I never said he hadn't improved. He obviously has. It's AJ's army of delusional doe-eyed fangirls who are the ones who are acting like Ottomatic is a bum and that only their bodybuilder is capable of making improvements. I agree AJ would likely KO a 40 y/o Ottomatic like he did to Pensioner Pulev but let's not act like the 6' 5½'' viking giant was the slick ring technician he is today back then either. Ottomatic is a genuine slickster not a musclebound puncher doing an impersonation of Herman Munster trying to box like AJ. Sweet science, baby!
Fury smashes everyone AJ's beaten, the versions of them he beat, but could AJ repeat what Ottomatic did to the version of Fury Ottomatic nearly beat? Not this slowly going off the rails again inactive Fury but the T-Mobile Arena, Vegas Fury circa 2019.
Actually now that i think about it. Pulev in his prime might have had a jab equal to that of Fury's in effectiveness, maybe even better. Heres the thing. Pulev outjabbed Klitschko while standing stationary. Fury had to achieve the same feat moving around, feinting, and herky jerkying, which upset Wladimirs rhythm. And in addition to that, Pulevs jab made Wlad do the bambi dance. If Fury and prime Pulev stepped in the ring, Fury would outbox him comfortably because he'd have a significant advantage in the movement department. He'd be slipping Pulevs jabs and would be feinting him to death all the while outlanding him. But if you take that away and just look at the jab aspect. Pulev might actually have the better jab
He didn`t out-jab Wlad in that first round though did he? lol he was all over the place, no way would Fury have been that open early on v Wlad he would have stuck and moved, Pulev just stood in front of Wlad poking his lead hand out pulling his head back, he was just awkward and nothing more, his jab was decent but didn`t set up his other punches.
You dont get it. Im saying Pulev gave Wladimir more trouble with his jab than Fury did. He didnt outjab him my bad but he was able to stand his ground and jab with Klitschko and rocked Klitschko with a jab. Pulev would get outboxed by Fury because Fury posseses way better movement than Klitschko. But if you take all of that away and just look at jabs. Prime Pulev might have the better jab. I think Klitschko himself said Pulev was the best jabber he ever faced.
I've been consistent in saying that it could go either way. If they were both at their best I would edge towards Fury but not only have I witnessed lots of quality fighters look off or well below their best during lockdown I've also witnessed Fury look like crap after a long layoff and I think going into the biggest fight of his life against someone of AJ's calibre increases his chances of losing significantly. His timing, sharpness and judging of distance needs to be on point.