Wlad

Is he less boring now that he is getting some good boxing coverage in the UK?

For me I feel that the 'boring' tag is a bit lazy.

As much as it pains me to admit it I was of the belief he was boring prior to watching him fight due to the media coverage / popular opinion of him. Seeing more of him in interviews and fights I've actually warmed to him.

So is the boring tag harsh?

It is a tad harsh for me, obviously he is not a guy I will rush to buy a career set for but he has found a system that works for him and since he is winning fights with ease, packing arenas doing so and not getting hurt and bashed up why on earth would he change, is for his opponents to take him out of his stride and make things uncomfortable for him.

He is also a class act outside the ring, struggle to see how anyone can argue otherwise, fluent in a number of languages and always civil and dignified in his dealings with the press.

rowley wrote:It is a tad harsh for me, obviously he is not a guy I will rush to buy a career set for but he has found a system that works for him and since he is winning fights with ease, packing arenas doing so and not getting hurt and bashed up why on earth would he change, is for his opponents to take him out of his stride and make things uncomfortable for him.

He is also a class act outside the ring, struggle to see how anyone can argue otherwise, fluent in a number of languages and always civil and dignified in his dealings with the press.

Watch his performance against Ray Mercer best I ever seen him fight...Just wish he would let the right hand and left hooks go when he has a opponent there for the taking.

That would be my major criticism PBF, have seen a number of his fights where his opponent appears there for the taking far earlier than he actually puts them out of their misery, would be great to see him really put the exclamation point on some of his performances sooner and more emphatically, although it should be said these are criticisms that have been levelled at Lewis and Holmes before but rarely see them criticised as vocally for it as Wlad seems to be.

rowley wrote:It is a tad harsh for me, obviously he is not a guy I will rush to buy a career set for but he has found a system that works for him and since he is winning fights with ease, packing arenas doing so and not getting hurt and bashed up why on earth would he change, is for his opponents to take him out of his stride and make things uncomfortable for him.

He is also a class act outside the ring, struggle to see how anyone can argue otherwise, fluent in a number of languages and always civil and dignified in his dealings with the press.

Exactly, would never be my favourite fighter but far from as boring as people say and I'm convinced a lot of the people that use the boring tag are just being sheep and that is a pretty dangerous thing for people to do when about 1/3 of us on here are Welsh.

On Ringside he again looked like a very intelligent guy.

For me there are technicians out there (such as Hopkins) that have a much more boring style yet aren't seen in the same light.

Maybe if Wlad was more vocal / less respectful of oponents out of the ring he would have a much better reputation inside the ring without actually changing his style.

The genius of PBF wrote:

rowley wrote:It is a tad harsh for me, obviously he is not a guy I will rush to buy a career set for but he has found a system that works for him and since he is winning fights with ease, packing arenas doing so and not getting hurt and bashed up why on earth would he change, is for his opponents to take him out of his stride and make things uncomfortable for him.

He is also a class act outside the ring, struggle to see how anyone can argue otherwise, fluent in a number of languages and always civil and dignified in his dealings with the press.

Watch his performance against Ray Mercer best I ever seen him fight...Just wish he would let the right hand and left hooks go when he has a opponent there for the taking.

I agree. Its always a bit of a frustration that Wlad doesnt open up a bit more whn his opponent is there for the taking. He has a cannon of a right hand that he uses so frustratingly sparingly. Steward is of the similar opinion it seems and says that Wlad has even more potential is he just turned up the aggression a notch or two he would be up there with the best hes ever seen.

It takes two to tango (god, I miss the Strictly thread) and the truth is that Wlad hasn't had to break stride ina long time. He has an efficient, if unexciting style, but if someone went in there with any kind of ability to get past the jab, I think we'd see a pretty exciting fight.

alma wrote:Thought we would have seen more people slagging him off for fighting Mormeck next weekend, unless i missed that thread.

Who else is there?

We don't want him derailing the Tyson Fury Train just yet, so let him feast on a succession of blown-up cruisers.

alma wrote:Thought we would have seen more people slagging him off for fighting Mormeck next weekend, unless i missed that thread.

That's part of the problem I feel.

He has beaten everyone there to be beat and is having to fight some poor fighters just to keep busy.

alma wrote:Thought we would have seen more people slagging him off for fighting Mormeck next weekend, unless i missed that thread.

Alma it is not a great fight by any stretch but it is the nature of long reigns that there is always some guff in there. Ali had Coopman, Louis had Dorazio, such is life. End of the day when someone establishes themselves, as Haye did in many a persons mind as a guy he has to face Wlad does so and deals with them, can't ask too much more for me.

superflyweight wrote:It takes two to tango (god, I miss the Strictly thread) and the truth is that Wlad hasn't had to break stride ina long time. He has an efficient, if unexciting style, but if someone went in there with any kind of ability to get past the jab, I think we'd see a pretty exciting fight.

I actually need someone to vent my anger at for the loss of what was by far my most popular discussion.

Who is responsible for the loss of 'trash talk'?

They should be taken outside and shot with the nurses that Clarkson wants done with.

Seeing as the art of Boxing is to hit and not be hit, Wlad seems to make a pretty good fist of it (sorry). I think that the reasons he gets a bad press for being boring is that he is safety-first as a result of his previous losses and will only let go in anger when he feels his opponent poses no further threat (the second Peter fight is an excellent example of this).

He is also in the heavyweight division, where most people, let's face it, love the likelihood of a brutal knockout. It's because they're the biggest of the big, and one punch can end it all. Or, in Wlad's case, several jabs over several rounds followed by the occasional right hand.

he is boring in the ring and out of it. kudos to iim for being successful and developing a style to be that makes him that. but still boring.

I love watching the Klitschkos. They are so consistent. Wlad has changed his style and became more cautious but that is because he is chinny. Smart boxer, smart man and a very good talker.

As for the boring tag that is American nonsense because they haven't had a decent Heavyweight in years. Haye would beat the best they have so that says it all really.

Yes he's not a big draw in America but you don't need to be there are a few Asian fighters who don't need the American market to make very good money. Koki Kameda being the best example there are very few fighters who earn the sort of money Kameda does but he isn't on American TV and wasn't in the bantamweight tournament Showtime ran.

I can see as to why some like Wlad but not for me, his brother is a little bit more entertaining and has a bit more personality around him in my opinion, but not by much. Just think he is boring in the ring and out and does nothing for me whatsoever. I respect his achievements and is one of the most dominant champions of all time (albeit not facing his toughest foe)

If Vitali was around in almost any other generation of the division I think he would be regarded as an ATG top 10 imo.

Wlad I'm not convinced about in that regard despite his physical advantages over a lot of the greats he is chinny and I feel that a lot of the top guys in the division would have got to him somehow.

Thing with Vitali if he were around in a better generation he would most probably have more losses on his resume than he does which would lessen his reputation as an unlucky fighter.

Couple of better wins would enhance his reputation as from a guy who only has poor fighters on his CV to a guy who has beat top fighters.

I'm not saying he is unbeatable far from it but how many fighters would you pick to beat him? Ali, Louis, Holmes, Foreman, Johnson and an on form Lewis.

Tyson, Frazier, Tunney, Dempsey then there's outside chances to the likes of Jeffries, Marciano and Spinks.

Tyson, Frazier, Tunney, Dempsey and Marciano are just to small imo. I don't know if they could get past his jab often enough to get inside and do enough damage to hurt Vitali.

Dempsey was apparently too small for Willard but we all know what happened there and Holmes a much better boxer than Vitali was beaten by Spinks so see no reason why the size of either Klitschko becomes such a defining factor.

Willard was a bit of a big lumbering oaf Vitali has pretty good movement for a guy his size. Spinks maybe I forgot about him. It's not just the size with Vitali it's the jab, the right hand, the movement, the good defence and that solid chin. Wlad I don't rate in the same way.

If Wlad were british (or American) you all would be saying what a great boxer he is and ATG top 10. He reminds me of Lewis. Boring yet effective. Both are chinny. Both take boxing as a chess match with gloves. Both are safety first boxers. I remember many times Manny Steward imploring Lewis to KO the opponent yet Lewis continued with his safety first approach with little risk.

I mean, look at R5 against Holy. Holy was ripe for the taking yet Lewis jabbed and waited. Its no wonder that judge gave the round to Holy. Well its a joke she did, but Lewis was an incredibly boring boxer.

prettyboykev wrote:Willard was a bit of a big lumbering oaf Vitali has pretty good movement for a guy his size. Spinks maybe I forgot about him. It's not just the size with Vitali it's the jab, the right hand, the movement, the good defence and that solid chin. Wlad I don't rate in the same way.

Slow down Kev. Jessie fought in black and white, was big and strong so he must have been good. He beat Johnson also.

But Vit has good movement? Sorry mate, I dont see that. Wlad is by far the better boxer whilst Vit is tougher.

Lewis could at least up the tempo and blitz his man if he so choose something Wlad would never do.

Everything you've said about Vitali, Holmes could do so much better yet still lost albeit contentiously to Spinks, he is lesser skilled than all those mentioned, all he has in his advantage is his size.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Lewis could at least up the tempo and blitz his man if he so choose something Wlad would never do.

Everything you've said about Vitali, Holmes could do so much better yet still lost albeit contentiously to Spinks, he is lesser skilled than all those mentioned, all he has in his advantage is his size.

Of course lewis could do that. Look at his blitz of Golota and Grant. But my point is that he hardly did that. He was too cautious and I found many of his fights boring in all honesty.

Contentiously? Holmes was flat out robbed. But he was past it by then. I'd take Spink to beat this version of Vitali. 3 years ago Vit would have wiped the canvass with spinks.

Lewis did it far more times than he's given credit for, tends to be that he fought a lot of fighters with very good chins unlike Wlad has.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Lewis did it far more times than he's given credit for, tends to be that he fought a lot of fighters with very good chins unlike Wlad has.

I dont know about that. Far too many times I heard Steward imploring him to be more aggressive and far too many times I've read and seen Steward sayig that Lewis is a chess player and it affects his boxing.

Personally I found much of his fights quite borng. His style is probably based around the likelihood that he doubted his chin.. He was more aggressive before he got sparked by McCall.