Pulev Klitscko press conference earlier on today

I know Pulev's reputation is as a mediocre puncher, but I am not sure that's necessarily the case. I think he's safety first fighter and in a lot of his fights he simply doesn't try to go for the knockout, and is rather content with safely picking up rounds.

The fight I want to give you as a reference is tricky to judge, because the quality of the opposition is not great. It's the fight against Joey Abell. Pulev tries to fight his cagey style for a while, but then gets knocked off balance and gets flash-knocked down. At this point he seems more embarrassed than hurt really and he seem to throw his planned style of fighting out the window and goes hard for the knock out. Just about 5 seconds after the knockdown he knocks down Abell with a vicious body shot and then goes on for another knock down and the fight is stopped after 4 rounds.

Now I am not suggesting he's a great knockout artist or puncher, but I do believe his punch holds some weight and is not out of the question that he can hurt Wlad. The biggest problem for most fighters fighting Wlad is simply that they can't land a meaningful punch(be it because of much better technique by Wlad or because of the infamous hugfests he unleashes on them).

To this day the biggest known weakness of Wlad remains his chin. Most boxers in recent years haven't been able to even test it. For me the question is - can Pulev test Wlad's chin - and by that I mean - can he land meaningful shots on Wlad and can he launch sustained attacks if he rocks him to finish the fight? I don't think Pulev can win on the scorecards... he can give a spiritted fight, but Wlad just seems superior with his skill, variety, power and experience.

On the other hand Pulev to me is the closest to Wlad in terms of skill that Wlad has fought lately. Pulev won't consistently outbox him, but I do believe his own skill level is good enough to give him a shot at landing some meaningful punches. One punch won't do it, he doesn't have 1 punch knockout power, but if he catches Wlad, do you think Pulev has it in him to try to overwhelm winded Wlad with aggression?

 

Vlad has really stamina and has proven it time and again....................Vlad's chin is not glass, not at all, his defense is good, his jab is superior to Pulev's, his power is superior, his experience is superior, Vlad has it all, and, contrary to popular believe, Vlad can fight on the inside whenever he wants to, but he will fight as needed......................Vlad will fight like Steward taught him.............

 

You offer nothing to this forum at all.