Larry Holmes vs. Wladimir Klitschko.

Holmes always was in great shape for his major bouts. He never had an issue fighting 15 hard rounds.

Holmes was never koed in his prime and showed the chin, durability, courage and will to win of a great fighter........unlike Wlad.

 

True. What really gets me is the total imbalance of perceived outcomes. Another words, you can put any two ATG's together in a fantasy matchup and the opposing sides will predict their guy by TKO 3. I also disagree with those who are claiming that the current 36 year old Wlad is still in his prime, when in fact, his best years were probably from about 2005-2009. His lack of opposition is what's keeping him looking good and on top of the division, and not some colossal improvement that supposedly took place over the past three years. In addition, the peak version of Holmes who struggled with Mike Weaver, Earnie Shavers and Tim Witherspoon ( tho slightly past it by then ), isn't having an easy time with a man who has every physical advantage imaginable and quite possibly a jab that equals his own. This match is very likely going the distance with a razor thin scoring margin. The outcome may very well come down to who's judging the fight.

 

We all know what happens when Holmes gets hit hard on the chin don't we? We also know he won't fold in a tough fight. In a tough fight I'm going with the proven performer not the guy who falls in sections and gets that I want my mommy look in his eye.

 

Holmes TKO7 Wlad Clinchko

 

No, Vlad has looked very good vs the likes of Haye and Wach and time will tell...right now I do not see any slowing down in Vlad and his last fight he showed much. Also in light of the fact that his brother is still fighting at 41 (and has slowed down) Vlad may have a a good 2 years left and his experience is light years ahead of the pack. I would like to see a defining fight and there is a young pack of big and talented heavyweights on the rise so someone may emerge as a big star and a big match up, it is probably someone who is a year away from a title shot, Detontay Wilder?, Fury or Price, Povetkin or Pulev? Vlad may have another 6 to 10 fights left in him

 

Disagree Maghoo

1. Wlad fought Eddie Chambers, David Haye after 2009...so some of his best opposition fought took place after your deadline of 2009.

2. Wlad absolutely improved after the Sam Peter fight in 2005, he had not peaked then. In fact, that was the coming out party for Wlad. Wlad wasn't sure where he belonged until that fight. He proved to himself he could grind it out in a dogfight. Watch Wlad rematch an even lighter, more prepared Sam Peter in 2010. Wlad was far more skilled, better sense of range, smarter, stronger, much more confident...he easily took sam peter apart in 10 rounds, compared to 2005 when he struggled to win a decision.


It's quite clear started really showcasing Steward's teachings by 2007...and has peaked within the last couple years.

 

Peter was shot by the wlad rematch.

Physically wlad has been prime from about 2000 when he beat Byrd. His longevity as a world class boxer is absolutely staggering.

If steward would have trained him earlier he'd have improved technically earlier but there's nothing he can do now that he couldn't physically do ten years ago.

Sanders is a unique stylistic challenge and we'll never know if he'd have solved it in a rematch. I think not.

Brewster got his **** pushed in until wlad gassed. A better training camp would have seen him defeat Lamont and incidentally purity.

Wlads longevity is almost unrivalled. In 96 he was the worlds beat amatuer and in 2012 he's still the worlds best professional.

Allowing some time to adjust to the pro game I say he came into his prime against Byrd and had all the physical tools he needed to be the man he is today.

 

It's like seeing fish wearing "I want bait" T-shirts, in here.

 

I don't consider Haye or Chambers to be his best opponents. Neither of those guys fought to win and both were scared. Haye's non-effort against Klit was among the most disgraceful in boxing, while chambers had no way to reach Wlad and no power. His rematch with Peter was more decisive than his first bout, but Peter, regardless of his weight on fight night, was a diminished fighter. Oleg Maskaev fought him a few years earlier and at times was tagging him with wide open shots that was sending him realing. Ad on the beatdown that he got from Vitali ( whom you don't credit for much of anything ) a loss to Chambers and an easy defeat to Helenius following the Wlad fight, and I'd say he was as good as done. Peter was never that good to begin with.... To clearify, Wlad is still dominant and looks good. But his recent opposition hasn't tested him and I think he's getting a bit slower with each fight.

 

I think one of the reasons Haye was ineffective is because Vlad controlled the ring and made Haye feel his power early on so Haye would loved to have nailed Vlad but had to pay the piper to get in and he felt it may be his demise. By the way, Haye did land a few hard ones on Vlad and so did Wach but Vlad stayed pretty relaxed and showed maturity

 

Sam Peter, who if nothing else was a big puncher, nailed Wlad several times in their second fight (and not even rabbit punches), and Wlad took them well. Outside of the Sanders fight, exhaustion, nerves and spacing were his worst enemies. He was not the toughest piece of leather mentally. But I guess 8 years of unbridled success suggests he may have defeated those demons... at least for the time being.

 

Did you watch the fight from start to finish?

 

Yes, Vlad kept Haye in his range with the jab and good movement and Haye felt his power. Haye decided he would not look to exchange with Vlad and tried to fight him like he fought Valuev but Vlad also had good speed and power and technique to go with his size.

I think it was more of Vlad fight plan and ability that made Haye ineffective. For me Haye was still a dangerous puncher with speed that was forced to fight Vlads fight and keep his ass off the floor.

Remember to test a fighter, you have to take chances and against a smart fighter and puncher like Vlad its easier said then done

Wach certainly tried and paid dearly

 

Haye didn't try to fight Wlad AT ALL. At points, he was even falling intentionally to the canvas and falsy complaining that Wlad was pushing him down, which he wasn't. His game plan was to get Wlad DQ'd from the start, which indicates clearly that he had no intentions of fighting him. Big difference from a few years ago when there were men in the division who actually took the fight right to Wlad and tried to punch his face off.

 

And yet his weaknesses remain. Even the horribly limited Wach had Wlad on the defensive with a single so-so right hand.

That's the thing with Wlad - belt him with a decent shot and the momentum of the fight turns on a dime. He turns 100% defensive. Larry's going to get his punches in, no question.

I think it will be difficult for Wlad to maintain any momentum when he's getting hit back.