I think Wlad is one of those boxers who bloom late, all his best qualities lent that way - his frame massed up more, got stronger because of this, and his level of skill had a lot of improvement to make from his early days, plus he started late in boxing too, I believe?. In addition of course, heavyweights hit their prime later than the usual midtwenties of athletes. So his prime was his early thirties. Hes actually in steady decline now, losing muscle and speed marginally but not gaining any skill, but it doesnt show because of the number of unranked bums he is fighting.
After those early losses he completely rebuilt his technique, training, team. etc.. IMO, he didn't enter his prime until after a few fights with Steward. He's certainly in his prime now.
The Sanders fight left many people with the impression that all you need to do is to jump Wlad, and he will implode. But in the other 59 bouts Wlad been in he actually fought back. If you believe Wlad really panicked multiple times against Mormeck then you should perhaps rewatch and give it a second thought. Wlad controlled the fight complety and knocked his man out early, as expected since Mormeck is crap at HW. Why do you think Haye is a blown up CW? He did not look bulked up when he walked around at 210 pounds, in fact he looked lean and mean. Power and speed was all there. Hayes style is not tailor made for Wlad. Wlad gets the chills when he cant establish his offence, and he struggles with opponents that can match his reflexes and speed. Wlads best wins are Byrd and Haye. Sam Peter is limited and crude, but he was in shape when he fought Wlad.
How many fighters have Sanders attributes? Has Wlad fought someone like Lennox Lewis, or Tyson who would start fast against him? We know that Sanders had great success with this tactic. He has no inside or mid-range game. Every time feather fisted LHW Mormeck got anywhere near Wlad, he clinched up, and did it so many times it was disgraceful, he should have had a points deduction! You'd think at least a few of those times he'd try an uppercut, a hook... Haye's style is tailor made, he's an outside counter puncher, apart from being overweight and well past his prime, he couldn't be more tailor made for Wlad. He had the attributes of speed, reflexes and power, but was afraid to test himself. Haye himself said if he had to, he could still make CW, his best years were at CW, he's not a genuine HW like Wlad is. Chris Byrd is also a great stylistic match-up for Wlad, a 6 ft, feather fisted blown up SMW who's also a defensive counterpuncher. Haye and Byrd are both good wins, but neither are genuine HW's and they both match up very well for Wlad. He has a very limited offense, and can only fight on the outside. You can argue that Haye and Byrd are his best wins, you're probably right. However his career defining win is the one against Sam Peter, who's crude, limited and overweight. He went life and death with this guy! There are so many HW's in history who can beat 'prime' Sam Peter, it's really not that impressive against some of the All time Greats that Wlad is compared to. The Klitschko's rank very well H2H due to their size and skills, however they aren't as good as their fans make out, and have been made to look far better by one of the weakest eras in history.
I dont think Sanders was that good. He seemed a bit flabby and with limited skill. I am more inclined to believe that a mental weakness within Wlad caught up with him on that specifik night, a weakness he normally keeps in check. Many opponents have tried to bumrush Wlad, in hope that the Corrie Sanders wonder would repeat itself. They give it up when Wlad starts to dish out life long brain damage. Lewis would blast Wlad. Unsure about Tyson. With a German ref Wlad would perhaps be able to tire him out with his octopus routine. Guess so. Steward was going crazy on his ass. Mormeck was a dead man walkning in any case. I think you are completly wrong. Wlad prefears stationary targets. It makes little difference if they are sturdy and strong and comes at him. As long as he can establish his offence he will break them. Elusive fighters like Haye who can bang is his nightmare. It's true he spent more time at CW, and if he has made the weight before he probably can again. But if you look at weigh in photos before the fight with Wlad you can see Haye was not bulked up. And in that fight he had trained specificly to maximize his speed, and still landed at 210 pounds. So how can he not be a natural HW? Byrd is on paper a better win than Haye, but I agree his average power at HW made him a better style up for Wlad. In either case, Byrd has wins over legit HW's like Vitali, Tua and Holyfield. I dont think it was very career defining, but thats subjective. Wlads competition can be questioned. I am sure there are many ATG's that would beat Sam Peter. But you are a little bit fast with shitting on him. He was in shape and prime when he fought Wlad the first time, and beating him was no walk in the park.
No, Wlad improved later on, however prime Wlad vs Sanders would be a 60/40 fight favoring Wlad and I'd favor Wlad to KO him by round 6. But Wlad himself stated Sanders was the hardest puncher he had ever faced in his entire career and Sanders was quick and was a decent sized guy himself at 6'4, 225lb. If he lands on Klitschko, it would be utterly devastating, prime or not
When sanders hit wladimir in the first knockdown exchange he hit him with a left hand that came in with his head and hit wladimirs head, wladimir looked frozen then while holding each other sanders brought in the massive left hook and took him down. Then wladimir looked dead on the floor after that then got up.
Yes. For all intents and purposes, a fat, partially retired Sanders knocked out a prime Wlad. If it was such a fluke, Wlad would have sought revenge (like Lewis did with Rahman). But, he never did.
Physically he was at his best, yes, but tactically he wasn’t as effective as he later go in to be under Steward. ‘06-‘11 Wlad would’ve survived the early blitz and stopped Sanders late.
I think he always beats wlad. Even when he fought vitali who has a way better chin is a better fighter overall, he had him stunned badly a few times. Wlad did improve technically though, but it was like boy vs man in there. Corrie had zero respect for wlads power and sat in the pocket throwing bombs.
