https://gfycat.com/InsistentSameAmericancicada What a nightmare he must've been to fight. You expect him to be tall, to have long reach, to have a very powerful jab and straight right. So you muster everything you can to bob, weave, get on the inside. But after all that work, he can just time you and step back. Must crush your confidence.
Wlad was so quick in that fight. At one point he throws a 5 punch combo that was just blistering. He also caught Haye with pull back counters.
I imagine Haye found Wlads constant leaning down on his back to be a lot more frustrating. Wlad could step back once , but not twice. That's why he illegally held so much and it was so frequent he got a point deducted in his own back yard. What he did in that gif isn't anything that Tony Bellew wasn't able to do.
That's a good one but this one.. https://streamable.com/7wab7 How does a 35 year old 240+ pound guy get hands that fast? And credit to Haye for doing some athletic moves to avoid what he could here.
Damn, Haye took that right hand clean. He didn't even roll with it. He displayed an iron chin during this fight despite what people say.
In order to take chances against Wlad, you will have to take punches to land your own, Haye didn't have much confidence in his chin but someone like Tyson would have shown confidence in his chin and gotten inside ruthlessly to land his punches.
It really is impressive. Even a 41 year old, inactive Wlad had noticeably faster hands than 27 year old Joshua who isn't a slouch in that department.