Unification fights in the HW division...

[Boxing Writer]

... almost ALWAYS look like this one. People are saying fighters were too catious, but in the last 30+ years I can recall a single HW unification fight, which was full of action - Holyfield vs Moorer II.

Tyson vs Smith - Smith was too catious and held Tyson every time he tried to get close

Tyson vs Tucker was slightly more interesting, but still not good enough to call it even remotedly good fight

Holyfield vs Moorer II - now, that one was really good, exciting fight

Holyfield vs Lewis I was pretty boring. Lewis dominated the fight and didn't want to risk

Holyfield vs Lewis II was better, but still not very exciting fight. Rounds 7 and 8 were really good, but most rounds didn't have a lot of action

Klitschko vs Ibragimov. Both fighters were catious, fight was extremely boring

Klitschko vs Haye was better than Klitschko vs Ibragimov, but it definitely wasn't an exciting fight

Now we just had Joshua vs Parker. Not a bad fight, but clearly not a great one

PS: Joshua vs Klitschko wasn't a unification fight since Wlad didn't held the title(s) at the time when it happened.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Exactly,

I like to think that most of the people who expect a barn burner every fight and come out with guff like this are probably just new to boxing .

Joshua won a close but clear decision against a good fighter. Closed it out and wasn’t in any real danger. It didn’t set the world alight but championship reigns have always contained fights like this. Get over it.

[oogiebe]

To be fair...many folks buy into the hype for these fights. I'm guilty at times as well and would rather not tell you how many years I've been into this "thing of ours." It's not being new to the sport, but sometimes we're wrong. I figured a 7 round Kayo. I'm not disappointed as much as unfulfilled. We all were used to AJ destructo. Most of us knew he wouldn't go 100% kayo rate his entire career. The fight tonight was a yawner unless you are a real lover of the sport and saw all the subtle activities and positioning going on. In the end, AJ took the smart road and took whatever Parker would give him regarding positioning. He "Lennox Lewised" (I coined that!) the fight to win. No more, no less. I think it made him look smart. I don't think he could figure out how to setup Parker for the KO, but he certainly knew how to beat him.

[oogiebe]

Back to the Thread...off the top of my head, I cannot think of a great HW unification bout. Sometimes when you get a title, you start to bet less at the table.

[Lackeos]

When two great fighters fight, the following things apply:
-This opponent is more likely to KO you than the others, so you have to make appropriate adjustments.
--Clinch more often to reduce damage taken and stall.
--Move around more to reduce damage taken and stall.
-The fight is likely to go more rounds than your other fights, so you have to make appropriate adjustments.
--Pace yourself.
--Be less concerned with hunting for the KO and more concerned with winning on the scorecards.
--Instead of fighting the full length of each round, try to avoid confrontation and then try to steal the round at the end.
--Don't punch yourself out.
-This opponent is more likely than others to adapt mid-fight, and you will have to do the same. You will need to find breaks in the action (i.e. by stalling) so you can think clearly and adjust tactics.
-Both fighters are high profile fighters, they already know each others' styles well, and there is a lot of film available on them. They will watch a lot of film on each other, especially because they take this fight more seriously than others, which means they will be well-prepared to negate each others' greatest strengths and most common combinations. They will both do a good job of shutting one another down.

This should be very reminiscent of Ward - Kovalev, Alvarez - Golovkin, Mayweather - Pacquiao, etc. The better the match-up, the more that the fighters involved are likely to look uncharacteristically ordinary. If you want to see two unskilled oafs run through each other like buzzsaws, then that would be Lucas Browne vs Erkan Teper, not Joshua - Parker.

[Boxing Writer]

When two great fighters fight, the following things apply:
-This opponent is more likely to KO you than the others, so you have to make appropriate adjustments.
--Clinch more often to reduce damage taken and stall.
--Move around more to reduce damage taken and stall.
-The fight is likely to go more rounds than your other fights, so you have to make appropriate adjustments.
--Pace yourself.
--Be less concerned with hunting for the KO and more concerned with winning on the scorecards.
--Instead of fighting the full length of each round, try to avoid confrontation and then try to steal the round at the end.
--Don't punch yourself out.
-This opponent is more likely than others to adapt mid-fight, and you will have to do the same. You will need to find breaks in the action (i.e. by stalling) so you can think clearly and adjust tactics.
-Both fighters are high profile fighters, they already know each others' styles well, and there is a lot of film available on them. They will watch a lot of film on each other, especially because they take this fight more seriously than others, which means they will be well-prepared to negate each others' greatest strengths and most common combinations. They will both do a good job of shutting one another down.

This should be very reminiscent of Ward - Kovalev, Alvarez - Golovkin, Mayweather - Pacquiao, etc. The better the match-up, the more that the fighters involved are likely to look uncharacteristically ordinary. If you want to see two unskilled oafs run through each other like buzzsaws, then that would be Lucas Browne vs Erkan Teper, not Joshua - Parker.

Another good example is De La Hoya - Trinidad fight

[oogiebe]

When two great fighters fight, the following things apply:
-This opponent is more likely to KO you than the others, so you have to make appropriate adjustments.
--Clinch more often to reduce damage taken and stall.
--Move around more to reduce damage taken and stall.
-The fight is likely to go more rounds than your other fights, so you have to make appropriate adjustments.
--Pace yourself.
--Be less concerned with hunting for the KO and more concerned with winning on the scorecards.
--Instead of fighting the full length of each round, try to avoid confrontation and then try to steal the round at the end.
--Don't punch yourself out.
-This opponent is more likely than others to adapt mid-fight, and you will have to do the same. You will need to find breaks in the action (i.e. by stalling) so you can think clearly and adjust tactics.
-Both fighters are high profile fighters, they already know each others' styles well, and there is a lot of film available on them. They will watch a lot of film on each other, especially because they take this fight more seriously than others, which means they will be well-prepared to negate each others' greatest strengths and most common combinations. They will both do a good job of shutting one another down.

This should be very reminiscent of Ward - Kovalev, Alvarez - Golovkin, Mayweather - Pacquiao, etc. The better the match-up, the more that the fighters involved are likely to look uncharacteristically ordinary. If you want to see two unskilled oafs run through each other like buzzsaws, then that would be Lucas Browne vs Erkan Teper, not Joshua - Parker.

Another good example is De La Hoya - Trinidad fight

HW'S