After my thread on Vlad yesterday, Dinovelvet recommended that I watched the Brewster fight and having done so, a number of things have become clearer in mind when assessing Vlad as a fighter. 1st of all the performance of Robert Byrd as referee was exceptional. He repeatedly warned Vlad for the following 3 things - stop holding on the inside - stop leaning on his opponent - stop pushing Brewster away to avoid in-fighting This lead to Vlad being forced to fight within the rules and it had a significant effect on his performance (similar to how it effects Amir Khan). - Firstly I want to give Vlad credit because he looked a world class operator in their. He was forced to fight 3 minutes of every round instead of the non-stop grabbing and having to do so he showed his full arsenal as a fighter which I found impressive. Vlad was letting his hands go, showed good speed and power and for 4 rounds he put a clinic on Brewster. - As a consequence of being forced to fight within the rules though, this created 2 big problems for Vlad 1) his stamina levels were found wanting without the constant holding to break up the action, he was forced to fight at a pace he could not sustain and Brewster showing a good chin meant that he gassed. 2) the constant warnings meant that vlad couldn't avoid the in-fighting at times and as a consequence, vlads glass jaw was in danger of being shattered regularly unlike with Boente's referee's that allow the constant holding. The fact that Vlad knows he has a glass jaw also meant he burnt nervous energy and this was also a contributing factor in him gassing. In conclusion, with Vlads assets as a boxer - tall, big reach, outstanding jab, straight puncher and being allowed to grab persistently to prevent in-fighting without warning from a referee, I believe that there are very few heavyweights in boxing history that could beat Vlad with Boente's referee's. This has basically given Vlad a zero-risk opportunity of Vlads weaknesses (infighting, stamina, glass jaw) ever being exposed again in the ring. Your thoughts?
Wait a minute, wasn´t Wlad poisoned there ? Remember Farmboxer telling a story about it. The FBI is probably still investigating.
Eh... I don't think there are many willing or capable of taking the punishment Brewster took in that fight while constantly coming forward. Clinches or no clinches, it takes something special to walk through a sustained assault like that. Wlad also got wild when he thought he had Brewster out of it and punched himself out looking for a finish that wouldn't come after that knockdown, he definetly cracked under the pressure in tihs one. I haven't seen Wlad load up and aggressively pursue a knockout against a hurt fighter since. As pointed out previously, Wlad is 9-1 on USA soil, including the first Peter fight which could have played out in similar fashion had Wlad not showed improved prose. Wlad was in a vulnerable state of mind and Brewster just was possessed that night, it was his day in the sun, and it was also the beginning of the end for him as he started falling apart quickly.
My memory of that fight is Wlad flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water, totally gassed after what, 5 rounds I think. Actually, I liked Wlad back then, he punched in combinations and really threw a lot of offense at his opponent. However, his stamina didn't allow him to fight like that for more than a few rounds, so he came up with his clutch and grab style. I guess you have to do what you have to do to win in professional boxing, and he is the heavyweight champion (for the most part anyway) but I feel he has the talent to do so much more, but he is just afraid of exposing himself to a punch or two and that is just totally lame to me. Sometimes you have to take one to give one and Wlad refuses to do that. Too bad
Not really. Povetkin walked through 12 rounds of it while being exhausted. Chaggy eat up fair amount of shots before being stopped. Brewster walked through a lot of it because he had Wlad constantly on the move , not letting him plant his feet and took the sting out of him with body shots. Its been proven here and against Purrity than Wlad can't handle pressure and his 9 year run of success is down to him moving full time to Europe where he is protected and can bend the rules to his heats content.
Wlad landed 52 right hands in 4 rounds against Brewster..I can't even remember the last time he threw that many in a 12 rounder. And actually, Wlad did most of his damage while Brewster was backing up or cornered. Sure..ok.
Good observations. I'll tell ya something else about k2' referee's. A guy on youtube told me Charr was awarded 250 grand in compensation for the Vitali fight. At the end of the 4th round the ref stops Charr from going to his corner and takes him to Vitalis corner where k2's doctor stops the fight.
I asked him for proof and he linked me a German talk show that exposed what happened after the fight.
For sure Wlad held too much against Povetkin, but you guys are crying about it so much I feel like I'm in a maternity ward.