The Six Reasons Why I Dislike Heavyweight Boxing

I'm not saying Wlad is a bad fighter at all. But surely you can watch Thomson with your own eyes, and tell he's pretty old, doesn't move well, doesn't have any snap on his punches, and throws wiiiiiiiiiiiide, looping punches. but is still a genuine top 10 fighter.

This isn't a dig at thomson either. He started boxing late, and is pretty old by now and seems to do his absolute best.

You're arguing that Wlad could beat virtually anyone from the past because he's winning now without any troubles.

I just can't see how a fighter that's been off his feet around 13 times in his career can't be beaten by anyone from the past, ever.

Wlad does his current method of fighting well. What's going to happen when he meets someone that won't work against.

You keep comparing Wlad to Lewis due to size and similar skills. Lewis could take guys out early if they wanted to trade or looked vulnerable (Golota, Grant), box small powerful guys with skill (Tua), or abandon all pretence of boxing, and go toe to toe with a taller, younger fighter (Vitaly) and win all of those ways.

Wlad doesn't seem to have (or at the moment) need any plan other than 1-2, 1-2 repeat until fights' over. It's a shame, because IMO he's better than that. What will happen when that needs to change.

Becuase you can bet your arse that all of the champions from the past you name would do more than a Ray Austin, Calvin Brock or Fat Eddie Chambers.

 

No, I don't think that's their tactic coming in. I think that happens because they are simply poor fighters and have no clue what to do.

They are fat, old or have limited skills. Or all of them.

There's little point arguing with you, because your argument is simply "Wlad hasn't lost fighting the way he has, and he's modern and big, so nobody from history would ever beat him".

My argument isn't that Wlad (and Vitaly) couldn't compete with anyone in the past. They could.

It's about the next level of fighters down. They are visibly not as good as past years. they don't have the same skills. They don't have the same dedication, and they - on the whole - definitely don't come in in good condition.

Arreola? Peter? come on man, these guys are in their 20's and should be raring to go, and they're fat. Not just occasionaly, but all the time.

And it's not like they're the exception either.

 

Frasier didn't really "in" fight him. I'll disagree with this point to anyone who states it and point them back to the fight video. Frasier worked the body only after landing a counter jab, his timing was what was crucial in that fight, he was one of the few to match the speed of Ali by timing him beautifully and disrupting his patterns.

And remember, Ali only had 4 inches on Frasier.

This is my issue with people in regards to Tyson. They state his prime is only the fights he performed well in, despite the fact that this only covered a two year period and he was not in against the best of the fighters he fought during that period. Which then invalidates anyone pointing out "Tyson has issues with taller fighters who weren't intimidated by him and had a decent jab" because it becomes "Oh, Tyson wasn't the same anymore"

RJJ didn't swarm Ruiz, he employed perfect infighting tactics - get in, fire your shots, get out. That's in fighting. Tyson did the same, the difference is, if Tyson hit you with one of his shots, he generally had you wobbly and pressured you further.

The only fighter I see from a previous era giving Klitschko problems is Foreman. You've got a big mean fighter who has a hell of a chin and will keep coming forward, he has reach comparable to Wladimir and as you say, Wlad can be knocked out of his confidence with a few shots.

You put the others in there with this Klitschko? No chance.

You go in there with a "I'm going to swing for the fences and try KO him early" against Wlad and you'll get ****ing spanked.

Why? Because like I said before, Wlad is a definitive gameplan fighter.

 

All I'll reply to in the case of Sandman's posts.

You talk about Lewis taking out guys early - his KO ratio is not as good as Wladimirs nor has he had as many early round KO's as Wlad.

You talk about the contenders as being fat, but I can point you at fat contenders in any era. Did being in shape help Calvin Brock? Did being in shape help Sultan Ibragimov? Lamon Brewster? etc?

Stop looking for reasons to discredit and start realising, these guys are hard as **** to beat and represent a style of challenge that hasn't existed in boxing before. Even with Lewis, he didn't really have the same degree of punching power nor the arsenal of hooks and uppercuts that Wlad has.

You've got a 6'7, 250lber who is in optimal shape, he punches like a horse, he is as quick as fighters who are 6'0 in both handspeed and feetwork and he's a very intelligent ring tactician.

You haven't had that in boxing before.

 

I'm just going to give up now.

You can't talk about this current crop of contenders, without constantly dragging Wlad in.

Just because Wlad is very good, doesn't mean the contenders around him are good. I'm talking outside the top 2 in the division.

Your entire argument revolves around "Wlad is so good, that the others must be too."

Nothing more.

FFS, it's not even certain Wlad is the best fighter in his family.

Name the last high quality, contender or young up and comers fight that's been on in the last 5 years.
You probably will struggle, because these guys don't fight each other anymore. They feast on bums, get a ranking, get a shot they're not prepared for because they've rarely been tested, lose badly but cash out with a big payday.

That describes teh likes of Brock to a t.

When was the last time there was an Ike v Tua like matchup? 2 young fighters striving to reach the top?

hell, when was there last a fight between conteders that was even like Rahman v Sanders (not a superb fight, but 2 guys wanting a title shot and swinging for the fences) or Morrison v Mercer?

They don't happen anymore.

Don't bother responding if you can't do it without mentioning Wlad.

 

Because Wlad steps in and defeats most of them or at least attempts to make a fight of it. Unlike other weights where contenders even get to belt level before fighting a substantial fight (take Saul Alvarez, Juanma Lopez, Yuri Foreman, Cotto himself)

Brock - beat solid competition in McCline, Etienne and Bostice before proving himself against another undefeated contender in Timur Ibragimov.

Peter - Early shot against Wlad aside (where both were contenders at that stage), he beat Toney, McCline and Maskaev - decent competition

Chambers - took on seasoned Purrity, beat undefeated up and comer Rossy, solid fighter Guinn and Brock before losing to...

Povetkin, defeated undefeated Chambers in a 0 vs 0 fight, wins against Estrada, Byrd and Donald - all good contender level fights, too scared to even face you know who.. Povetkin has one of the best amateur pedigrees in boxing

Ruslan Chagaev, again, brilliant pedigree in amateur boxing, beat undefeated Valuev, undefeated Virchis and long time contender John Ruiz, not to mention wins against Skelton and Sprott

Solis, two round beat down on Monte Barrett who just challenged long time contender Tua, no stand out performances but for a guy with still less than twenty fights, very impressive resume, another very impressive amateur pedigree

Could also point out Arreola, Dimitrenko and Kevin Johnson as recent newcomers.. but do you see the problem here?

Arreola, Chagaev, Chambers, Peter, Brock - all got beaten by a Klitschko and suddenly considered utter ****.

Solis, Povetkin and Valuev won't even get in the ring against a Klitschko,

Funny, two fighters who never wore a title and you're saying that's what's missing in boxing?

Povetkin vs Chambers, Chagaev vs Virchis, Dimitrenko vs Chambers - I could name more.

Take it you didn't see Chagaev vs Virchis or the two Chambers fights? Or the Arreola fights like the one vs Adamek?

Why do we mentioned Wlad so often? Because of the above, any up and comer in the last five years that has made it to a contender level has been beaten by Wlad.

 

Second word bro, couldn't avoid it eh?

Let's just agree to disagree. I think the current level aren't as good as the past regardless of the 2 brothers. When I watch them fight each other, I'm rarely impressed.
When I watch them fight for titles, I'm embarrased for them.

I can't see any other reason than the current generation is poor, as to why guys from the past are still competitive with so called current, top level fighters.

Sosnowski? (sp?), K Johnson, Shannon Briggs?

(Johnson prepared for fighting Vitaly by fighting Devin Margis and Matthew Greer....)


Take it easy man.

 

I gotta say most of your arguments are invalid. I can only agree at 5 and 6, but they all mean the same thing. The "current" heavy weight division is weak or soft but that doesn't mean that there aren't any great heavy weight boxers out there.

Get real.

 

You forgot to add your 7th season.

 

The reasons the thread does not like heavyweight boxing is the hatred of Klitschkos. They are beating his favorite fighters.

 

PugilisticPower is clearly a general forum moron

 

I like the heavyweight divisions. That's what boxing is all about. When I have more time I will address those six reasons who are all wrong in its core.

 

Popkins putting on a clinic.

Spot on, bro :good

 

HW div has the best most brutal KO's!

Thats what many people wanna c...

But i Agree.. I think the best weight is light HW.

The next best is super..

 

Don't take Vitali and use him as an example - his recent competition is shite.

Look at Wlad.