Where did this myth that Ibragimov has any real top level defensive skill come from?

Sultan is a good fighter, can punch and can box, ask Jeff Mayweather about this.

 

Ibragimov has excellent footspeed. He moves like a weltereight in there. His speed and angles are his defense, not his guard.

 

Then he needs to use his footspeed more, because he's taking shots from opponents he really shouldn't be taking.

I agree with this thread, I think claims of Sultan being defensively exceptional are unfounded.

 

He got hit with a few more right hands from Holyfield than he should've, but overal i don't see how his defense is weak. He still only lost one or two rounds to Evander. His "embarrasing" performance against Ahunanya was actually one in which he also took most rounds. He suffered one flash knockdown while being off balance coming in, how does that show a "very shaky" chin? He took a few flush bombs with no problem from Briggs, who hits like a truck.

He is no defensive master, but none of the above were consistently able to land on him, so i'd say his defense is at least pretty good. Seems like these days you can only get credit for being good in a certain area if you are 100% flawless or Ali-like.

 

Didn't help him that much against Austin or Ahunanya, both of whom knocked him down and are both smaller and slower than Wlad.

 

They've all landed about 30%. Sure, it's pretty low for a HW, but all of those guys were lower workrate guys without a single punch as devistating as Wlad's jab. If Wlad can land 30% like those guys did, Iggy will look like he was the melon at a Gallagher concert by round 6, if he's still standing.

 

It is exactly that, a myth. He gets hit and gets hit often, especially by guys who actually punch, (NOT SHANNON BRIGGS.)

 

I'll say it again, if Ray "Cold Ketchup" Austin could hit Sultan with the jab, then Wlad is going to have a field day.

 

For a guy who has to get in and out to score vs bigger and stronger punchers, Ibragimov has a pretty good defense. Not great, but good.

 

Sultan is illusive when he wants to be , he is furious with the clusters of shots he throws and can be quite deceptive with his speed. Wlad will find it a little difficult at times to hit him.. Sultan is better than many people realise, his one flaw if any is that he can be visually shaken and is not scared to take a knee or have a knockdown against him, he just shows great character in rising up off the floor to win.. It will be a great fight Saturday evening..

 

Great post. His only hope is to run his way to a losing UD, because he ain't winning more than a couple rounds and he's getting KTFO.

 

Not saying it is, but I don't think it's exceptional.

However, bigcat says it'll be a good fight and he tends to be right so...hope he is again.

 

Ibragimov is an excellent hwt defensive fighter simply because he has the combination of mobility, above-average handspeed, great counter-punch timing and accuracy and has a heavy punch to keep offensive fighters honest... It would be too much to demand for a lot of body movement, he's not Floyd Mayweather at 147 pounds! There is not such a huge difference between performing well in each of 3 minutes rounds against Holy and against Wlad - that's a absolute mistake: Holy can be intense in spurts ( not a C+/B- fighter in that sense) and being smaller than Klitschko, he can/could penetrate Iggy's defensive shell with counter-rights and hooks throughout the fight; Klitschko will have a hard time to find his mark with an elongated jab and on forward gear at that 6'6'' tall stance ( not to speak about setting him up with a right). I think that Iggy took well those flush rights from Holy, just that he's never willing to mix up - can be seen as negative or positive.

Holyfield never timed Iggy with 1-2s, a jab and a right hand but the opposite of that - Iggy double, triple jabbed Evander on the move at some point, something he didn't do against Briggs... Moreover, I seldom see Iggy out of balance ( when did you see that?) and I thought Wlad was the one to have been proved to run into panic when tagged or to gas out ( Peter, Brewster, Purity ( who is a much worse case than Austin and TKoed Wlad))... Iggy's reflexes are good but he does not move his head a lot, bobbing and weaving, like he should - still bobs up and down and makes a lot of feints to counter with the left hand but his right guard is low. He doesn't have a herky-jerky, peck-and-move style but he's effective... Just that he struggles a bit under fire but gets away from danger with fast movement, turns and gets off quite easily.

Having said all that and what I firmly believe in, I can't see Sultan absorbing the kind of shots that Wlad delievers and I can easily see him collapsing onto himself by a fast, heavy right or a sizzling left hook when circling to the left, even if at that point, Klitschko is behind on points. Iggy's defense is a myth as much as Wlad's guaranteed demolition of Iggy is.

 

:good :good :good

I'll be impressed with IBRAGIMOV if he lasts up to six rounds! :yep