Very interesting article about Vitali´s style.

It's a shame you linked that, alot of people are going to get their eyes opened now I feel like a secret only myself & a select few were aware of...has been let out of the bag :|

P.S. Larry Merchant is a funny guy....hyping the fight as it is being on HBO....sure Larry hitting the 'mits' is a good substitute for a guy that can use distance whilst hammering you rofl!

 

Ya good article alright. Good fight this weekend, could really create some excitement in the HW division again, especially if its a close fight and demands a rematch.

 

There's just one thing I thought that was funny, a quote at the end of one of the article by Henry Ramirez “… He’s in by far the best condition of his career because he’s done twice the work. He had to for a fighter like Klitschko.” - he SHOULD HAVE done the same for every other fight before that too but he didn't, then when he says that they've done twice the work I'd actually be impressed.

There's a creeping suspicion growing in the back of my mind that all this 'extra' training might end up hurting Arreola like all the extra training hurt DLH before the Pac fight. I hope Arreola hasn't left his fight in the Gym, you know.

 

i'm affraid you've made an incorrect assumption about what motivates the 78 yr old mr. merchant.

 

I think posting links from the Ring website is alright, they've been posted before. It's mainly links from rival sites with forums like bscene that get removed :good

 

It was a very good and informative article that went in-depth on why Vitali is such a good fighter. Arreola is in for a beating Saturday. Anyone who skips out on training camp and doesn't show up in full shape doesn't have what it takes at the elite level.

 

I think a trainer of 18 world title holders knows his stuff...

 

Apart from using his reach so well even for a 6'7, I agree its his anticipation that impressed me so much vs Lewis, he has a really good instinct or whatever you call it, not like his brother at all haha

 

vitali is also just a tough, tough guy.

 

Yep, I dont think many top heavyweights would take that kind of punishment to the face and still be protesting the stoppage so seriously, he had absolutely no inention of folding

That fight totally blew away the quitschko stuff, he is one of the tougher boxers going around in a tough sport IMHO

 

Lewis' had a broken nose.

 

Angelo Dundee (2004): “He was on the way to becoming champion against Lennox Lewis, the fight shouldn’t have been stopped. But, you know, that’s boxing sometimes. The cut wasn’t in a dangerous place. It wasn’t bleeding into the eye. The younger brother, in my mind, is the better fighter. He’s got so many tools, he throws straight punches. Especially that left hand. He must be a converted southpaw.”

 

Stacy McKinley: “Vitali Klitschko is probably the best thinking fighter heavyweight since Muhammad Ali. He’s a very smart, intelligent fighter. Very smart,” said McKinley last week in an interview we did in New York City. “He can box, he can throw punches from all angles. He can move. He can take a punch. He’s tall. He’s busy. He’s very hard to hit. Good thinker. Oh, he’s a helluva thinker.”

McKinley got a close up view of the WBC Heavyweight champion in Berlin last year while working with Samuel Peter. “That’s what I said when I fought him with Samuel Peters. I said, Don’t try to think with this guy. Don’t try to out-box or out-think this guy. Get in there and fight this guy. But he want to sit back and try to out-think him. You can’t do it. And I told him, He’s probably the smartest heavyweight I’ve seen in the ring since Muhammad Ali. And I’ve seen a lot of good fighters. Larry Holmes and all them were good fighters but they weren’t good thinkers. This guy Vitali is a great thinker. It seems like he knows what you’re gonna do before you start to do it. So he’s very, very, very cagey. I don’t think nobody can beat him.”

When I ask which fight or fights of Vitali were most impressive which convinced him to become a believer, he replies, “Well, the Lennox Lewis fight. The left-hander he fought that beat his brother (Corrie Sanders). All these guys he fought. He’s just so smart. He moves good. A real intelligent fighter.”

Then I suggest something many pundits have not yet begun to accept or contemplate. Is Vitali one of the heavyweight greats of all time? McKinley does not disagree. “One of the greats and that’s what I said. I told him. I haven’t seen one that smart since Muhammad Ali. I told him after the fight with Peters, post press conference. Smartest I’ve seen as far as thinking. Most of the guys can’t think that well. He’s just great, man, a great thinker. Since Muhammad Ali. He’s that smart.”

Does Cristobal Arreola have any chance to beat Vitali? “No,” replies McKinley without a hint of doubt. “Three or four rounds he might get knocked out. He can’t beat that kid. Standing up too straight, he ain’t got the chin or the skills. This guy, like I tell you, he knows what he’s doing. And I was talking to his brother Wladimir, he was down in Miami. I said, Have you and your brother ever sparred together?

“Wladimir said, No, we’re too competitive. I said, Let me tell you something. That’s a smart boy. He said, Yeah, he’s very hard to fight. I said, You don’t have to tell me. He’s very hard. He’s the best heavyweight out there. I don’t think anybody can beat him.”

Does McKinley believe Vitali is the superior heavyweight fighter to Wladimir? “Oh yeah. He’d knock Wladimir out. Wladimir’s got good, basic fundamentals but he couldn’t do nothing with that kid. Kid’s too good, man. And I knew we were gonna have a hard fight with Samuel Peters. I said, Go in and put pressure on, cut the ring off and fight him. Don’t think with him. Don’t try to out-box him. Because you can’t out-think him. You’ve got to fight him. But he tried to think and you saw what happened. It was no contest. He quit.”