Wlad vs Tim Witherspoon.....

Terrible Tim wins this one by KO. At his best he was at ATG level, he has a solid list of wins too, Tubbs, Bruno, Snipes, Page, Smith are all good fighters. His fight with Holmes who was near his peak is also pretty much an even fight. Had Witherspoon been fully motivated he could of dethroned Holmes in a rematch, as Holmes would likely be unable to avoid a rematch with Tim had he put together a string of convincing wins over contenders...

 

I don't think Vlad has lost his confidence or has grown gun shy. I think it's more a case of him fighting more intelligently these days, especially since hooking up with Manny Steward.

Vlad's current style was devised to compensate for his known flaws, one of the biggest of which is a so-so chin. If anything, Vlad is a better fighter now that he's playing it safe.

 

If we're talking about a prime Witherspoon, and he's in shape and fights his best, I believe he would knock Vlad out. It could go either way, but I think Spoon's combination of boxing ability, durability, and power would enable him to crack Vlad's defense and get the job done.

On the other hand, if Spoon is not in top shape, he would be beaten decisively by Vlad, either by stoppage or a one sided decision.

Overall, though, I think this is Witherspoon's fight to win or lose.

 

A much better fight against B grade opposition. But against elite A level fighters like Spoon, he would have to open up in order to win.

 

I pretty much agree. Witherpsoon had some all time tools. I have often felt team Tyson wanted nothing to do with a still talented Witherpsoon int he mid 1980's.

 

Not necessarily, as Vlad is pretty dominant with his left jab - right cross combinations. I think it's a question of what "A" level fighters we're talking about.

 

Wlad has a very good jab which he is using to dominate literally everyone in the division. By A level, I mean real elite fighters such as a focused Spoon, Liston, Bowe etc etc. Wlad isn't going to win against these caliber of opponents using his safety first approach although it's the right thing to do in todays division.

 

I stay away from Wlad H2H alltime matchups now because I can analyse and discuss it all I want but my post always ends with

"But if Brewster and Sanders could do it....."

 

Speaking of Mercer, he said that no one had ever hit him like Witherspoon in the post fight interview.

High praise for Spoon considering some of the people Mercer had fought.

 

Spoon by early kayo! He was a tough, talented fighter. That looping overhand right was lethal. It was hard to block or parry because he brought in behing the guy`s glove. I think he`d get to Vlad.

 

I'll never be completely comfortable picking Wlad over legitimate A-grade fighters, primarily because his whole style is built around a weakness. It's almost like a damage limitation exercise.
Wlad's been having his way with tomato cans like Ibragimov and Thompson, but against the likes of a fit and focussed Witherspoon, I think he'll be pushed very hard indeed.

Offensively Wlad is very good, but he fights almost scared and even more so against big punchers. To me it's going to be his downfall in this fight. He could win by knockout, but if a KO was to be scored, I'd fancy Tim to be the one doing it.

Still, it should be a hard fight, but Witherspoon would get to Wlad at some point, probably late.

Spoon TKO 11.

 

atsch

 

Honestly, they're crap. How can you say otherwise?

 

I guess I just missed all those A+ Witherspoon performances in the 80's. The only big early ko he got was against Tillis & everything else was a decision bout for the guy, except for Bruno late. And I sure don't think that Bruno fight was an A+ result. Win or lose, he went the distance a lot. and he wasn't knocking guys out & was actually being on the losing end just when you thought the guy could put together a winning streak.

 

Iggy and Thompson aren't Tomato cans, but they're not elite fighters either. Thompson was ranked around 10th coming into this fight, and Ibragimov was around 5/6 simply because of his wins over the statue Briggs and a shot Holyfield. Both are at best B level fighters.