The heavyweights really are crap, aren't they?

I think you're right. But there's no really exciting fighter out there right now. No one who captures the audience imagination like Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Ali, Tyson, Holyfield etc. Maybe in hindsight this will be viewed as the early 80's, an era that lacked more in big names and charisma than talent.

 

That was me who claimed it, and i stand by it when i say the 1990s wlad reminded me of joe louis in many ways. its a shame we had to find out wlad has no chin, lacks stamina, and got mental panic attacks during the worst times.

 

wuts your point? if you combine leroy jones and scotts frank records going into larry holmes fights, you have 44-0. records are deceiving.

 

His chin isn't bad.

Not great either.

Saying otherwise is easily debunked bull****.

 

ever see the TOS steve panell fights?

 

He has a chin, not the best but it is there. And when you watched his last two fights you should have seen that his stamina problems aren´t there anymore - actually there is quite an interesting thread regarding this theme in the general forum at the moment - i think he had these problems due to wrong training. But you´re right about the panic thing, it was there early in the Thompson fight but i also had the impression that he learned to deal with it quite a bit.
Wlad for sure isn´t a Top10 heavy but i´m pretty sure when everything is said and done he will go down as a Top20. And perhaps in a few years we will discuss how great the time was when Wlad ruled the division because nowadays it´s so poor just like after any other era.

 

Yes. I can't really stand to watch those fights. I guess the heavies get worse each decade.

 

point taken. and frank wasn't as bad as some of the other fighters holmes fought. he was just the first one that popped into my head.

however, when you look back over his last ten opponents, their combined records are 311-13. in any age, that is pretty impressive.

i think one of the problems today is that contenders, or guys just outside the contender level, do not fight each other often enough. look at the old-timers or even mma guys today. they fight/fought all the time. get ko'd, get right back in the ring, and not just on some crappy midwest circuit. this situation is ******ing the development of potential talent immensely.

 

Least their noses aren't full of the white **** this decade at least then, eh?

 

Cockell was the number 2 rated contender going into the Marciano fight ,he had won his last 10 fights ,including 3 wins over Harry Kid Mathews and a dec over Roland Lastarza.Paychek was rated no 6 by the Ring when he fought Louis.

 

Cockell was okay, but by the time he fought Marciano he wasn't a lightheavy like he should of been. He was fat as hell.

 

Thompson lost a fight in 2000 to Eric Kirkland.

 

Solid post. Wlad's stamina is very good. In fact, it has been better than all of his opponents for his last few fights.

I do not think Wlad panicked at all vs Thompson. The clash of heads that created a cut didn't seem to bother him much either. Thompson landed solid to the head and body a few times, and Wlad took it well without any signs of being shaky. Wlad just starts a bit slower, and was in there with an active puncher who was nearly as tall and had even longer arms.