Yes Ali did... I give him credit for it.... just like with ALL big punchers...they get in close you push them away or tie them up
Yup...BUT ali never utilized body punching or infighting. don't you think it would have improved his game?
I agree to an extent but you could also argue that Wlad has the best jab at HW & he also has the best 1-2. He throws the most viscious left hook too varying between a hook off the jab & a planted full power version.
it's not an argument he HAS the best jab and 1-2 at heavy. and left hook off the jab when it's used is incredible. the 1-2 is one of the only straight 1-2s in the division, not a modified hook like most. technique is near flawless
Yes I think it would have but not really his style. He relied on distance...Its hard to teach a fighter to fight in a way that is not comfortable or doesnt feel natural. Wlad is the same.... needs distance. Not an inside banger kind of fighter although he had been working very hard on his upper cut
Holding is a necessary evil. Just look at how much Cotto got nailed by Margarito because he refused to hold or tie up, That said i don't like to see it, it spoils fights. I'm actually surprised Wlad holds so much when he has such a good jab.
some of you should really stop watching Mike Tyson's highlight clips on youtube. Everyone fights to their advantages. If someone's short, like Tyson, they fight inside simply because they have no other choice. Wlad's main advantage is his height and reach, so he fights off the jab and when his opponent tries to close the distance, he clinches. He simply utilizes his advantages. Let's take football as an example. Someone like Jerome Bettis runs through people, simply because he's big and strong and lacks the speed to run outside. Someone like Warrick Dunn is dangerous on the outside because of his speed and agility. He can't run through defenders because he's too small for that. Are you going to call him a ***** because he doesn't run over defenders? Same thing in boxing. One uses their natural advantages to achieve the result.
Exactly. In boxing it doesn't mean a fighter fights scared just smart to play to their own strengths and their opponent's weaknesses.
Wlad is not a one-dimensional jab and grabber. He does it sometimes but he doesn't do it most of the time and he doesn't rely on it.
These "cowardly tactics" are the result of training under the wing of Emanuel Steward. This is how he trains his fighters to fight. Watching Wlad is like watching a bigger white version of Lennox Lewis after he started training under Steward. And the outcome was about the same, Lennox, a wild puncher and fast starter in every fight early in his career was put down for being a "boring" fighter in some of his later bouts after he started training under Manny Steward.