[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqEANlBbhsA[/url] That left hand! WTF was wrong with Wlad that night? He's throwing just sloppy jabs and looks weaker than normally.
Wlad fought the same way he always did back then. Sanders' rhythm was awkward, his stance unfamiliar, and his punches hurtful. That's what happened to Wlad.
He wasn't outboxed, he was bombed out of there before he could get anything going... Doesn't take away from what he's done since though, he's an ATG and a future HOF whether you guys like it or not. Sanders was a very dangerous fighter, underrated by many(even though he's become overrated in some circles) I'll always wonder what he could have done had he taken his career more seriously, and was better managed.
He WAS outboxed. Sanders was beating him to the punch, disrupting his jab, and landing hard shots. Sanders also established the lead foot dominance throughout the brief fight. Wlad was thoroughly out boxed the entire fight.
^ THIS I've been following Sanders ever since he bombed out Du Plooy. He was special, and could have had a better record than he'd had, if he'd been more serious and fought more often and had been managed better. What I liked about Corrie was that he always used to show up to fight, and wasn't scared to take a punch to land one. :bbb If you go through his career you will see that he often lands that torpedo left counter, and often with fight-finishing results. I think Wlad would always have struggled with Sanders, because Corrie was exactly the wrong combination of unorthodox stance, speed and power for him. What made it worse for Wlad was that he took Sanders very lightly (apparently never even bothered to watch footage) whereas Corrie respected Klitschko and went all out to focus himself in the limited time available. I would have loved to have seen a younger Sanders against a more focused Wlad. :happy
Klitschko tried punching back instead of clinching. Some may have noticed a slight change in his approach to boxing since that particular fight.
He was a flawed and a very different fighter back then. While he still had all the tools he has now he did things to make himself vulnerable which is why he lost to Puritty, Brewster and Sanders. Wlad's stance was too wide back then, making him less mobile. Look at how low Wlad's stance is, he's the taller fighter yet is often crouched down and at the same height as his opponent. He didn't fight tall back then and it cost him. He also tended to back up in straight lines which put him in the firing line of Sanders straight left hand. Wlad also had a tendency to get his shots off and just stand there in range doing nothing which is suicide against a counter puncher like Sanders. Basically Wlad back then was an inferior fighter. Forget the conspiracy theories surround some of his losses, he just wasn't able to compete back then because he was so flawed and didn't have the chin to be able to get away with making so many mistakes. He's a far better fighter now, narrower stance, more agile, fights tall, can clinch, controls range far better, moves laterally though he could still improve in this area, which is why he is often forced to clinch so much against aggressive fighters.
Wladimir didn't have Emannuel nor his newly introduced style of fighting. That Wladimir would just open up early and look to exchange when he didn't have to. That said, Sanders(Rest in Peace) would still be trouble for him simply because of his speed and power. As long as Wladimir survives the first few rounds, which he most definitely will by the jab and grab tactic, Sanders(Rest in Peace) will eventually run out of gas and inevitably stopped.
Also, gotta say, I much preferred watching "young" Wlad fight. He looked sensational in the Mercer fight for example, when he let his hands fly. All that hugging is off-putting.
