Wladimirs Passive Style?

Wlad changed his style to protect his china

 

Wlad's style in his first 40 or so fights are exactly what the fans want to see (he still would be criticized by a couple of haters of course), but he just doesn't have the chin for that. Nowadays most heavies are exciting up to the point when their opponents don't fall over after the first couple of punches anymore, and suddenly look pathetic against "real" opponents.

He can get away with it against most of his opponents but he probably would have had 1 or 2 more losses and only a American heavyweight can get away with that nowadays.

If you forget about Tyson or Foreman for a while, most big champs of the past had quite a couple of boring fights in their careers and weren't always dominant. Nobody is criticizing Ali for his style in after his 30th nowadays, wich was much more spoiling as Wlad's current style.

 

While spectacular, Wlad wasn't utilizing all his advantages back then, namely his height and reach. He ran the risk of gassing and getting countered. Now his style is near impenetrable and he takes full advantage of his physical assets, but I sure wish he'd occasionally mix it up!