Were the Klitschko's that good?

If the "commentators" had stated categorically that Fury's tactics resembled the strategy employed by Wlad in his eyesore of a performance against Povetkin, you might have had something called evidence (weak though it would have remained).

As it stands, you don't, and you still probably need to develop an understanding of the difference between tactics and strategy.

 

Just to be clear. I'm not comparing Fury's performance against Wilder to this of Wlad's against Povetkin. Wlad against Povetkin was disgraceful and should have been disqualified in my eyes. I compare his jab, right hand and grab style in these fights to more regular Wlad's performances.

 

This content is protected

When did Wlad ever engage in a chest-to-chest / toe-to-toe battle like Fury ?

What Fury did - Walk his opponent down. fight in and out of the clinch. Throw uppercuts , body shots and hooks. in other words - inside boxing.

What Wlad does - reach out and hold desperately like an octopus. He doesn't punch or let the opponent go until his personal ref jumps in and separates. There is no inside boxing at all. His house rules are specifically designed to protect him from inside fighting.

Fury on the other hand embraced inside combat. Fury was banned from inside box in Germany and Wlad still lost

There are no similarities between them whatsoever.

This content is protected

 

I'm not sure I'd equate Fury's approach to the Wilder II and III bouts as jab-and-grab.

He did hold at times and even lost a point during part (II) if I recall - but, in the main, Fury was controlling distance, working behind the jab and ultimately becoming comfortable within the range of Wilder's kill-zone.

Clinching was probably more prominent in part (III) - particularly the mid-stages of that bout. Even then, Fury used his footwork in the opening rounds to evade Wilder's early attempts at jabbing to the body, and there was better work on the inside by both guys when the action got up close.

The mid-rounds saw clinching used as a tactic, but this was one strand of a broader strategy intermixed with a lot of exchanges. The latter stages of the fight saw Fury revert to long and mid range assaults with some good short-range exchanges mixed in, leading to that cheeky right hook that took Wilder's feet away.

The clinching applied in these fights didn't define the bouts, or stifle the action like a good few of Wlad's contests. They were pretty much wars.