This fight is at a catch weight. You think he was faster and more fluid because he isn’t as cut, seeing as he was fighting above light heavy. He’s fighting an absolute bum there, so we shouldn’t be judging anything about his skills and reaction time from that.
Beterbiev is training like a beast and it's normal for him, I would beat that 90% of the boxers would not do even 50% of his training.
That was pre-title, his second pro fight in fact, when he didn't have to make 175 and he weighed just under 180 there Rayco Saunders was, despite his patchy record, actually a very tough journeyman and he'd only been stopped once in 45 fights going into that fight and he'd mixed in very good company No I think he looks more fluid and faster there because that's what I think
Where is the mythical face & lbs 4 lbs of boxing? Silent after back to back shite performances. He could jump in there with beterbiev and silence all the people who had him figured out early on. He knows he’d get murked!
I'm not saying he's not still a beast, one of the top 3 most destructive punchers in the sport, and the best 175 pounder on the planet. I'm just saying he's not as fast and fluid as he used to be.
GGG would get completely brutalized by Beterbiev. It would look like an older brother tossing his kid brother to the ground.
Sparring isn't the same, but even in that case as a guy who absolutely adores both Kovalev and Beterbiev they both bring different strengths into the ring. With Beterbiev it is literally strength, physicality and underrated ring IQ. With Kovalev (the prime version) it is power, jab, timing and precision. Two completely different types of fighters. Beterbiev is certainly the physically harder man. That said, Kovalev may very well have beaten Beterbiev anyways had they fought and GGG is pretty much guaranteed to get violently blasted out and damn near become a homicide victim had he actually fought either man in a 12 round pro fight.
Yeah I know all that, but GGG was a terror back then and the list of fellow pros, fellow world champions, from WW to HW, who have praised his power is extensive