The Wlad who in Dec 98 had been stopped by Puritty vs the March 99 Ike who destroyed Byrd? No contest!! Wlads stamina issues arent going to be forgiven against a guy who throws as many punches as well as Ike did. Wlads opponents up to and including 99 are very average, The Byrd and Tua victories show Ike was able to beat 2 very different fighters who at the time were highly regarded. Ike too much pressure and unrelenting power for Wlad at that stage
In 99 Wlad was a lost puppy. Both were pretty green but Ike had that extra intangible of a good fighting heart. I would lean towards Ike to stop Wlad mid rounds.
LOst puppy? I agree that he was far from his First prime that came right after Tommy Brooks. But even then he could blast Ike with hook of the jab and straight right. The only question is how good Ike defense will work against Wlad. And can he avoid shots and while landing his own.
He might land the hook, but Ike might walk through it and get close, and then Wlad is lost. Thats what Im talking about. Ike had the heart and guts to get close and make it a fight. Wlads best chances would be to box from the outside and run as much as he could. Hes not going to beat Ike if Ike can turn it into a fight.
I think this is the deciding factor. People will say "He took this from Tua, that from Tua", but what about Tua himself? He took monstrous shots from Ike, plenty of them, but when he fought Lewis he was intimidated and couldn't be bothered to mount any kind of attack. We've never seen Ike against a tall, skilled hard hitting opponent like Wlad. It's hard to know how he deals with.
Right. Ike fought a lot of tomato cans. But proved himself somewhat beating Byrd. Thought the Tua fight could of been a draw tho.
Lewis has something that Wlad doesn't have and can never develop: the ability to FIGHT. I didn't want to imply that Wlad is or was as good as Lewis was. However, now that you bring it up, when it purely comes to jab, right hand, left hook and keeping distance, i think the current Wlad is every bit as good as Lewis. But in '99, he wasn't. Still more than anything Ike ever faced, though. I had Tua winning that fight by a single point, btw.
Yeah fair points I think Lewis uppercut was a deterent to anyone who could slip or get under his jab Wlad relies more on the jab and right hand, I do think Ike would be Wlads best opponent to that point too. Tua Ike was very close, I dont disagree a point or so either way.