Wlad's holding was disgraceful, but Povetkin came in too low many times

True, and Povetkin let him hold by doing the same thing over and over.

 

Povetkin did the same against Huck, and there was a lot of clinching in that fight too.

 

Agreed! He continuously came in very low with his head.......

 

Povetkin bends low and lunges in. Wlad steps forward a little. Clinch. Most of the time Wlad wasn't even holding. Usually Wlad holds if he misses with the punch or is in trouble (which is very rare).

 

Every time he didn't, he was eating those jabs and that short left hook. Povetkin kept trying to get inside, but it was like choosing between Scylla and Charybdis.

 

:thumbsup

Ugly ugly fight, but Potvetkin extended the fight and made the final bell b/c of the ugly styles matchup.

If he'd tried for a minute to fight from the outside, he'd been starched. If Wlad allowed Potvetkin to hold and hit him constantly, he might not have made the distance.

I never woulda thought Potvetkin would be able to charge in so effectively with those wild shots, but he was and Wlad's typically dominant 1-2 was absent b/c of that. He still got a dominant win, but in a very ugly fight.:-(