prime Corrie Sanders vs 2017 Wladimir Klitschko

Corrie Sanders always wins that fight.

 

Agreed. Sanders was absolutely the wrong guy for Wlad...

 

Sanders KOs 2017 version of Wlad. Speed difference would be too huge to overcome

If you watch AJ vs Wlad and then AJ vs Ruiz 1 you'll notice that Ruiz had obviously better speed than Wlad of 2017.

Sanders was even quicker in his prime. Add his southpaw stance and unortodox technique and it would be an extremely hard task for 41 y.o. Wlad to survive early rounds.

 

2017 Klitschko was past it. A more fair comparison would be 2013 Klitschko, as that would make him 37 years old(the same age Corrie was when they fought). I think the Klitschko that KO'd Pianeta dominates Corrie, and makes it look easier than his brother did. The Sanders and Brewster losses are the best thing that ever happened to him. After both losses, he became a completely different fighter and started looking better and more dominant after every fight until age caught up with him.

 

Sanders, he was a stylistic nightmare for Wlad and Klitschko was past it in 2017. Still Wlad at his very best with Steward in his corner would stand a good shot, he was a much better fighter than the version Corrie hammered.

 

Those early losses made him far more cautious in most of his fights.

He was still vulnerable when pressured though.

He struggled with the crude Sam Peter.

He hit the floor about a dozen times in his career.

I wouldn’t have said that any version of Wlad would easily have beaten Corrie.

I think it was just a horrible stylistic match up for him.

 

I mean Sanders beats Wlad any time in their career imo.

He didn't bullrush Wlad, he countered him. He was able to time his 1-2 and get there first, and Wlad couldn't stand up to his power.

There's an argument he caught Wlad cold, but ultimately the fact remains he caught Wlad. Probably always would.

For Wald to win he has to do what Vitali did and whether the storm. But for me, the Vitali fight proves Sanders beats Wlad any time. Even with a different style and knowing what Sanders had to offer, Vitali was still hurt badly in the fight and almost stopped.

Wlad never survives that type of punishment and gets stopped every time they fight.

 

Sanders vs Wlad is like a modern day Frazier vs Foreman the result would never be in doubt.

 

Prime Corrie most likely catches 2017 Wlad and eventually gets the stoppage. Now prime Wlad (2007-2013) wears prime Corrie down and stops him mid rounds. But with Sanders hand speed and pop, he’d ALWAYS be a live dog.

 

Wlad improved after Sanders in several key ways.

His jab became a bit better and he was much more defence-conscious. He also learned to hold like a limpet at every opportunity which allowed him to control smaller boxers.

The fundamental problem Sanders posed to Wlad was the combination of three things: speed, power and accuracy, wrapped up in a southpaw package. He was also close enough to Wlad's size that Wlad would not be able to size bully him effectively. Wlad would have been able to react better to getting hurt, but he would not have significantly reduced his chances of being hurt in the first place. Nor would it have hardened his average chin.

Sanders was a natural at timing his opponents and shooting a lightning fast left straight down the pipe. I've heard some of his opponents complain that they simply couldn't see the punches coming. I can't see the stylistic changes that Wlad made affecting this equation.

For that reason I think that Sanders would still have had a good stylistic advantage, now coupled with stamina and footwork since we are talking prime versions.

 

I agree that Sanders' style is awkward for everyone, but Wladimir from 2017 was more experienced, more cunning but also more cautious than the young Wladimir, I think that with careful boxing Wladimir would win with a comfortable UD

 

I don't think his style was awkward for everyone. I just think his style was awkward for Wlad.

Wlad relied on being the bigger man and being able to use a combination of speed and reach to get to his opponent safely.

But Sanders was too big too bully and was quicker than Wlad.

Also Wlad had terrible recovery powers and Sanders had enough pop to hurt him.

Sanders lost enough times for us to know he isn't a h2h monster, he was just terrible for Wlad.

 

I agree but I do think at his best Sanders was a very good heavyweight and one of the most dangerous southpaws we’ve ever seen at heavyweight (few as there have been). I rate him higher than Zhang and Ortiz.

 

I would say he's in that same kind ballpark as Ortiz and Zhang yes.

But he isn't a mythical h2h monster, neither is Buster Douglas.

He's someone who was very good and was able to put on a show when the stars aligned.