I was watching some old Ali-Frazier fights and I also noticed with Wlad and a lot of taller outboxers vs punchers, the outboxer always gets the advantage because they hold as soon as they get close, and the ref never lets the smaller puncher go to work on the inside.
I've seen refs tell fighters to work out the clinch all the time but it doesn't happen and they just hug
Most fighters don't train clinch fighting anymore. The days of Duran are long gone. Most don't know what to do other then just hug or freeze and wait for the ref.
JCC Snr and Toney were just as good inside as Duran, I think both of there ways of doing it were also more effective / useful.
No one does. But why does the puncher have to suffer because of it? Without the ref Frazier beats Ali every time.