Wlad/Peter 2

Well, all I can say is this... if this fight ever happens, I'd like all of you Wlad haters to put money on Peter. The odds will heavily favor Klitschko (he was the underdog in the first fight, btw), so I'd really appreciate if you could make the odds on Klitschko better for me. Klitchko by KO/TKO!
Thanks in advance

 

I didn't say he was ducking anyone. He's a steady, well schooled heavyweight who will go far but he doesn't have the KO power of Tyson, the ringcraft of Lewis or the chin or heart of Holyfield. How anyone can compare him to them because of a few WBO defences is beyond me.

Had he been around in their era he would have lost convincingly to all three because of the qualities I mention above & because of his undeniably weak chin. Klitschko doesn't inspire the world to sit up & take notice as much as the fanatics may beg to differ.

Good not great & thats all he'll ever be.

 

You think Wlad's vulnerabilities in 2008 are identical to his vulnerabilities in 2004??? You don't think he's taken steps to offset those vulnerabilities? Everyone else seems to have noticed...

 

That was a late edit.

I understand what you're saying but Klitschko is over hyped. He's been knocked out by three journeymen & it's a sad indictment of our weak heavyweight division that he returned to prominence so soon. I said before I respect his skill but he's nothing special &, even if he is, he certainly hasn't proved himself to be.

I never hyped Peter as the saviour of the division & as of now I see no reason for them to fight again as people seem to forget Maskaev is the WBC champ not Peter. I see no reason for Wlad to fight Peter again unless he becomes the full WBC champ. Hopefully this year we will see Klitschko fight three times against Iggy, Chagaev & Povetkin. If he comes through these he will pretty much be there & his resume will read better.

in 2009 he can finish off the business with whoever the WBC champ is then move on from there to build a legacy. I'm not pigheaded I'm just not as ready to bestow greatness upon Wlad like others are at this moment in time.

 

Fair. Let me ask you, are there any of those three (Iggy, Chag, and AP) that you actually favor over Wlad? I don't think any of them are hopeless by any means but I'd be hard-pressed to believe anyone saying they expected one of those guys to beat Wlad. So basically, unless you do expect one of them to beat him, what it sounds like is that you won't be impressed with Wlad until he does what you expect that he should be able to do if/when given the chance? So by your personal criteria you're not willing to call someone special based on their ability and potential until they have the right names on their resume (even if it's a safe bet that those names would end up as W's if the fights took place)? If so that's cool, we just differ in that respect.

 

None of those guys 'had a chance' to get at Wlad's chin, and that had nothing to do with what Wlad was doing? You think his defense is still leaky? How many clean, solid punches have been landed on him since the Peter fight? Is it even double digits? And at least one of his embarassing KOs can be chalked up to stamina, you've admitted that he's minimized that vulnerability. With his jab and defense, nobody's coming near his chin, so that takes care of another. Mental weakness just isn't an option under Manny (unless your name is Jermain...) - these guys have a tight, disciplined relationship and Wlad's got a better head for the game now than he ever has. He went from a flawed but skilled fighter to a scary god damn FREAK - mainly due to his bit-by-bit elimination of those weaknesses and sharpening of his preexisting strengths.

 

i don't agree. u know what the big difference between the first 2 brewster was? movement. wlad moved the whole second fight not ever letting brewster get set. watch the first one and you'll see wlad begin to stop moving in the 4th or so. that's when brewster did his damage with wlad right in front of him. also consider the white wolf fight. he was able to land cause sergei stood right in front of him exchanging. wlad won't do that. that's why he is so hard to hit.

as for peter. you maybe right he is the only one who could give wlad a rough fight now. but he must beat maskaev and perhaps vitali or virchis/gomez first for that to happen. if he can fight the same fight as he did the first time against wlad, no one can count him out. but i question if he is willing/able to take that much punishment again. peter must take care of business first.

maybe povetkin or haye can emerge as legit threats

 

How about none.Wlad ko peter 7

 

Yes we do differ. It's the same reason I dont place a certain Welshman in the upper echelons of boxings all time elite because he hasn't proved it. To be honest I do think any of those three could potentially beat Wlad because of his weak chin. I do expect him to come through the fights but there will always be a question mark because Wlad has to always be on top of his game from now on because if he gets hit hard we know what will happen. I want him to do this, I really do, we need it but he hasn't yet so I don't see how people can even mention him in the same breath as the big three.

 

By big three I'm going to assume you mean the trio of Lennox, Tyson and Bowe you mentioned earlier and not the eastern Euro prospective opponent shortlist.

I didn't compare him to Lennox, Tyson, or Bowe. The only statement I made for historical comparison was that "stacked against the top tens of any era, he could beat a majority". That doesn't mean he beats the #1 or #2 guys of any era. It means he beats more than half, say #4-10, #5-10, in some eras even the top guys.

And yeah, it's as I thought. See, I appreciate displays of skill more than I do trophies. For me a guy like Calzaghe has proven his greatness by his performances, not the name value of his opponents. The fact that he's fought B and A- guys and shined is enough for me, I don't care that he hasn't fought anyone perceived to be A+++. Same with someone like Mijares - who does not yet have a truly elite name on his resume, but I still consider one of the best fighters in the world right now, based on how excellent he's looked against good if not great comp.

 

That policy is flawed because Joe wouldn't have been allowed to do some of the things he did against better fighters but please lets not turn this into another JC thread.