I'm not shocked at all. The height of Valuev gives him a lot of advantage. But you got to give Ruiz a lot of credit though, his size compared to Valuev is unbelievable. I havn't seen the fight yet but hear and you people are saying that it was boring as ****. But I think I'll sitll watch it!
It's something he absolutley, unquestionably, should be doing it in every single fight he is in. He hasn't. Now he's started. I hope he continues to do so. If he does, this should be considered an improvement. There are examples of the double-jab throughout Valuev's work. The improvement is in the frequency. He throws single jabs less. That should be conisdered an improvement. He always had a more accurate jab? That doesn't make sense. I am saying his jab is more accurate than it was three years ago. You're disagreeing? He lasted well, I suspect he has more stamina. Ruiz is a mauling pressure fighter, Valuev weighs over 300lbs, conditioning is a huge factor for him. If he is lighter and fitter, especially at this point in his career, this should be considered an improvement.
This is PRO Boxing not PRO Wrestling... Those of you claiming Valuev has improved, and are citing how he grabs his opponent...and forces his weight upon them as evidence, are not referencing improvements in boxing... rather these are improvements in cheating and poor sportsmanship.
I didn't see the fight. I saw Valuev against Barrett, he won, but he looked like a freak. Couldn't believe he had a pretty wife too. I don't think he stands a chance against the Klitschkos. I also think Thompson and Briggs would KO him too. Peter doesn't have his best fights against tall fighters, so I have to be cautious saying he would KO Valuev for sure. You never know, the way Valuev popped Barrett, he might make Peter do the baby walk.
If you like. Certainly gamesmanship is what made Fritzie Zivic and all time great. And this EXACT tactic helped lift Lewis to the very top of the all time great HW's.
Naming a past great's (who was great in spite of the tactic, not because of it) use of a disgusting tactic, does not excuse another of cheating. I give Lewis his due...I give Ali his due...but I don't expect to see pretenders using there questionable tactics, and nothing that made them the greats that they are. Citicism is due and is given.
Then we don't know yet, no improvement there to be honest without being harsh. I don't think so, he threw as many jabs against Donald, against Ruiz the first time, against Lyakovich and other fights. He didn't show anything extremely new with the way he used his jab tonight. As I said, it could also depend on your opponent's positioning and how open he could be for you to follow up your jabs with two or three more as Ruiz seemed to be open at times Valuev took advantage of it by throwing more, this can't be considered an improvement. An improvement is something we didn't see before. I don't see how it's more accurate than it was three years ago, he fought Ruiz three years ago and used the same exact style, even his jabs were as predictable as they were the first time they fought. If you see his fight against Larry Donald, you will realise a lot more similarities as well. Sometimes your opponent's style can make you look like you're doing something new or weird but that's how it is in boxing, some opponents can bring out something slightly different in you but it's still based on the same tactic. If anything I noticed stamina issues tonight than good stamina, he fought Ruiz the same way the first time they fought and didn't look as tired as he did tonight.
I'm surprised by how keen you are to provide no possibility of improvement. He showed better defensive in-fighting than in previous fights. I can't see how you think that isn't an improvement, and why you think it isn't harsh to ignore it. OK- You've clearly run the numbers and compared the % of times Valuev doubles tha jab and proved me wrong? But you also seem to be indicating that if there was an improvement it was down to the opponent. Both of these things can't be true. My own position is that Valuev throws more double jabs than he did 8 years ago. Again, Valuev has come in for this fight lighter than ever. Again, at this stage of his career, that can mean only one thing. Again you seem determined that no improvement has taken place when facts seem to indicate otherwise. For some reason you can't see/don't want to see differeces in this fighter. So there really isn't much point on my pointing them out to you.
I don't think i've suggested that it excuses him. I do say that bending and breaking the rules is absolutley a part of the game and that short of biting/drug abuse, gamsemanship is absolutley a part of generalship. What?
Valuev's long and imrpessive jab is his best asset, and I see it as a weapon, when combined with his immense size advantage (which seems to be not only one of distance, but of his weight taxing the opponent when he leans on them), as being hard to deal with for all but the top three or so heavies. What I saw of it, which was most of the fight, I clearly had Valuev winning, no question. I hope he does want Wlad. Or better yet, I hope he wants Vitali. But what Valeuv wants probably means squat, as to who he fights. Its King that will prevent the WBA title from being risked against one of the other titleholders.
I really didn't see much in the way of progress. The short right hand was there but he was too hesitant at times to throw it and wouldn't take a step back to land it. He really should have studied how Golota dropped Ruiz early. If he fights Waldo I would pick Waldo at this point. Much too hesitant for a guy his size.
Did Valuev land any of those slow right hands in this fight? Did he land anything other than his jabs?