Why Are There No Good Heavyweight Inside Fighters Anymore?

In this new era of athletically superior big men, the price to get inside is too great. Learning how to counter at long and mid range is much important.

 

You seem to be agreeing with me here that it's the Klits, Wlad especially, who are to blame for the lack of decent infighters today.

 

I think it is more the case that they have coincided with the decline of the great trainers, and this has resulted in a decline in the skills that would be needed to counteract them.

Steward outlived the top "smal heavyweight" artisans. With his passing we have lost the last of the old guard, and who inherits the world depends on what sort of trainers emerge to fill the void.

 

Still, the type of fighter you're proposing is a rare breed indeed, not something that can really be trained if the right stuff isn't there to begin with. Which of the current crop would you say had the goods to have effectively counteracted Wlad's style given the right trainer? I can't think of many. Haye obviously doesn't have the chin, mental fortitude or stamina. Povetkin lacks the power. Adamek lacks the power and general ability. Charr and Arreola are just too crude. Chisora? Mitchell? Mago? Jennings? Chisora's probably the best bet, and that's a very slim chance indeed.

 

A few years ago I thought Boytsov might have it given teh right tutelage, but hey ho.

Chisora as you say probably comes closest.

I guess its not so much a question of whether these guys could be taught to beat the Klitschkos, as whether they could be taught to take more rounds off them.

Of course dominant champions often fall from their pedastal sudenly, and not against who you would expect.

 

Boytsov's a good pick, but the bloke's just so lazy and untested against any sort of stiff competition. Has the speed and explosiveness though. Not sure about his chin or late rounds stamina.

 

You kind of have to think that if the elements were there, we would have seen more by now.

 

Indeed. Folks are paying far too high a price to get inside.

It burned Tor Hamer in his last outing.

Chisora took a serious whipping just trying to reach his comfort zone against Klitschko.

Eddie Chambers, who does some decent work inside, couldn't get anything started against the younger Klitschko's jab.

Mormeck has the skills, but he's small, old, and his chin can't handle top level heavyweight power.

Getting inside is great, but if you are being punished to get there, the returns diminish rather quickly. Guys like Chisora are getting absolutely eaten up and range and on the counter by the true elite guys.

It's both the deficit of defense and the tremendous power and strength of modern big men. Smaller, or stockier, heavyweights have got to get out of the way, because we're learning more and more that walking THROUGH just isn't a good idea against some of these supersized snipers.

Povetkin has some real skills inside, and he can move his head and feet when he's on(He's not all that consistent). Hopefully, we'll see him take on another top ten fighter soon. Kubrat Pulev has skills inside too, and he seems willing to let his hands go. He's got a big fight lined up, and I think he'll make some believers no matter who he fights. He's pretty darn good, I've liked what I've seen in every fight I've seen of his. Intelligent, patient, really breaks his men down with a variety of skills. Smart fighter, which is what is missing the most from heavyweight these days, IQ and poise. If something isn't working, try something different, or you are going to get concussed, big men hit too hard.

 

Jennings has serious potential, and he's being brought along perfectly.

 

Someone has difficulty detecting sarcasm........................................

 

Taller fighters are littering the rankings atm. But put someone like povetkin or arreola against wlad and they'll fight inside. Whether they have the head movement to get there is another matter entirely.

 

Or the chins, frankly. Look at the difference between Ray Mercer and Tommy Morrison against Lennox Lewis. Both clearly had similar gameplans. Tommy even had faster hands and more explosive movement.

But it was Mercer's composure and ability to consistently weather Lewis' shots that made all the difference.

 

Chisora has no power and his punch variety is extremely limited, basically just looping hooks. Povetkin doesn't have true one punch KO power but its pretty respectable and his combinations and short punches accentuate the power he does have, Boswell was a nice one shot KO.

Povetkin, Fury, Boytsov, Glazkov, Jennings, Chisora, Solis, Chambers, Perez all have infighting skills.

 

Much like the proto mammals discarded their gills upon emerging from the murk and slop of prehistoric swamps, the evolving heavyweight, the pinnacle of evolution, has shed infighting.

Onward progress.