BoxRec

Quixall wrote:
I agree Riddick,

Whenever i see Wladimir fight, he jabs, jabs, jabs, throws a right quicky and grabs. He does it in every fight. Now, realistically, how difficult is that to combat ?? Not difficult at all, but as you say, you have to have a modicum of talent and more importantly have the intent to try and take a fight to him. Wladimir has done a trade off. He has abandoned much of his former offensive style to look boring, pedestrian and predictable with his new defensive style. I watched one fight with Wladimir and his opponent just literally stood in front of him and didn't punch him for about three rounds and i'm not joking either. So, with opposition like that, which is only slightly more dangerous than a punch bag, it's quite obvious that Wladimir will be seen as the man who can't be hit or beaten. Reminds me of that Bruce Lee film where a guy is breaking boards with his fists looking good and Lee replies "Boards, don't hit back........." Could apply to Wladimir, i wonder if he was watching.

In hindsight it's really frustrating that Wlad/Chisora fight didn't happen. Chisora had the style to beat Wlad - pressure and toughness. If the Chisora that gave Vitali a tough fight had been in there with Wlad, I am confident Dereck would have at least made it as tough as Peter did. I wonder if Chisora has anything left after the tough schedule he has faced followed by the Haye crushing. if he does (enough to beat Scott) I would still like to see him in with Wlad.

I disagree with the comment about Sanders being a live body.

Whatever you think about Sanders (and there are a lot of opinions out there) he is the livest body Wlad has ever fought! Says a lot.

Chisora's chin is getting overrated.

Haye put him to sleep and Wlad hits harder than Haye for my money. Wlad would knock Del Boy spark out.

lillywhite14 wrote:Chisora's chin is getting overrated.

Haye put him to sleep and Wlad hits harder than Haye for my money. Wlad would knock Del Boy spark out.

Doubt it. It's not all about who hits harder either, is it? You don't see Haye's shots coming. Do you honestly think Wladimir's would be so hard to detect, coming from a 6'6' man mountain? Haye also has faster hands. Wlad would have spent all night clinging onto Delboy with the usual look of fright in his eyes when a man attacks him

The worst part about this mythological 'new' Wlad and his long comical reign is that he's not even the best heavyweight in the world. For all his stats, Vitali would beat him senseless (were they not related).

The Klitschkos and all of the WBA champions post-Lewis are the best advertisement there is for eliminating the sanctioning bodies.

lillywhite14 wrote:Chisora's chin is getting overrated.

Haye put him to sleep and Wlad hits harder than Haye for my money. Wlad would knock Del Boy spark out.

Wlad wasn't even throwing a decent amount of right hands against Pianeta ffs. He carried this bum for 5 rounds. Do you think Wlad would stop Chisora with a jab?

Really enjoyed the fight. I think Vitali is an excellent fighter who would have been a live dog with anyone from any era. Wlad too.

I do think that people go a bit overboard though about the heavyweights. The 70s and 90s were golden eras. Other than that the division is usually fairly lame.

All we really need are the top guys to fight one another. There is enough quality out there if they all fight each other. All we really want are competitive matches.

Ezzard wrote:I do think that people go a bit overboard though about the heavyweights. The 70s and 90s were golden eras. Other than that the division is usually fairly lame.

Wow, what astonishing ignorance of boxing.

Especially for a man using the handle 'Ezzard'.

The 1980s was a poor decade…the 90s was a good decade but we didn’t get all the fights we should have…the last 10 years have been on a par with the 1980s…the champs way ahead of the rest…lots of inconsistency…lots of blubber…

Two poor decades out of three…yet still enjoyable…

remember when it was announced that vitali would step in as the opponent.

even to this day i rate vitali higher than wladimir based on that fight.

i don't believe wladimir could have stood up to lennox.

Ezzard wrote:The 1980s was a poor decade…the 90s was a good decade but we didn’t get all the fights we should have…the last 10 years have been on a par with the 1980s…the champs way ahead of the rest…lots of inconsistency…lots of blubber…

Two poor decades out of three…yet still enjoyable…

The 80's was way better than today in my opinion, Tyson, Holmes, Dokes, Weaver, Witherspoon, Smith, Spinks amongst others, most of them fought each other too. I've not been excited for a heavyweight fight for over a decade.

hitman_hatton1 wrote: i don't believe wladimir could have stood up to lennox.

Imagine that uppercut landing on Wlad? He would have been the first Ukrainian on the moon.

This is one of my favourite fights. Ian Darkes commentary on this fight is top notch.

As for the fight, it was a very interesting battle. Lewis came in to the fight with the gameplan of putting pressure on Vitali and making him fight at a pace he wasn't accustomed to. This is why the fight was so good. Lewis showed a lot of character in this fight and it made me a fan of his. He realized quite quickly that Vitali was very awkward and had a good right hand but didn't change his gameplan despite being hit with the best possible right hand Vitali could have landed in the 2nd round. I thought we got to see the best of Lewis, even though he was in his worst condition. His jabs got crisper and more accurate as the fight went on. He started landing the right hand more and then started bringing the left hook in as well. He showed a brutal uppercut on the inside.

It was a battle of wills and I thought Vitali was hurt when he was clipped with a right hand in the last few seconds of round 6. He was holding on for a few seconds.

I'm not sure what would have happened but the fight was stopped at the right time and Lewis was a deserved victor for me. When faced with the prospect of a rematch, I think Lewis decided he didn't want another war. The thing about Vitali is that he has a great chin so Lewis knew that a rematch was not going to be a cakewalk. He was going to have to take some right hands from Vitali and get into a tear up to win. You can't blame him for not feeling up for it, he was at the end of his career.

It remains one of my favourite fights. Two guys with iron wills and good skills going at it. Lewis showed good defensive skills in this fight as well, even though he was hit quite a bit. He also showed a good chin.