I think that's failry harsh on the defence side - if his defence was that bad he'd never have gone 12 with Wlad. He was a conman though and full of the mouth - his legacy could and should be better than it is.
Fair point re: Wlad. I was never impressed with his defence at CW though. Don't know if it was the weight drain, or the slightly different opponent dynamic, but he always looked really hittable and sloppy. His defence in the Fragomeni fight was a case in point. Beterbiev, needless to say, is light years better than Fraggers.
Fair point on his defence at CW too - I think he tightened up his defence and was more cautious at HW - because he was savvy enough to know he had to.
He didn't vs. Carl Thompson. In his absolute prime maybe lean slightly to Hate now Beterbiev in 3 rounds. Beterbiev was rated number 1 at 91kg in the world as an amateur and beat Usyk once in three fights also dropped him. I have a feeling if he moved up he'd be even a little more powerful than he is now so don't disregard that.
Has to be Haye for me. Not in a P4P sense but in a fight at 200lb he too big and far too powerful. The jump from 175 is quite a big one so its always tough to call.
Beterbiev hits very hard, but are you saying that Beterbievs power is Miles ahead of Wladimir?! You can arguably put Wlads power in the top ten at heavy weight easily. Hayes "chin" didn't fail him until his last couple fights at Heavy against Bellew when he was nowhere near prime form. His other stoppage loss came against Thompson when he was clearly gassed.
It boils down to the question of the toe. If Haye's pinkie toe is completely healthy, he could well go the distance with Beterbiev. (He'd still lose). If his toe is not at peak form, he's getting stopped. Brutally.
Saying he hits above the guys Haye faced at CW, Wlads hits very hard but he was not a pressure fighter like Beterbiev. The stories I've been reading about this Russian is that people are afraid to spar with him. I like Haye, think he was very skilled and fast, but Beterbiev hits much harder than guys like Enzo Maccarinelli
Haye hit as hard or harder than Beterbiev, he proved his power v bigger fighters and was 6`3, Beterbiev is only 5`11.
