The speed factor is irrelevant. Do you not think Wlad had an easy time avoiding Haye's shots because David threw single, wild shots from long range? Haye was fast but he had to cover such a long distance by nature of his ambush one-punch style that his speed was more or less negated. Wlad only had to worry about a few single, looping shots per round which he could shuffle out of the way of then tie Haye up. A dream situation for him.
Corrie's style however meant he could work his way into range then throw fast, hurtful punches in bunches, something Haye was totally unable to do as he had no inside skills/volume punching game whatsoever. This type of pressure is another type of problem for Wlad entirely.
Speed is relevant given that Sanders relied on his quick hands to deliver many of his knockouts; what made him dangerous was not so much that he could bang as it was that he could bang quickly. I think this was a significant factor in his 2003 win, as Wlad was slow to react to these quick shots and was therefore not difficult to hit.
Haye looked wild and out of rang as he threw, but that's what happens when an opponent skillfully times punches and moves back quickly enough to avoid them as Wlad did. Haye largely throw single shots, but he did put his punches together at times and I didn't think Wlad was bothered.
You always question assertions that Wlad has improved, but I think he's demonstrably better on his feet than he was in the early and mid-2000s, showing the timing and speed to move out of range and avoid attacks more effectively than he has at any other point in his career. This reflects his general shift from an offensive juggernaut--being fairly aggressive, putting together 3-4-5 punch combinations, and regularly throwing hooks and uppercuts--to a significantly more conservative, but in my view better fighter overall and one more suited to beat Sanders. I think the current version of Wlad would largely make Corrie to fall short, rendering the latter more open and perhaps more reluctant to do something that isn't working, in this case aggressively coming forward. That is one reason fighters tend to be uncharacteristically passive against fighters like Wlad and Hopkins.
I don't agree, but this was destined to be an 'agree to disagree' debate. I just imagine Corrie landing something then Wlad panicking and starting pawing, caught in no-man's land between wanting to throw but not wanted to get tagged again.
Wlad got hit with a solid right hand by Haye in the 12th and a good right hand by Wach in the 6th, and neither time did he paw, panic, or reacting as he did earlier in his career when something similar occurred; in the first case he even became more aggressive. Admittedly he wasn't seriously hurt either time, but I question that Sanders would be able to do that to the current version of him, and it's not like Wlad hasn't shown the ability to win despite being dropped.
It's definitely possible that Corrie gets tagged, but he was a brave guy and could come back. Corrie being more aggressive and effective with his punches makes it more likely for me that Wlad gets tagged and can't recover than the other way round.
Wlad is also a brave guy, has shown the ability come back from knockdowns, and in two of his losses he was exhausted prior to going down because of his high output, something that likely wouldn't be a problem for the better-paced version of the last few years. I think it would be far more likely that he'd beat Sanders in some way, whether uneventful decision or an emphatic stoppage. He punches just as hard, he's better technically, he's significantly bigger, and his feet are better. He's mastered a style that would allow him to, more often than not, dictate the fight from the outside with jabs and right hands as Corrie would fall short and struggle to land. Wlad's style would allow him to be effective even if Sanders' power made him reluctant to attack, while Sander's success would be impaired to a much greater degree if Wlad's power phased him, which I think it would.
