Who will be the man to beat Wlad?

Very surprised nobody posted Koki Kameda, a perfect oppurtunity while we're in the process of wearing the joke out.:yep

 

I can't ****ing believe that Povetkin has only 5 votes out of about 100. He has BY FAR the best tools to upset Wlad, and I will be putting my money where my mouth is

 

I agree, the constant pressure and workrate is awful for Wlad, just worried about Pov's punch resistance. If he can take Wlad's shot, he'll wear Wlad down and stop him.

 

The thing that worries me about Povetkin is his ability to get inside Wladimir's jab and longer reach. He doesn't have the footwork or head movement of swarmers like Frazier or Tyson that would allow them to get inside effectively. And he doesn't have the power of Brewster or Sanders. The more I watch them, I see Povetkin getting picked off from the outside and timed coming in. I'd be rooting for him though.

 

Chambers is fast though. I wouldn't make a big deal out of that.

What most people overrate here about Waldo is handspeed. He has good handspeed but good handspeed for his size. Lots of smaller guys had alot of success with making him miss early on. It wasn't until they got brave and stood straight up that they got tagged.

If Povetkin fights the smaller man fight he can win this going away. All he has to do is keep a high guard and slip the right hands. Get up under and unload with body punches. And like I mentioned about Vitlay vs Sam Peter, Povetkin is small enough to where if he gets really low he can nullify Waldo's right hand completely. Povetkin is a very good boxer and he knows when to throw the counter over the slipped right. When to throw the hook to the body under a slipped jab, etc. And his short right hand to the chest would also work wonders on Waldo who is so big his body is impossible to miss.

 

This is EXACTLY how I see the fight going. I see Povetkin eating a couple of Wlads straight rights early on in the fight but proving out his excellent chin by pressuring and still coming forward. Then in the mid-later rounds Wlad will break down mentally (and stamina-wise) when Povetkin is still throwing 70+ punches per round and Povetkin will get the t/ko. Just my .2 cents

 

Vlad would murder Haye, but Haye is running from Herbie Hide at the moment. However, Haye has zero right to fight Vlad until he becomes a heavyweight contender. Vlad by extremely brutal knockout!

 

Why would Haye run from Herbie Hide?

 

You picked the one thing that worries me the most in this fight. If Povetkin had better head movement and/or footwork he would have this fight 100% imo. If he could just train for better head movement coming in that would be HUGE for this fight. I see him eating Wlads best shots early though and proving out to everyone that he is one of the strongest mental fighters out there and has an iron chin to boot. His stamina and workrate is ridiculous so that shouldn't be in question, and I see him winning this fight in the 8-11 round range when Wlad is broke down mentally and physically

That is the one thing that I can damn near guarentee in this fight: if Povetkin makes it past the 6th round he will win (of course imo)

 

Haye is afraid.

 

Povetkin is the only one I would favor to beat him on that list and it's not just because he's one of my favorite fighters. I've explained the way I think it would go a million times already, so I'll just say workrate + chin + very solid pressuring skills + overall heart and toughness = Wlad getting stopped in the second half of the fight after breaking down mentally/physically.

My biggest concern in this matchup is not Povetkin's chin, but his skin. Wlad's jab could cause some serious swelling/cuts to his face from the start.

The next fighter that has the best chance against Wlad is probably Haye, but I wouldn't favor him. Haye's crazy power, speed, and good timing is very dangerous to Wlad, but his weak chin, questionable stamina, and leaky defense make him a pretty big underdog. If Haye had Tua's chin I would definitely make him a big favorite over Klitschko.

A fat, lethargic Peter has little to chance against Wlad at this point. His performance against Maskaev wasn't good.

Chagaev is a rare case of a relatively unknown Euro fighter being overrated. I would give him a slightly better chance than I gave Ibragimov, which is not far from 0%.

Valuev wouldn't have a good chance, but it would be an interesting matchup and the only fight with him worth watching.