His last fight was a total domination of a very good fighter. I don't see anyone that can beat him at his present level. Hayes has a shot. Anyone who can punch, can take a punch, and take Wladimir deep has a shot but as long as Wladimir fights like he is. It is a "long shot".
he needs to throw combos etc.. granted, he was against a lefty, and a left hook vs a southpaw is not ideal. needs to learn how to throw a good mean uppercut, over hand right, not just straight thru the pipe, and to counter like lewis used to do.. we need to see the short left hook on the inside like the old Wlad, and the hook off the jab. His jab is amazing and a thing of beauty.
From what his opponents have been saying/showing, getting inside is much easier said than done against Wlad. Chagaev had a very good chin yet was rocked by several punches. If even one of those would have landed against David Haye, it would have been all over. No wonder Haye found a reason to "back" out. I remember prior the Byrd rematch many Wlad doubters were saying Byrd was going to get inside this time and rough Wlad up. That didn't exactly work out and seems absurd in retrospect.
Wlad fought a literally perfect fight. Perfection. Total domination. Technical brilliance. I couldn't tell you guys loud enough that Chagaev is for real, he's a very skilled fighter, had great success vs. tall men like Savon and Valuev, but the way Wlad fought was magicial. I hated Wlad's style (I still doesn't like), but Chagaev came out moving, jabbing, ever trying to land his great counter or lead left, but Wlad controlled him beautifully with the jab, broke his rhythm, put him off balance and threw a lot or right hands. The difference between the Chagaev and Ibragimov fights was huge. Once Sultan realized Wlad dismantled his best weapons, Ibra couldn't do ****, and Wlad didn't risk ****. But Chagaev tried to get in range and moved all night, showed tight defense, but Wlad responded with a lot more power punches than usual, right hands, hooks, lead shots, counters etc. He was is superb shape and dominated his most skilled opponent to date. I was very very impressed.
I agree to a point. However, I don't think that Chagaev was the most skilled fighter Wladimir has fought. One of the most skilled may be.
Wlad's style is not the most exciting thats for sure. But with his height and reach, ATG jab, mobility, inside clinches,,,, devastating right cross and sneaky left hook (when he decides to actually uncork them),,, this guy is very tough to beat right now... Until somebody comes in with the formula to get past that jab and grab... and get inside to rough him up and test that china Wlad is not going away any time soon.
This was probably Wlad's best performance. As it has happened before, in his next fight he could decline. We have seen many similar cases of fighters in their peaks who suddenly decline -Lewis against Tyson then Klitschko, Tyson against Spinks and then Williams and Douglas, etc. Wlad has one of the best jabs ever at heavyweight...Top5.
