WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO: EASILY THE WORST EVER?

[loaded_gloves]

From an article on the Guardian today, about boxing's most boring-to-watch fighters.

Klitists, cover your eyes now.

Wladimir Klitschko, heavyweight

How boring is he? To his credit, more than anyone on this list, he gets the knockouts, just because he hits so hard, not because it's a priority for him. Here's why I hate Klitschko fights so much more than that of his fellow most prominent "boring" fighters: Klitschko wins the same way every single time, twisting every match-up to his monotonous rhythm, plus he gets away with nearly as much cheating as Hopkins.

This is every single Klitschko fight you've ever seen: jab, jab, hold, jab, jab, hold, jab, right cross, hold, jab, left hook, hold, jab, hold, jab, hold, jab, hold, repeat. It's an artless maths formula.

I honestly never care whether the knockouts come. You have to endure so much of that to get to that point that the knockout as employed by Klitschko goes from "one of the most electric moments in sports" to "that thing that brings relief that we don't have to watch any more rounds."

And the cheating. It reached a new low against Povetkin, and he suffered a rare point-penalty because of it, but it was too late in the fight to make a difference. He holds; he sticks his left hand out illegally; he pushes opponents down all the time with that left hand; he leans down on his held opponent's neck; and against Povetkin, he worked in some holding and hitting.

Want to watch his fights? No. I once got excited for a Klitschko fight when David Haye was on the other side of the ring, only Haye wasn't able to bring his usual excitement. The first live fight I covered was Klitschko v Sultan Ibragimov and it's a wonder it didn't turn me off of ever wanting to cover a bout in person again.

Like a lot of these "boring" fighters, he's working with what he has. It would be dangerous for Klitschko to do more than his maths formula, because he got exposed as a weak-chinned heavyweight long ago. I just despise his bouts.

[SNG]

Just read that myself, it's hard to disagree with most of it.

I watch pretty much every decent fight from the weekends, and I was working Saturday night and I still haven't gotten round to Klit-Povet. Reading the reports at work put me off completely.

[orbtastic]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/queens ... g-fighters

[JimStone]

From an article on the Guardian today, about boxing's most boring-to-watch fighters.

Klitists, cover your eyes now.

I always cover my eyes when I'm presented with articles from the Guardian.

[palooka]

Is it alright to enjoy Mayweather box and enjoy a mixed martial arts fight? (But not wear the tee shirt).

[orbtastic]

RE that article, if you find Mayweather boring then you need to shut the door behind you and make sure you wear your Affliction shirt with pride.

Same old same old, isn't it?

What next, calling Hopkins "borenard" or calling Wlad "Clutchko". Yawn.

All this Wlad's boring stuff is so boring, we did it to death months/years ago. The people that are still moaning about it need to realise nobody cares, nor can they do anything about it. What they gonna do? Boycott his fights (lol), not watch his fights on illegal streams any more. Yeah that'll show him! Write about it on forums, god yeah he's really going to sit up and pay attention to that.

I remember a thread a year or two ago now with Glyn Leach, we did the whole jab and grab thing inside out back to front. There's no new material to be had.

[JimJim2009]

When Alexander did a jab-and-grab on Maidana it was called masterful boxing...

That was one of my favourite performances of recent years. I didn't care who won, or how, and was impressed at the skill Devon showed. There is absolutely ZERO comparison between what Devon did and what Wlad did. ZERO.

[ALI]

That a referee would allow a heavyweight title fight to be so marred is frankly a terrible indictment of the sport and it's flaws. Can you imagine if in the wimbledon Final, Nadal was allowed on occasion to allow the ball to bounce twice before hitting it back - it would be a mockery, that is what this is.

There needs to be consistency in refereeing - the fact of the matter is, all too often, one fighter is allowed to get away with murder, because they are perceived to be the house fighter, and the fact is, the referee knows subconsciously that if they allow leniency to the perceived star, they will get hired by the promotional outfit again - it happens time and time again. The referee knows all too well that the rules are being bent, but just allows it to go on, so as not to interrupt 'the script.'

That's how it is, and that's how it's always been, and it's one of the things that has always sickened me about the sport. I love to watch a great fight, but this kind of thing angers me immensely. Anyone who thinks that the fight was fair, and the rules were applied correctly, is either mental, deluded or biased.

Good post James. I watched the fight in a pub with several non boxing fans, they seemed a bit perplexed by my constant shouting at the tv every time Wlad leaned on Povetkin. It was a travesty to watch and took the referee far, far, far to long to deduct a point, the fight was all but over by then, perhaps the reason he deducted the point in the first place? There were 4 knockdowns in the fight, only one of which i can recall definitely being legit, though i've seen no replays nor read any other comments on the legitimacy of the knock downs so wont say to much on that. What i will say is that referee should never ref another fight again, period.

It reminds me a lot of the Hatton Mayweather fight, where Mayweather constantly rammed his elbow in Hattons face preventing Hatton from any in-fighting, this blatant fowling literally took any chance Hatton had of winning away from him. Mayweather was a bit more covert at fowling that night than Wlad was this past weekend, but it was still blatantly obvious and Cortez should have been held accountable for not dealing with it.

[hurlock]

Just like to say, I don't really watch heavyweight boxing did watch some of this fight in sections & also watched povs fight v huck were he was blowing out his anoos!!
& pov was adopting the clinch & leaning pushing hucks body down exactly what happened to him v wlad.surley these heavyweights can do some form of strength conditioning they all seem to go in there heavy to make up the defecit of wlads size knowbody has the skill levels to cause him problems up close or even get him struggling to clinch its to easy for him so why does he need to exert himself??

[keithmoonhangover]

I'm not a massive Klitschko fan, especially after he's just cheated his way to a win over one of my favourite fighters. However.......

Wlad does what he does and it's the referee's job to warn, deduct points and ultimately disqualify. It's not Wlad's job to decide how much hitting and holding he can do, or how much leaning on he can do, or how much wrestling and throwing he can do.

Wlad did some hitting and holding on Saturday night, but nowhere near as much as say, Bruno against Tyson.

If he was in the ring with Mills Lane, then I'm sure Wlad would adapt his style accordingly.

It's not like no one has ever cheated before. How many elbows did Tyson connect with, how many shots did Sugar Ray Leonard land on the break and how the hell did Roberto Duran win a fight with a low blow?

It isn't something new. If anything, Wlad is a throwback to the Jack Johnson days.

As far as Wlad being boring, I'd watch a dozen of his fights rather than watch a single Johnny Nelson tape.

[handsofstone]

I'm not a massive Klitschko fan, especially after he's just cheated his way to a win over one of my favourite fighters. However.......

Wlad does what he does and it's the referee's job to warn, deduct points and ultimately disqualify. It's not Wlad's job to decide how much hitting and holding he can do, or how much leaning on he can do, or how much wrestling and throwing he can do.

Wlad did some hitting and holding on Saturday night, but nowhere near as much as say, Bruno against Tyson.

If he was in the ring with Mills Lane, then I'm sure Wlad would adapt his style accordingly.

It's not like no one has ever cheated before. How many elbows did Tyson connect with, how many shots did Sugar Ray Leonard land on the break and how the hell did Roberto Duran win a fight with a low blow?

It isn't something new. If anything, Wlad is a throwback to the Jack Johnson days.

As far as Wlad being boring, I'd watch a dozen of his fights rather than watch a single Johnny Nelson tape.

I,ll be honest with you keith,when i was watching the fight,i was thinking "i bet mr hangovers going tits watching this"

[keithmoonhangover]

I'm not a massive Klitschko fan, especially after he's just cheated his way to a win over one of my favourite fighters. However.......

Wlad does what he does and it's the referee's job to warn, deduct points and ultimately disqualify. It's not Wlad's job to decide how much hitting and holding he can do, or how much leaning on he can do, or how much wrestling and throwing he can do.

Wlad did some hitting and holding on Saturday night, but nowhere near as much as say, Bruno against Tyson.

If he was in the ring with Mills Lane, then I'm sure Wlad would adapt his style accordingly.

It's not like no one has ever cheated before. How many elbows did Tyson connect with, how many shots did Sugar Ray Leonard land on the break and how the hell did Roberto Duran win a fight with a low blow?

It isn't something new. If anything, Wlad is a throwback to the Jack Johnson days.

As far as Wlad being boring, I'd watch a dozen of his fights rather than watch a single Johnny Nelson tape.

I,ll be honest with you keith,when i was watching the fight,i was thinking "i bet mr hangovers going tits watching this"

I was at a 30th wedding anniversary house party on the Mrs Hangover's side of the family. The son of the celebrating couple was entertaining the 100 or so guests with his guitar and singing Time Of Your Life by Greenday, while I was watching the fight alone on his computer. I was screaming at the monitor, so loud, the lad stopped singing, came in and told me off. In fairness, shouting, "you dirty cheatin' bastard" is not really acceptable at a wedding anniversary.

[handsofstone]

Theres probably nothing worse you can shout at a wedding to be fair

It was one the few occasions when i actually got angry watching a fight not involving a home fighter

I dont get as irate about Wladamirs tactics as some people but Saturday took the biscuit,im not usually a fan of fighters complaining but i was pleading for Povetkin too have go at the ref

[keithmoonhangover]

Theres probably nothing worse you can shout at a wedding to be fair

It was one the few occasions when i actually got angry watching a fight not involving a home fighter

I dont get as irate about Wladamirs tactics as some people but Saturday took the biscuit,im not usually a fan of fighters complaining but i was pleading for Povetkin too have go at the ref

Povetkin was too busy doing his job.... trying to win the fight.

[handsofstone]

Theres probably nothing worse you can shout at a wedding to be fair

It was one the few occasions when i actually got angry watching a fight not involving a home fighter

I dont get as irate about Wladamirs tactics as some people but Saturday took the biscuit,im not usually a fan of fighters complaining but i was pleading for Povetkin too have go at the ref

Povetkin was too busy doing his job.... trying to win the fight.

I applaud him for that i was actually expecting his corner to be more vocal but in the end i was just wanting Povetkin to tear the ref a new one

[Bard of Boxrec]

I was at a 30th wedding anniversary house party on the Mrs Hangover's side of the family. The son of the celebrating couple was entertaining the 100 or so guests with his guitar and singing Time Of Your Life by Greenday, while I was watching the fight alone on his computer. I was screaming at the monitor, so loud, the lad stopped singing, came in and told me off. In fairness, shouting, "you dirty cheatin' bastard" is not really acceptable at a wedding anniversary.

Love this. Keith, you can be an odd fellow but you do give a certain life to the forum

My closing thoughts on Wlad, I think a very good comparison is Amir Khan, levels-wise. Stopped badly by contender-level guys (Sanders, Brewster, Garcia) and fighters a notch below (Puritty, Prescott, Khan almost vs Diaz). A few wins that could be considered 'notable' (Malignaggi, Maidana, Haye, Byrd), but no consistent body of work. Chin problems. Generally isn't a very complete fighter (Wlad no inside game or punch artillery, Khan defensive and tactical naivety)

The people who revere Wlad are, mistakenly, assessing him in a relative rather than absolute sense. Relative to the rest of the division he is king, but on an absolute level he obviously falls well short.
It's rather like if the top 50 fighters in the heavyweight division all vanished and an Alex Leapai-level guy went on a long title run against Sherman Williams-type opposition. Any comments about how dominant he is would be somewhat irrelevant.

[JimStone]

The people who revere Wlad are, mistakenly, assessing him in a relative rather than absolute sense. Relative to the rest of the division he is king, but on an absolute level he obviously falls well short.

It's not about revering the guy, at least it isn't for me. It's about him being the best we've got, and me not being a rose-tinted crybaby. Joe Louis is dead and Larry Holmes is fat and old. Some people can accept that, some people can't. Live for today, look to tomorrow, and dry your eyes.

[Bard of Boxrec]

It's about him being the best we've got

But that's the problem. A relative outlook is meaningless. Noone hands out Amir Khan the same respect Wlad gets from some quarters, and Amir arguably has more meaningful wins (and has been stopped less).

[Ezzard]

When Alexander did a jab-and-grab on Maidana it was called masterful boxing...

That was one of my favourite performances of recent years. I didn't care who won, or how, and was impressed at the skill Devon showed. There is absolutely ZERO comparison between what Devon did and what Wlad did. ZERO.

Jim, just remind me again of the level of the comparison.

[Bard of Boxrec]

When Alexander did a jab-and-grab on Maidana it was called masterful boxing...

That was one of my favourite performances of recent years. I didn't care who won, or how, and was impressed at the skill Devon showed. There is absolutely ZERO comparison between what Devon did and what Wlad did. ZERO.

Jim, just remind me again of the level of the comparison.

He stressed it because it was a ridiculous comparison.

[Ezzard]

Just checking if clinching is okay or not? That's all...

[keithmoonhangover]

I was at a 30th wedding anniversary house party on the Mrs Hangover's side of the family. The son of the celebrating couple was entertaining the 100 or so guests with his guitar and singing Time Of Your Life by Greenday, while I was watching the fight alone on his computer. I was screaming at the monitor, so loud, the lad stopped singing, came in and told me off. In fairness, shouting, "you dirty cheatin' bastard" is not really acceptable at a wedding anniversary.

Love this. Keith, you can be an odd fellow but you do give a certain life to the forum

My closing thoughts on Wlad, I think a very good comparison is Amir Khan, levels-wise. Stopped badly by contender-level guys (Sanders, Brewster, Garcia) and fighters a notch below (Puritty, Prescott, Khan almost vs Diaz). A few wins that could be considered 'notable' (Malignaggi, Maidana, Haye, Byrd), but no consistent body of work. Chin problems. Generally isn't a very complete fighter (Wlad no inside game or punch artillery, Khan defensive and tactical naivety)

The people who revere Wlad are, mistakenly, assessing him in a relative rather than absolute sense. Relative to the rest of the division he is king, but on an absolute level he obviously falls well short.
It's rather like if the top 50 fighters in the heavyweight division all vanished and an Alex Leapai-level guy went on a long title run against Sherman Williams-type opposition. Any comments about how dominant he is would be somewhat irrelevant.

His reign reminds me of Floyd Pattersons in a way.

[danconnollyeire]

I was at a 30th wedding anniversary house party on the Mrs Hangover's side of the family. The son of the celebrating couple was entertaining the 100 or so guests with his guitar and singing Time Of Your Life by Greenday, while I was watching the fight alone on his computer. I was screaming at the monitor, so loud, the lad stopped singing, came in and told me off. In fairness, shouting, "you dirty cheatin' bastard" is not really acceptable at a wedding anniversary.

Love this. Keith, you can be an odd fellow but you do give a certain life to the forum

My closing thoughts on Wlad, I think a very good comparison is Amir Khan, levels-wise. Stopped badly by contender-level guys (Sanders, Brewster, Garcia) and fighters a notch below (Puritty, Prescott, Khan almost vs Diaz). A few wins that could be considered 'notable' (Malignaggi, Maidana, Haye, Byrd), but no consistent body of work. Chin problems. Generally isn't a very complete fighter (Wlad no inside game or punch artillery, Khan defensive and tactical naivety)

The people who revere Wlad are, mistakenly, assessing him in a relative rather than absolute sense. Relative to the rest of the division he is king, but on an absolute level he obviously falls well short.
It's rather like if the top 50 fighters in the heavyweight division all vanished and an Alex Leapai-level guy went on a long title run against Sherman Williams-type opposition. Any comments about how dominant he is would be somewhat irrelevant.

You make a solid point. I watched the Sanders fight last night and it was amazing how different he was. He had the basic tools in jab and cross but he didn't know how to grab hold (like Khan doesn't know), was all over the place with his footwork and his head movement and guard was awful. The commentators were saying he is not good enough to make it in the sport (maybe because it was just after the Lennox reign and they fought someone decent would come through). Props to Big George Foreman who actually said, after Merchant stated you can't be a champ at HW without a chin, if he improves his defensive game he would have a bright future.

The Brewster fight was completely different and wasn't really a question of chin. He took huge shots that would've KO'd most, with no defense, he was never cleanly knocked down (he half went down from punishment/half from being completely knackered). He was dominating like he does now but with Price-like fitness and blew out. Difference is, you could still see he was miles upon miles ahead of where Price is now in terms of skill, which is why I don't see Price becoming the next Wlad

[Bard of Boxrec]

The Brewster fight was completely different and wasn't really a question of chin. He took huge shots that would've KO'd most

Brewster wasn't as big a hitter as Sanders though.

[jamesmcdonnell]

The people who revere Wlad are, mistakenly, assessing him in a relative rather than absolute sense. Relative to the rest of the division he is king, but on an absolute level he obviously falls well short.

It's not about revering the guy, at least it isn't for me. It's about him being the best we've got, and me not being a rose-tinted crybaby. Joe Louis is dead and Larry Holmes is fat and old. Some people can accept that, some people can't. Live for today, look to tomorrow, and dry your eyes.

I'd say Vitali is the best we have, creaking a bit now, but I'd back him all the way to kick his younger brother's arse if they met. He's starting to look beatable, but I'd say his overall career has been more impressive, and he has more bottle.