Question about Manny and Wladimir

Of course he has. Look at him before and after. Anyone can see that. Stewart teaches a safety first approach that involves punching and grabbing dangerous punchers. No secret there.

 

He is more effective at winning now...not neccesarily "better"...just less risky and more dominant.

 

No one has forced Vlad to really open up with what he has, He dominated every fighter he has faced starting with Peter, I was not impressed with Sam Peters back of the head punches (illegal) and felt he should be warned or DQ'd he did it with so many fighters and his offence is as bad as Golotas Ball shots or worse (Jirov vs Mesi) but Vlad has not really gotten his feathers ruffled yet because of his smart boxing and movement behind the dominant Jab, I think Manny keeps him focused and cautious and economical and has done a great job with Vlad, I have seen the hook (Austin,Byrd,Peter) the uppercut(Brewster) the right hand (Brock,Byrd) and I have seen late stamina( Peter rocked badly in the 12th) Manny did a great job with Lewis recovering from a McCall Ko and he has done a great job bringing Vlad back and fighting right

 

Steward has greatly improved Wladimir blocking defense, clinching ability, conditioning ( by sparring many rounds ) and ring smarts.

While Wlad was more agressive on the way up, the agressivness cost him because it drained his stmaina, and exposed his chin.

The Wlad we see now is much harder to beat.

 

That's it in a nutshell. As a fighter you should never come out all guns blazing as he used to. Especially against a known knockout artist. Otherwise you run the risk of evening out the odds in your opponnent's favor.

 

The problem with his style before Manny and in transition during Manny is that it required a great deal of energy for him to fight tenacious fighters. His two losses against big hearted and hard headed warriors who could take a lot of punishment showed this flaw.. Wlad's only answer was to up the volume of punching and that's hard on a super heavy-weight frame. With big Corrie, Wlad didn't take the time to box cautiously and figure out his Corrie's rhythm.

Manny has givin Wlad the ability to pace himself by using distance, feints and yes clinching and has worked on Wlad's endurance with lot's more sparring. Not as exciting to watch but seeing the glee with which his losses are greeted I can see Wlad making the changes that make it less likley for him to lose badly again.

Manny has slowed the big guy down and taught him to relax a bit. Set a much more measured pace and be a bit more cerebral. Not quite as exciting but now that Wlad is looking comfortable with it I think it will help him win against the tough lads who use to put him at risk. I think Manny and Wlad respect one another and also work very well together and the style seems to suit Wlad.

I would like to see a more varied punch selection. The blinding left followed by a straight right hand can be a bit predictable. Wlad taks about uppercut development but I haven't seen many except against the limited Brewster. With Peter..Wlad should have knocked Peter out and a few more of those left-jab turned to hooks that he does might have done it..and some uppercuts in place of his then awkward clinching might have done it.

I think Wlad doesn't like getting hit.... he talks about wanting to use his brain later....while this is a healthy attitude to have I think it does mess him up in the tough fights. One of the drawbacks of being a PHD is that Wlad probably knows the studies of the long term effects of chronic repeatable brain trauma...and he has a long term view of himself no doubt doing some productive things after boxing. Makes him a bit risk averse and you can't blame that all on Manny.

Hellish skills, PHD fighters are a new animal. Interesting to see how it plays out over the next few years.

 

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But winning more fights IS betting better, as I see it.

Regardless of what someone may like or dislike about it, to a pro fighters its all about winning fights, and that is what Steward is teaching. :good

 

:good

And for the record, he does still hook of of the jab. At least I've seen him do it. I think his left hand is just as effective as ever. Steward has him being smarter and more conservative with his shots, so as every one counts. And that is what winning fights is about for a heavyweight of Wlad's size.

 

I agree with what's been written. His old offensive arsenal was more imposing, but he's a more effective fighter now.

 

Manny has done a lot in teachning Vlad to adapt to the pro game. Being able to fight effectively over twevle rounds is a lot different than going pretty much all out for three -- especially for big men. It is a more cautious, economical style that Vlad has now. Maybe not as exciting as his earlier go-for-broke-in-three style, but probably more effective against top level comp. Vlad's lossed to Brewster and Purrty could be chalked up to his running out of gas due to fighting like an amateur. The loss to Sanders is different in my opinion. I don't think he actually saw the somewhat-fast left-handers punches coming. He looked totally unprepared to fight a southpaw. Wheather this is due to flaws in Vlad's skillset or a lack of preparation on his part we will find out down the road I think.

 

Yeah, I'm sorry, but this is the whole story. Manny + Wlad = Wlad 2.0

What happened with Taylor, I can't tell you, but all I know is this Wlad is going to be hard to beat. Ibragimov sure as hell won't be able to do it.

 

There is a chance Wlad hits harder now. He has been producing great stoppages as of late. He crushed Brock with a monster right cross. He took out Austin with a thunderous left hook that was quadrupled up.