I firmly believe Haye is more skilled than Wlad P4P, his loss was due to reach only

That is not the point. They don't. Haye does not have the resume to match Wlad's. I said I think his skills are superior and I stand by that. I was ringside for the fight and the fact that Haye couldn't get past Wlad's jab was infuriating. His movement was good and Wlad barely hit him other than that punch in round 5 which Haye took extraordinarily well but it just felt like he couldn't deal with the reach disadvantage.

Looking at Wlad's resume - most people couldn't. I think it's shocking how one-sided a fight Fury vs Wlad was in which Wlad for once didn't have a size or reach advantage. That was a tier 1 boxer versus a tier 2 boxer and that's being generous to Wlad. Makes you wonder if Wlad ever was as good as advertised or if his physique was the sole reason he was so successful. I personally think he is nowhere near his brother's level. I also don't think an active Vitali (in his 30s) would've lost on Saturday.

For all his achievements, I think Wlad wouldn't have survived a year in the 90s. Rid**** Bowe and Lewis alone would've embarassed him, both being tall and dangerous. I am confident that Wlad is a result of a poor era and there is little to indicate otherwise.

 

Yeah, I can see that. Had Wlad been born shorter, he might've found another way to fight. I'm just saying that being this limited is something I've seen very rarely of supposed first ballot HoFers. Usually, boxers who are this one-dimensional get found out eventually and the fact that it took a decade and some ageing on Wladimir's side to expose his weaknesses leads me to believe the era was just bad.

Can you envision a similarly sized Lewis or Bowe just sitting there, content with eating a jab they could easily overcome due to similar reach for 12 rounds and lose a decision or get worn out and get TKO'd eventually? It would never happen.

Haye, for all his skills, lacked the size. Not the talent.