Probably not. Frustrates me that Wlad didn't take the gamble and go all in when he had AJ in a good position. Credit to AJ all the same, he did well to hang in there and came back superbly. The scorecards annoyed me a bit too, but that was to be expected. Was a fun fight but people forget that the first few rounds were not very exciting at all. Blows my mind that this was voted fight of the ****ing decade
Fantastic performance from Joshua, destroyed one of the best and most motivated versions of Wlad we have we’ve seen.
Banks actually told Wlad to finish him, but Vitaly told him to pace himself. Still both Wlad and AJ looked great and it was a good final fight for the 41 year old champ.
Did he? I always thought Vit advised him to go all out too, maybe I'm mistaken Yeah, a good end to his career actually. Sad it took to that point of his career for some people to respect him but it is what it is
Wlad is a good man, but as an old school fan of the sport I simply could not get behind his dirty tactics and boring style. I prefer the sweet science to a wrestling match.
Dirty tactics are as old as the sport is itself. He was in plenty of stinkers, but I always liked him. And I've disdain for Hearn, so anyone making him rich is typically someone I want to lose. Though not always
Vitali, also in his brother's corner, had since admitted: "When Wladimir almost knocked Joshua out, I gave him the wrong advice. I was positive that Joshua, with his huge muscle mass, would not be able to last [the distance]. "I advised Wladimir not to rush anything. I had hoped that after the seventh, the eighth round... Joshua would really slow down. Now I think that maybe it was a mistake, maybe it was necessary to finish him off sooner." And then... "I said: 'Wladimir, you've got to finish this guy,'" Johnathon Banks, the head trainer, exclusively told Sky Sports. "'No more boxing. Go get him! He's still hurt. You've got to finish him!' So it was Vitali, his brother who advised him to back off and not go for the knock down straight away.
