Vitali the man compare to Wlad the Squid.

I just want Wilder to knock Squidward out, pronto.

 

Ali actually was huge at the time. He was 205 and 21 years old when he fought and got decked by a 185 lb domestic level fighter in, Henry Cooper. The fight before that Ali went the distance with 188 lb journeyman, Doug Jones.

So no, I don't think there's anything wrong with a 39 year old Wlad losing 3 rounds to a top 10 contender who is 9 years his Junior and displayed solid defensive skills. When Ali was 39 he was getting beaten by Berbick and Spinks.

Now I believe Ali is the greater of the 2, but just appreciate Wlad, he's great in any era.

 

If you don't believe Ali was big here are the weight and height advantages/disadvantages for every one of his fights from the Archie Moore fight on.

Moore: +13 lbs, +4inches
Jones: +14 lbs, +3inches
Cooper I: +17 lbs, +4.5inches
Liston I: -8lbs, +2 inches
Liston II: -9lbs, +2inches
Patterson I: +17 lbs, +3inches
Chuvalo I: -2lbs, +3inches
Cooper II: +13 lbs, +4.5 inches (this was the lightest Ali would weigh for the rest of his career)
London: +9lbs, +3inches
Mildenberger: +9lbs, +2 inches
Williams: +2lbs, 0 inches
Folley: +10lbs, +2 inches
Quarrey I: +16 lbs, +3inches
Bonavena: +10 lbs, +5inches
Frazier I: +10 lbs, +4.5 inches
Ellis: +30 lbs, +2 inches
Matthis: -25 lbs, -3 inches (Mathis was a GIANT of the era and ended up walking around at 500+ lbs later in life)
Blin: +22 lbs, +2 inches
Foster: +15 lbs, +2 inches
Chuvalo II: -5lbs, +3inches
Bugner I: -6 lbs, -1inch
Quarry II: +18lbs, +3 inches
Patterson II: +30lbs, +3inches
Foster: +40lbs, 0inches
Norton I: +12 lbs, 0 inches
Norton II: +7lbs, 0 inches
Lubbers: +21 lbs +3inches
Frazier II: +3lbs, +4.5 inches
Foreman: -4 lbs, 0inches
Wepner: -2lbs, -2inches
Lyle: +5lbs, 0 inches
Bugner II: -6lbs, -1 inch
Frazier III: +9lbs, +4.5 inches
Coopman:+20 lbs, +4.5 inches
Young: +21 lbs, +1 inch
Dunn: +15lbs, 0 inches
Norton III: +5lbs, 0 inches
Evangelista: +15lbs, +2 inches
Shavers: +14 lbs, +3inches
Spinks I: +27lbs, +2inches
Spinks II: +20lbs, +2 inches
Holmes: +6lbs, -1 inches
Berbick: +20lbs, +1inches

So, Ali had on average a 10.3 lb weight advantage and a 1.8 inch height advantage.

Go back through Wladimir's history, back to when he was weighing in closer to 220 lbs and do the same thing. You will notice that he and Ali are almost exactly similarly large for the division given the time period.

Size is a part of boxing, it's one of the 'gifts' that people like to talk about. Both Ali and Wlad were gifted with size and then were lucky enough to also have tremendous reflexes and speed of hand and foot for that size. Ali liked to clinch too btw

 

Head to head, prime for prime I believe Wlad holds a number of physical advantages over Vitali, including hand speed and foot speed, power, and better technique. I believe Vitali has better timing, is a more fluid puncher, clearly has a better chin and better stamina than Wlad. The clinching Ruiz-esque Wlad that we now see is often compared to the iron chinned, go out on his shield Vitali which was only really seen vs. Lennox. When making comparisons, they should both be considered at the heights of their respective skillsets.

 

:good

 

I think this proves that people really do see what they want to see.