Lennox Lewis (of 1998) vs Wladimir Klitschko (of 2009)

Ok, my mistake. Like I said earlier, you have to favor Lewis...but Wlad is a live underdog.

 

Wlad's been in dogfights and won- Monte Barrett, for example. I don't think he can't do it so much as that he doesn't have to in order to still dominate his opponent now.

He certainly wasn't as prone to it as Lewis, however, so Lewis would likely have the edge in a brawl if for no other reason than he's a bit more experienced fighting like that and therefore a little more comfortable in that kind of fight- but I think the tradeoff is that Wlad is the better pure boxer.

 

while i think lewis is overated by a lot of people on these boards i think he would destroy wlad inside 2 rounds lewis power wlads chin no contest .

 

I don't agree Wlad is the better pure boxer. Wlad has a very small array of variation in his attacking aresnal and often spends entire fights behind a jab throwing the occassional 1-2... Has Wlad ever fought anyone with an equal reach and height? Lewis was just as a technical boxer as Wlad in my opinion... Wlad may have the better jab but then with the mobility and size disadvantage of all his opponents it's hardly set in stone... against Ibragimov who kept mobile Wlad rarely threw a jab with any spite in fear of being countered. Wlad does have a great jab but against someone else with a great jab who is the same size who is also more prone to following the jab up with a right hand... would Wlads jab be as dominating and effective?

 

well you are dreaming or you know **** about boxing... bruno did hurt lewis seriously...

 

Lewis.

(By a series of holding behind the head and uppercuting, like vs Grant most probably.)

 

Bloody hell, hope Wlad never sees the poll results. They'd have him rocking in a corner, not good for the old confidence.

 

:hi:

 

Wlad by tko, Lewis advances menacingly in Grant, Golota mode, Wlad shits himself , Lewis steps in it , slips ,and breaks his ankle , fight over.

 

Not exactly what Steward would've expected

 

XPERT-post m8! :rofl:rofl

 

I usually rate Wlad pretty highly in H2Hs but if there's one fighter who'd always have his number it's Lennox. Wlad excells in imposing himself on shorter fighters and on clumsy larger fighters but against Lennox he'd be facing a man nearly as large as himself, just as athletic and just as hard a puncher, if not harder. In addtion, Lennox had a massive mean mean streak, was a born fighter, and on the right night was just indomitable in his will to win. I can't see Wlad effectively keeping Lennox at bay with his jab, nor effectively being able to clinch him up inside.

I don't think he gets bombed out quick like Golota. That's a bit insulting really, and bear in mind Golota was mind ****ed that night. I think Lennox gradually begins to break Wlad down with his jab and pressure, cuts him up, makes him look increasingly uncomfortable and then outright pannicky, before dropping him somewhere in the eighth or ninth.

The only spanner in the works is if Lennox underestimates him, which I don't think he would have done.

 

"Better pure boxer" is a pretty vague term that doesn't really mean much when you break it down. Wlad lacks the punch variety or fluidity to use those punches effectively during a fight that Lennox possessed; on the other hand, he's brought his jabbing game up to another level. I can't think of another fighter who dominates so thoroughly with his jab. It's not necessarily that Wlad has a "better jab" (taken in isolation) though a case could be made that it's sharper, quicker and perhaps even harder than Lennox's, but rather the way in which he uses it to control his opponents and break them down.

I agree with you last part. It would be interesting to see how well Wlad can impose his jab against Lennox (or vice versa) when he's got some serious firepower coming back. I definitely think it would have a detrimental effect, though how detrimental I don't know.

 

We're talking about 2009 Wlad, not pre-Steward Wlad, who was a very different fighter, more willing to let his hands go and expose himself to danger. Current Wlad I think has trained himself into a bit of a rut IMO. He's become superb at fighting one way, but he really can't seem to open up anymore like he used to. When he went all out on Peter after Steward's protestations he looked horribly clumsy and wide open, nothing like his younger self. Wlad's become a better boxer, sure, but I can't help but feel that it's been traded off of his ability to fight in the trenches effectively.

 

I'm not sure I agree with that last part because I don't ever recall Wlad being able to fight in the trenches. Essentially that's his achilles heel to those who can find a way to exploit it.