We need a count of holds for the mormeck fight. how many times did the referee break them up that were holds that Wlad initiated?
BUT...the point is this: how can you tell who is initiating? Mormeck illegally used his foremans and elbows are battering rams, getting to Vlad's chest. Vlad, like anyone else, was forced to push or clinch as a counter.
Honestly, it was a lot worse. The first round had so much holding it was incredible. Even when Mormeck was doing nothing, Wlad would just grab him. It was the definition of 'excessive'. People can say "oh, it happens all the time". Well, no, it doesn't. I've watched thousands of fights and I've never seen an opening round with so much spoiling. It was just awful.
Please pipe down. By illegally using forearms and elbows to get close (without punching), Mormeck literally forces his opponents to shove, hold, or grab the neck. No sane ref would have penalized Vlad for this.
How the **** is he illegally using forearms?! Even in Germany they allow a fighter to, you know, protect himself. A fighter is well within his rights to march forward without throwing a punch. Watch some Henry Armstrong, Julio Cesar Chavez, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran or more recently, Brandon Rios or Matthew Macklin. If you're messing about, I apologise. If you're serious, I suggest you go onto YouTube, type in "boxing" and educate yourself.
Wlad held Mormeck several times before he landed anything himself. The first minute had no punches but was full of clinching.
The fighters you mention almost always punch their way inside. Mormeck is different: is barges his way inside and plants his forearms on his opponents chest, all without punching. There's a key difference. Remember: this holding **** happens EVERY SINGLE TIME Mormeck fights. What does that tell you about the how Mormeck manhandles and ramrods his opponents? He's forcing his foes to hold, push, or grab the neck as a countermove. The ref did the right thing tonight. I applaud him.
A fighter doesn't have to punch his way inside. Again, I suggest you should watch those fighters. The majority of times they do but that's just because it helps them get on the inside. There are no rules to suggest you have to punch your way inside and it's certainly not illegal to do so otherwise. If a fighter is purposefully elbowing the head or throat, that's illegal. If they are simply walking forward, then there is nothing illegal about it. This is the same complaint Khan made about Peterson, which was rightly laughed at by anyone with any boxing knowledge. Walking forward with your elbows and forearms is not an illegal tactic.
I never saw any of these fighters do what Mormeck does...barge forward with the head down, smash the forearms and elbows as braces on the opponents' chest without punching first...then wait a few seconds and try to get some punches off. That's every bit as semi-legal as holding. I watched most of Frazier's and Duran's fights, and recall that they would hook the body incessantly from outside or middle distance as they forced their way inside. Once inside, they would continue hooking. That's not exactly what Mormeck does. Trust me, Mormeck is turning his own fights into manhandling affairs.
Read my words again, and carefully note what I said about what Mormeck does. He is manhandling his opponents, in order to set them up for punches. It's semi-legal or illegal. Again, this happens every single ****ing time this guy fights. He forces his opponents to manhandle him in return.
Uncle Rico, I know you didn't watch the fight, so I just watched the horrendous first round again to give you an idea of how bad it was. Wlad held 16 times with the referee breaking them up each time. There was two which could be considered acceptable and the rest were Wlad forcing the hold to spoil the fight. Wlad was warned after the 4th time and the 11th time. Two warnings and the next step is a points deduction, right? Well, not in Germany because Wlad did this for three more rounds without any deduction.