Wlad still in fighting shape.

Precisely when fighters age it's almost never pretty.

 

Yes, quite impressive:

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No, I don't think so. I'll be extremely surprised if he does. Why should he? He's a family man and he doesn't need money. He's doing great with his charitable organization, his consulting group is growing bigger and now he's even helping Joshua. That could be good promotion for Wlad's future career as a boxing trainer (why not, who knows).

 

As far back as Jennings? That was the same Wlad that pulverized Pulev. The exact same.

Ortiz was the same age as Wlad when he cut through Jennings like he was nothin. In fact Jennings was probably older cos i kept hearing how the guy was nearing 50 years of age.
So how was old washed up Ortiz able to deal with Jennings so easily , but prime Wlad who had just destroyed the #1 rated HW in Pulev had such a tough time of it?
I suggest you try understanding the styles that make fights, then you may find your answer.

Plus , if you knew anything about boxing , you'd know that legs are the first to go in a shot to bits fighter.
Wlad still had good legs under him against Joshua which is why he was able to give him such a good fight. If he had no legs , AJ would have blown him out in 3-4 rounds tops.

He bounced around defensively against Fury non stop for 12 round and displayed better stamina than he did during his early 20s - mid 30's. He knew he wasn't good enough to win offensively , but he was still prime enough to prevent Fury from giving him an absolute pasting.

A shot fighter looks like Mike Tyson against Danny Williams. Wlad never stepped inside the ring a shot fighter. Fact.

 

Agreed. Wlad was past prime and has been for quite some time. I first noticed signs of decline as far back as the Pianeta fight but no way was Wlad shot.

 

Wlad looks very young and in great shape for 42 y.o. man, but let's be real - his speed, reflexes, stamina are gone.

 

Past prime is different from shot. He was in no way shot but very much past prime. When you're shot, your legs hardly move and you can't even throw shots anymore.

Anyway, yeah he looks in great shape but please stay retired.

 

His speed is still good though he is slower. He looked much faster than Joshua when they fought. He still probably has some of the fastest hands at heavyweight.

His stamina was never that great to begin with he gassed twice in fights to Puritty and Brewster, but he did learn to pace himself better. But that was when he was in control of fights, he definitely tired later in the fight vs Joshua but he couldn't control the pace of that fight throughout like he usually does, he was out worked early, dropped in the 5th and late in the fight when he's usually in total control he had a fighter coming on strong and so he obviously struggled with that.

His reflexes have definitely declined. He showed that vs Jennings, he couldn't get off like he normally does, especially with his jab. In fact the loss of his once vaunted jab was a significant sign of his decline.

The thing I noticed first that showed he was declining was his coordination wasn't the same. I first saw signs of this vs Pianeta, there were times he actually looked a bit clumsy in the way he moved and I had never seen that in Wlad before. We again saw a noticeable lack of coordination vs Povetkin. At times he was horribly off balance especially when he was going for the stoppage, he looked more like Tyson Fury or Wilder, stumbling about like his legs no longer worked properly.

 

Good post, I agree. You're right about the start of decline, and I think it was Pianeta fight (Wlad was already 37). Then Povetkin.

Leapai was total waste of time, even 50 y.o. Wlad would've destroyed him.

And Pulev just fought a stupid fight, that's why Wlad looked so good then.

 

I think Wlad is still annoyed Fury ducked the rematch. It's possible he still wants to face him again. Incidentally I would pick Chisora for a farewell fight.

 

Retiring from fighting and stopping boxing training doesn't have to coincide. I guess he's not ready to give up feeling like a fighter or the fighter's lifestyle and he does still spar once a week. But he's too smart to come back once retired. Two fights in three years and three performances in a row which showed his prowess had diminished, is enough evidence for us to see he's not the boxer he once was. He'll see that too.

I guess the one nagging aspect was how close he came to stopping Joshua and that had he stepped on the gas he would have won. That's gonna bug him but not enough to try set the record straight which could only be achieved against AJ, who is also improving. Not gonna happen...

 

Most posters seriously lack any knowledge with anything on boxing. Most don't know the difference between a fighter with a great chin and a terrible chin, great stamina or terrible stamina.

How so many claim to follow and be a fan of a sport they don't know the very first thing about, still dumbfounded by this fact

 

What fight were some of it seeing ? Wlad went entirely for the ko vs Aj when he gave everything he had in rounds 5,6,7 strictly unloading everything he had.

Are some of you really filling yourself with such BS that you're believing he held back?

 

He did hold back after the 6th. He thought Femi would gas late - or Vitali did.

 

Then if that was true AJ would of walked through him but instead we got an epic knock down drag out from both guys

 

The Russians intervened