The Fury vs. K2 Debate Thread

I always enjoyed watching Vitaly.


I was a modest defender of Wlad, while not a categorical 'fan' per se. I thought the flack he drew circa 2007-2012 was excessive. Some degree of criticism was fair, but there was a lot of obvious bad will and unreasonable, predisposed rhetoric driving the larger part of it.

I had more of an axe to grind with him after the Povetkin fight, which I thought was a great opportunity for him to show the world something more than he'd had the chance to show up until that point in his championship reign. In my view, he choked and offered up the most farcical performance of his career. It's not as if he hadn't had time to prepare for a stocky guy who possessed footspeed and the ability to combine punches well, but this is what we got;

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I'm not even one of those guys who hates clinching and the use of one's weight to wear on an opponent, which are a part of the sport. I just observe a distinction between strategic, selective clinching/leaning and whatever Wladimir was doing in that fight (I'm at pains to describe it), which superseded his boxing. Yet and still, some would have it that Wlad is above reproach, while Fury is a "cowardly" strategist.

I found Wlad to be peevish and spoiled in his dealings with Tyson, also.

There was this undisguised and very ungracious move;

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And this rather uncharacteristic outburst;

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It's forgivable, because Tyson is a very hard guy to deal with.

So, generally speaking, I don't really have much against the younger Klitschko brother. Putting aside the matter of his elder sibling's presence – and, though it's always frustrating when the two best fighters in a division won't get together, I understand why they couldn't fight – he was the authentic boss of the heavyweight division for several years. He even had some enjoyable moments throughout that reign, despite his reputation for tentativeness; it was fun to watch him pound on Wach when he felt comfortable to open up, looking like an orthodox, 250lb Pacquiao in bursts, and his quick destruction of Pulev made exciting viewing.

I applauded his brief career as a silent comedian, too;

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Context;

Fury self-uppercutting in his 4th pro fight was being used as an exhibit to rubbish him by comparison with Wladimir. I pointed out that Wlad had done the very same in his 67th pro bout.

There's nothing more to it than that.