About the same. In fact, they have no brains but they have only physical advantages. If they were not giant heavyweights, they would not be able to rule the HWD. When they faced grade A fighters who were the same size as them, they got beaten. See? Tyson Fury and Lennox Lewis are the fighters that I'm talking about now. I wish both of them to retire for good. No more boring fights.
I guess its how you measure it, I came from the fact that Vitali was more calm in the ring whereas Waldo wasn't but I see your point :good
Wlad's IQ definitely improved more than Vitali's did if you look at their respective career paths as a line between points A & B. But I think Vitali always had better raw instincts, which I think translates into a higher starting point, which would lead me to believe his was slightly higher. He intuitively, I believe, knew how to fight better than Wladimir, who really seemed to need a teacher more. But, I would also definitely say Wlad's ring IQ being the more improved with TIME - may have caught up to him where he at least made the gap negligible. It's a tricky one for me.
I would've said wlad, vitali was up for a s**** and we saw how that went for wlad pre steward. But his lack of ability to adapt in the slightest when he couldn't rely on his usual tools vs fury was pretty damning. Given I can't be certain how much that you was age related, say about even.
Vitali for sure. Vitali didn't need to bring in a top trainer like Steward, he already had aspects in his game such as knowing how to pace himself, knowing to and how to clinch when needed. He was more versatile and had better instincts from the very beginning of his career. Wlad on the other hand gassed vs Purrity, learned nothing and did it again against Brewster. Wlad was never the smartest guy in the ring, he had the tools but didn't know how to utilise them until Steward showed him how. Steward did Wlad's thinking for him, had he been in the corner for the Fury fight, things may have panned out differently or at least been more competitive as Steward made sure Wlad switched his tactics or at least came in with a better strategy. But without Steward we saw Wlad lost in he ring when what he usually did, didn't work.
I believe early trainers of the Klits were quoted as saying Vitali is like a rock that can't be chiseled since he's already raw and doesn't have much room for change, where as Wlad was made out of sculpy and could be molded into a better fighter. I take this as meaning Vitali had peaked and Wlad could only get better, possibly with the higher ring IQ.
That's one interpretation, the other is Vitali was already the finished article and they couldn't teach him anything new when Wlad was still learning and struggling to reach the level his older brother had already attained. Much of what Steward taught Wlad, Vitali was already doing. The clinching when needed, the narrower stance, the lateral movement, the control of distance.
Wlad got turned around by Fury with his guard down once, and he looked at the ref for a break command. The ref (correctly) didn't say anything, then Wlad got tagged by Fury like a bloody amateur. Wlad's ring IQ either deteriorated massively or it was never very high.
it was Vitali, and not only pre Stewerd but post Steward as well, when Wlad's ring IQ had improved. There still are a couple of flaws in Wlad's game that Vitali didn't have. Just take the grab option when there's the time to land a punch, which looked smart but actually wasn't in many cases. And the thing that happened to Wlad in his last fight, that would never ever have happened to Vitali, who even if he would have trouble figuring Fury out just had forced the issue even if he had his younger brother's whiskers. A loss is a loss... just take the risk and good chance you turn it into a win.