Bowe was a better fighter at range. Lewis had a great uppercut, but he didn't fight on the inside much at all. He always setup his punches from the outside. Lewis did not fight phone booth style. Atrocious is the wrong word choice. I wouldn't even call him bad at the inside, just not good and far from great. If he was atrocious at inside fighting, he would get owned every time he fought on the inside, which clearly isn't the case. I can't think of any world champion being atrocious at something. You can't be atrocious, as that refers to the absolute worst....
No once a fighter gets close to Wlad he is looking to clamp on...It makes him look sloppy and somewhat amatuerish.
He has NO inside game. Not a bad one... just non-existent. Quite simple, if his opponent gets in uppercut, hook, straight, he clinches, game over. He should really be penalised by refs, as harsh as that would be.
Bowe was better at range??? NOOOOOOOOO WAY!!!! Bowe is arguably the best inside fighter among HWs EVER!!!! And I am not NEARLY the only person arguing this point....in fact, its brought up quite often. You should REALLY go back and check out some pre-Golota Bowe. His inside game was simply breathtaking. And again, he is atrocious. He DOES NOT FIGHT when it gets in close. He refuses to throw and ties up. Go watch the Sanders fight or the Brewster fight and tell me where his problems started (along with his stamina issues in the Brewster one)....it was on the inside.
Wlad is terrible on the inside. All he does is hold. He has no uppercut and he seeminlgy, in all these years, hasn't developed this aspect at all. Someone like Lewis or Bowe would have ripped Wlad to shreds on the inside.
There is absolutely no reason he shouldn't be fighting inside. He did just fine before Manny got there. He CAN do it but inexplicably he won't. Sanders took his heart man.
Bowe is the most overrated fighter in modern times. His only claim to fame was fights with tiny Holyfield where Bowe had a huge size advantage. Whenever Bowe was in with someone a little more his own size he was nothing. Look at Bowe - Golota. Look at how he ran when Lewis wanted a fight. We can argue that Wlad's inside game is not as good as his outside game, but .. don't use BOWE ?!?!? as an example. Wlad would kill Bowe. Bowe is a mediocre fighter that could not handle good fighters of his own size. That has been shown beyond a shaddow of a doubt. Another thing is... Before Kessler-Calzaghe is sounded "Kessler is great on the outside, but has no inside game". What happened? Kessler actually beat Calzaghe on the inside and showed a great fast and accurate inside game!!! and Calzaghe had to rely on cleverness and constant change to win the fight in the last half. Who knows if Wlad could prove to have a great inside game if he needed it? So far he has avoided it and relied on his outside game and I can't blame him because at least he knows that noone beats him there (save the occasional lucky punch).
Kind of logical isn't it with those long arms and height of him. Nothing new imo, it's always like that. One of the first things taught when u face an opponent taller than u is to get close/inside so he can't hit you anymore.
Oh and he will of course NEVER become a good inside fighter simply because there is just no space/place for his long arms to move. My opinion. But more like a fact I guess.
I agree that he isn't good at it, but is it really a weakness his opponents can exploit? As much as people may dislike it, the clinching is effective. By throwing a jab, straight right and finishing it off by grabbing, he's showing faults in his own game but I don't think there is room to exploit those weaknesses. A bigger problem for him would be at mid-range, because he doesn't have an uppercut or a short hook. However, he can't grab at this range either so this weakness can be used against him. It's why he struggled tonight. Against smaller guys he can grab them at mid-range and cover up that shortcoming in his game. However, because Thompson was so big, he couldn't only resort to his clinch when he was at short-range.
Why do people still consider this fact. Its NOT fact. Bowe had the same reach and was an inch shorter (meaning he had slightly longer arms for his body size) and he was a phenominal inside fighter. Lewis was an inch shorter and had a three inch advantage in reach and he was a phenominal inside fighter. This arguement doesnt hold weight. Ive already mentioned this numerous times and STILL people bring it up. Its not fact...not truth and not the case with Wlad.
Good post and good points...but I would argue that (other than the stamina issue vs Brewster...but again Brewster initially hurt him from inside) his lack of an inside game is what got him into trouble AT LEAST two of the times that he got stopped. I have never seen the Purrity fight, but would really be interested in finding out if it was a shot inside that started the damage.