1. Stop pawing the jab, it may be comfortable, but I genuinely believe his jab is better than that. He needs to put the snap back into it. 2. Start working on body punching. It would have been useful against Thompson's high guard. And, will be useful against Valuev and fat guys like Peter. 3. Klitschko needs to work on his counter-punching. His handspeed and footwork are significantly better than most heavyweights; this one is a no-brainer 4. Start working on combination punching. 1-2's aren't cutting it and he's beginning to get predictable. Quality combinations (which he is more than capable of) would end his fights much earlier. Discuss.
In the first couple of rounds...I'd like to see Wlad start doing a combo with the jab upstairs followed immediately with the right hook to the body !
1. wlad had an incredible jab that destroyed brewster II and others, he just didnt throw it enough this fight, but he usually does.. he compensated it by throwing a lead straight right that was effective.. 2. he should have went to the body more but he did land some crunching body shots i agree with the rest
1. The pawing was mainly trying to open up Thompsons guard for the straight right. For most of the fight Thompson surprisingly held his hands up pretty well and the jab would have landed on the double guard. He still should have used the jab more but mixed it with left hooks off the jab, it was a bit too predictable. 2. He actually threw more body punches than in most of his recent fights I can remember.
1. Wholeheartedly disagree with your first point. The jab is more or less just a distractor against a southpaw that size with that guard. The fight changed when he started throwing rights and leading with the right. Against orthodox fighters, Wlad's jab is fine. 2. Needs to get an uppercut. Holy ****, his uppercut is not shitty, it is nonexistent. 3. Wlad's style is extremely effective because of his style and size, but he needs to take his foot off the "leaning and clinching" pedal a few rounds earlier and after he throws a one-two, he needs to step back and throw more. He has effectively worn down his opponent but he waits a little too long to change the strategy. He could have got TT out by 7-9.
Yep, definitely went to the body more than usual. I was surprised. There were two distinct body shots that really, really bothered TT.
I agree with 1,3, and 4, but partially disagree with number 2. I thought Wlad made a good improvement in body punching. He even did a left body left uppercut combination, as well as a right body right uppercut combination.. I don't remember ever seeing that from him before. I would also like to see more hooks, and more hooking off the jab. I believe pre Sanders, he was hooking off the jab. His hook output has dropped a lot. More uppercuts ala Lewis would be nice as well. Thompson (and Wlad) were open to their power hand uppercuts in this fight. Wlad clenched instead of trying right uppercuts.
i really think wlad/manny came in with the wrong gameplan. they should have attacked the body early and used more uppercuts. luckily, they adjusted by throwing right hand leads which changed the flow of the fight. sytles make fights and wlad can't just fight one way against every opponent. but u could really see how important experience and a great corner in this fight
His body punching was effective when he used it, which was rarely. If he had used it more often and earlier, he may have had an easier fight with Thompson.
Wlad is usually a headhunter and it was good to see him getting at the body. He should do it more often.
