Wlad Still Underrated

That's funny how all your examples that show Wlads inability to adapt are from when he was in his late 30s and early 40s and way past it/shot. Or inexperienced like in Sanders fight.

 

LMAO it wasn't less of a world sport just because one portion of Europe wasn't competing. Ee propoganda. Ee has no significant presence in any other pro sport. Mma has more American champions than any other country. In 20 years when no one cares about it mark my words you'll see European success surge there as well

 

Vitali lacks elite defence against elite competition (Height and reach packed with speed and skill)

Wlad's defence proved to be more effective against Fury and Joshua than what Vitali showed us against Lewis. Im not talking about power punches here just the basic guard and jabs.

With his facial bone structure and skin condition thats a big dissadvantage against somebody as skilled as Wlad.

Chin I give to Vitali but the difference is alot smaller than what people think. Wlad was TKOed due to bad pacing, panic and gassing rather than a glass jaw. Thus he was never stopped on the canvas, Always up before counted out willing to continue.

He ate some knockdown shots during his career though. Thank to his competition. Vitali went down against Sanders and probably would have been down a couple more times in his career if he faced better comp. He did not have to take multiply power punch flurries in his career thanks to his height and reach advantage combined with his low guard lean back style perfectly suited for short and slow opposition.

Chin:
Vitali 8/10
Wlad 7/10

Its the mentality that truly separated them when it came to pacing, gassing and TKO's.

And that affected more so than their chins for avoiding the floor. Wlad also lacked a bit of killer instinct. Most recently showed in the Joshua match.

So I can see a case for Vitali. But all things considered. I dont see it being enough to either box with Wlad and losing a jabbing contest with that eyebrow bones and facial skin cutting. Or try to engage and bum rush Wlad taking more damage coming in than the other way. Un guarded his chin would simply not been able to absorb those left hooks and straights.

A hard pressed late TKO win due to stamina issues for Wlad is the only potential outcome i can see in vitalis favor.

Wlad 8/10 times.

 

Exactly.

 

Nurmagomedov

 

Funny how these beasts didn't appear in the 90s. Also funny that they are reigning over divisions that are not "global" at all and are essentially reigning over divisions where it's mostly ee beating up each other. Except Loma. He's legit

 

No. Vitaly never knocked down. Wlad went down with more than one opponent. Wlads defence wasnt perfect, he clinched a lot and sometimes unfairly when things went wrong. Vitaly instead had a granitic chin and when he was surprised by some blow when he attacked he kept a cool blood and continued to hammer.
Wlad was better than Vitaly in the style (clear, technical and sumptuous).

 

Sanders put him down. Rewatch that fight. Based on Sanders against Wlad we can see that Sanders put both men in trouble and downed them in a similar fashion. Vitali is a bit taller and with his tall, lean back guard down style managed to avoid the effort from Sanders before he gassed. There is a small difference in chin between the two of them but not by much. The same goes for there face and bones prone to cuts, but Vitali more so than Wlad. When you say Vitali always kept hammer, the Sanders fight didnt demonstrate that. He respected Sanders Power a lot and backed to the ropes. Body language should be universal enough for people to see the respect of power.

 

The 90’s.....the time when heavyweight boxers were roided to the gills.

 

The speed and power that Sanders brought to the game along with the southpaw stance was something unseen at heavyweight that I can think of.

I thought Vitali was far more weary of Sanders than he was Lewis.

 

So are you saying that Americans didn’t care about boxing whilst Wlad was ruling but now they suddenly do now there’s 2 American champions?

 

I think that's what he's saying. When the Klitschkos were around all the American greats decided to become accountants and go to the NBA. Now that the Klitschkos are gone, they're popping up like mushrooms. Pure coincidence, nothing to see here, move along.

 

Povetkin aint small for Tysons era, he probably heavier than the majority of his opposition

 

Yeah definitely. I’m almost certain the majority of Tyson’s opponents were lighter than him pre 1990. Povetkin was a normal size heavyweight back then.

 

Wasn’t his brother plagued with injuries? Vitaly would probably have beaten the older Lewis we’re it not for the cut, that is why he’s h2h better. That same old Lewis would have stopped Wlad.