Joshua. Wlad was floored a bunch of times and was stopped.

Fury didn't really hurt him all that much.

Joshua is a fairly standard, straight-up, British heavyweight. He doesn't do anything that isn't by the book. There are no surprises with him. He didn't confuse Wlad.

Fury does a lot of improvising. For a rigid fighter like Wlad, who relies on repetition, improvisation confuses him. Wlad spent most of the night in his boxing pose unable to pull the trigger because Fury would change up when Wlad found his rhythm.

And it made Wlad reset. Wlad spent most of the night "resetting."

 

He was 39 and fought already the year of the Fury fight, he needed a break. When he got a break, he came back looking very good.

 

Was AJ green and a novice at the time of fighting Wlad?
Was Wlad not motivated and distracted by personal issues vs Fury?
Was it a styles make fights?
Did Wlad actually do SO much better as you stated? Both fights were competative, AJ knocked out Wlad where as Fury ran away to a decision whilst only managing to land an average of 7 punches per round.

 

1) Motivation. Not only was Wlad probably getting complacent in his long run of defences, but his marital problems at the time are well documented. A hysterical wife at home suffering from depression is a big distraction from the task at hand. Against AJ, Wlad's focus was obvious.

2) Styles. Fury is something Wlad hadn't seen in a very long time - a guy bigger than him that was also a highly skilled outfighter with a reach advantage. Wlad uses his footwork against the big guys to dictate when the exchanges happen, and Fury's elusiveness was a problem for him. Wlad likes to set everything up off the jab, but Fury's own long jab and constant feints and movement was an endless distraction and disruption. By the 12th round when Wlad knew he'd blown it, and let his hands go with a bit more fluidity, without so much emphasis on the technical aspects, he had more success.

In some ways I think the more offense-oriented younger Wlad would have done better than the older master boxer version.

 

aj vlad both prepared to trade
fury vlad cagey affair

 

If it were that easy, someone would’ve beaten him by now. And 99% sure? Surely you know boxing well enough to know a 99% chance almost never exists.