Before this fight, people were saying bad things like W. Klitschko was a limited fighter who: - could only fight from the outside at his comfortable range - had a limited arsenal consisting mainly of jab-grab-hold-lean and when 100% safe then jab straight/hook - could not go to the body or do a 3+ mixed (body-head) punch combination. - has no killer instinct to finish/kill off his opponent by will when the opponent is a dead man walking. - could only be successful against smaller men What are they saying now after his wonderful performance at 41 years of age (minus the last round)? Even Foreman and Bernard Hopkins could take a note from saturdays performance at 41 years of age !! It's ironic though that Joshua's second (and biggest/brutal) knockdown against Klitschko was actually from the inside with a wonderful body-hook-uppercut combination (something I've never seen Klitschko do in his awesome 10+ year reign). Switching sarcasm off...
His short left on the inside was murder in his early days. He was actually a good infighter back then too. See Barrett, Shufford, and Jefferson fights.
I didn't see Wlad doing much on the inside. Most of the fight was a power-punch sharp-shooting contest from the outside.
People were just gaging on a few years he was fighting like....most don't actually know what he can do.It was his best fight ,put everything together on offense and defense in sync...and thats Wlad. I told everyone the best Klitchko is showing up and was laughed at...these ppl dont know how to actually study boxing. i knew and even called possible a knock down for each after viewing the final days of the fight...ill look for that post. I believe my 70% chance for an Joshua win was legit and a good call. most ppl probably missed that uppercut that Wlad landed that started it all,i cant recall the rnd.
Wlad's suceessful career was due to keeping fighters away , if a fight broke out , he got knocked out. So that is true ,he's one dimensional in that aspect.
Wlad can't fight on the inside, period. He also had a very limited arsenal and NEVER went to the body. Please don't try to make him something he is not.
Over 20 years experience and he was still unable to go downstairs to the body. And in a fight he needed to the most no less. The relative novice Joshua was digging in body hooks from round one. Klitschko's limited skill- set is probably the biggest reason why he isn't an ATG fighter in my book. The jab and grab tactic won't always succeed at elite level.
Wlad proved a lot in this fight. He proved he won't fold when anyone gets inside, he proved he can exchange with big hitters. He proved enough where you'd have to favour a prime Wlad to do the job.
Not an ATG boxer , no. Not in my book. 18 fight Joshua showed a greater arsenal of punches than Wlad did in over 20 years of boxing. Better on the inside and better on the front foot attacking as well. Wlad's greatness comes from results and achievements.
Who is talking about Mike Tyson here? Unlike Wlad Mike did look great and exciting against average opponents and unified a division by himself (without a bigger brother). But against elite of the elite opposition he came short. Enough about Mike though. Well, lets run off the list and find out. I've never seen Wlad really fight on the inside. He always clinched his way out. Against Joshua the fight was again at range. This time with less clinching as Joshua was his own size and could afford to stay outside and jab from distance aswell In this fight (or any other fight) I did not see any 4 punch combinations. I did see two uppercuts of him. But they were poorly executed Unfortunately I didn't see any body punches from Wlad. Except a few when they were in a clinch. It's too bad because it could've saved the fight. An ATG should be able to do bodyshots I believe... That was clearly the case in round 5 and 6, 7 and 8. Vitali would've stalked his opponent and go through him. Wlad chose the safe option and waited out until the opponent would be more ready to fall down without really forcing it. Against smaller men this would've worked... Unfortunately the record does say that he lost against every good opponent of his size. I'm beginning to doubt my case here....
Wlad put in a fantastic, brave performance, boxed beautifully with no jab and grab or grappling tactics whatsoever, showed great heart and an iron chin, and nearly beat Joshua. I really underestimated his ability to fight without the aforementioned tactics. How the hell he was still conscious, let alone still standing after that uppercut I'll never know. Nothing but respect for him at this stage.
