Wladimir Klitschko Is A Poor Man's Lennox Lewis

[Mr140]

You guys act like this is the only boring fight to ever happen i mean not like Waldimar goes to the cards all the time but i will say this i miss Lewis.

[DaxxKahn]

Not in terms of who’s the better fighter because when you are dealing with fantasy matchups, that tends to get a bit ugly and gray but as far as what you are seeing when you see Wlad in the ring, you’re getting a poor man’s Lennox Lewis. It’s all because of Emmanuel Steward too, who with as great of a trainer as he is, has gone on what seems to be a personal quest to make boxing as boring as it can possibly be. Or maybe that’s a misconception but it seems to me that Steward has taken everything that worked with Lennox, good or bad, multiplied it by two and added an extra dose of caution.

I just watched the fight with Ibragimov and it was almost painful. Left hand, left hand, left hand, rinse and repeat. Lewis did that to an extent in that he used the jab a lot and since he was a big guy it really exaggerated the size advantage he had over his opponents. But even though he was very much a balanced, control fighter he was a guy who would at least take some of the necessary risks to not make you forget that you were watching a fight and not a chess match.

Wlad Klitschko does nothing in the ring that is going to put him in any risk at all. He’s gone with the same formula Lewis won with, that’s to ride the jab and a big frame to the title but there has got to be something else. The right hand of Wladimir Klitschko is non-existant. I don’t want to hear that Ibragimov has a tricky style that makes the right hand to much of a risk, because even Steward said to Klitschko that the right hand has got to come in somewhere so that the arena didn’t revolt. The right hand never came.

Not only does he not throw the right hand but Wladimir won’t work at a distance he isn’t comfortable at. That’s not a problem in itself as that is the case with most boxers but Wladimir deals with it differently. He holds. A lot. That is the root of the problem. There is nothing more boring then a one dimensional fight and when Wlad goes out that’s what you get. You can’t have a heavyweight champion who doesn’t fight on the inside and Wlad flat out just does not throw punches when he has to bend his arms a bit. It’s annoying. Beyond annoying.

Jermain Taylor did the same thing under Steward’s direction. Lewis was beat up a lot in the press because he could keep a guy outside all night with a jab and literally just beat the will out of people. But if he was tested on the inside he could go too. Watch the second Rahman fight and it’s pretty clear that there was some fight there from Lewis beyond that controlling style. Wladimir has that same controlling style but doesn’t have that second dimension. Klitschko fans like to do a lot of talking about the injustices they were done against Sam Peter but look at it through a different lens. What more could Peter have done other then hit Wlad in the head? When Klitschko’s holding didn’t work he would just completely turn away from the fight on the inside.

I can see how a lot of people can easily get behind Klitschko because he is a monster and when he has an opponent at the end of his jab he is pretty much unbeatable but his handling of fighters when they get close is beyond ridiculous. It’s nice to be cerebral and it’s nice to lampoon your chess playing as a testament to the strategic nature of his fighting style but Klitschko is getting by on holding, dominating by holding. Something has got to be done. He controls range by holding just as much as he does with the jab and it’s not fair. Hopefully his next opponent, whoever that is, makes a case about this before the fight to put the referee on notice.
Until then, watching Wlad is just like watching a poor man’s Lennox Lewis. He fights great and makes use of distance very well with a gaudy left hand but he doesn’t take any risks and he grabs hold of guys who get a little to close for comfort.

Hopefully this improves, but as long as he is allowed to win the way he does, it won’t. That is all.

I understand the holding part and the Wlad not taking risk part but calling him a poor man's Lennox Lewis is something I do not get nor agree with....

Lennox was a fighter who did not have to take risk and he got the job done. The fights of Lewis that were boring were either because

A- Lennox came in out of shape and just did enough to win or

B- His opponents were not willing to actually fight!!!

Lennox gave beating s to many fighters and acted as the aggressor..Lennox dominated the HW division when he was on top..His losses came at his arrogance in thinking he would go in and have his way with no respect for his opponent with little reguard for training. He came back after both losses properly prepared and not just beat his opponents but made the statement that their 15min of fame was over and banished them to the second tier....McCall the nut job broke down in the ring. His frustration in the fight allowed everything else to surface and his mind spent all due to Lennox..Rahman was treated like a chain snatcher....and KO'd Brutally....Just look at my sig.....

Lennox out boxed everyone else...His only real boring fight was Tua and every Tua fight is boring with the exception of Ike and the 15 second destruction of Ruiz.

Howe did Lennox exaggerate his size? He did what big men are supposed to do...In fact Wlad, Fields, McCline and even Valuev at times should pay attention on what a big fighter should do in the ring...Lewis never and I repeat NEVER gave up his size or tried to fight small and on even level with his opp..Thats what made him so effective....

To compare Wlad to Lennox is also a bit unfair to Wlad...He is still coming into his...Lewis is one of the best HWts to ever grace the sport. IMO he is third behind Ali and Louis

It would be like calling Hatton a poor mans Pryor at 140 because he likes to attack but hold in the clinch

Wlad has somew adjustments to make this much is certain but he is not a horrible fighter and all the hate on the guy needs to stop...and don't blame Steward for anything...There have been drastic improvements in Wlad since Manny....Can't fix things overnight....At least Wlad does not fall apart when caught anymore...Hell in the Peter fight he picked himself up 3 times...that shows a lot....Steward can only fix one thing at a time and the first thing is keeping him calm under pressure...it will come slowly..

As for Taylor he wanted to do what he wanted to do and not listen to Manny....Look where it got him....

[amat]

I'm not dissing Lewis in any way at all, Lewis is one of my favorite heavyweights of all time, one of my favorite boxers period.

It may not be fair to compare Wlad to Lennox yet but under Steward he has been holding a lot. I know how heralded Steward is as a trainer, how great he is on TV and how much more he knows about boxing then me but Wlad is just the latest in a long line of guys who train under Steward who habitually hold to get themselves out of trouble. I doubt that is going to change with Wlad, it's working.

I remember the Peter fight, I got real excited about that fight and even though Peter lost, I thought it was a great night for boxing. I thought the future was clear, and that in Wlad, the heavyweight division had a legitimate talent with heart and a will to fight. Every performance since from Wlad has been lukewarm at best. Now I look back on the Peter fight with a little more clarity, and I see the grotesque amount of holding Wlad did even back then.

It's just not fair. Holding shouldn't be a key to win, he should have to deal with the problems of a fighter getting inside on him within the rules. Right now he doesn't. Maybe that will change but I don't see any indication that it will.

[DaxxKahn]

I'm not dissing Lewis in any way at all, Lewis is one of my favorite heavyweights of all time, one of my favorite boxers period.

It may not be fair to compare Wlad to Lennox yet but under Steward he has been holding a lot. I know how heralded Steward is as a trainer, how great he is on TV and how much more he knows about boxing then me but Wlad is just the latest in a long line of guys who train under Steward who habitually hold to get themselves out of trouble. I doubt that is going to change with Wlad, it's working.

I remember the Peter fight, I got real excited about that fight and even though Peter lost, I thought it was a great night for boxing. I thought the future was clear, and that in Wlad, the heavyweight division had a legitimate talent with heart and a will to fight. Every performance since from Wlad has been lukewarm at best. Now I look back on the Peter fight with a little more clarity, and I see the grotesque amount of holding Wlad did even back then.

It's just not fair. Holding shouldn't be a key to win, he should have to deal with the problems of a fighter getting inside on him within the rules. Right now he doesn't. Maybe that will change but I don't see any indication that it will.

I can agree with those points...Wasn't saying your were dissing Lennox just that it is hard to compare the two especially since Lennox is retired and the fact he ruled a division with an iron fist when he was on top...And many forget Lennox did not become the complete package until he was 32-33 yrs old...Wlad is only 31.

The holding thing IMO is not all that bad except Wlad does it in an UGLY way..No finesse in it he just grabs on for dear life..almost like he is about to fall off the side of a cliff if he lets go..there are ways to do it and be effective and not look horrible at it...plus a little work while doing it can be done.....

You have some valid points though..

Have some rep for good posting

[Taeth]

I hope he, Emmanuel gets a hold of that russian amateur who won the featherweight title in the Olympics in 2004... he had a great jab. Anyways back the point. Lennox held a lot to... watch him against Tyson... he should have been deducted at least 2 points in that fight, he held until Tyson had nothing left. I think using your arms to make opening on the inside(like Hatton at his best, and Duran) is one thing, but to hug the opponent is crap, and refs should penalize it faster.

[El Kabong]

Well Hatton, Duran, and Tyson were all shorter fighters. It's your job as a shorter fighter to not allow yourself to be tied up.....it's the taller fighter's job to tie you up.....that's strategy, that's boxing.

You shouldn't try to handicap the matches so that taller fighters are at a disadvantage....clinching has been used by ALL taller fighters that ended up being worth a damn.....I wonder why


Shorter fighters just have to expect that...it's not like they didn't know it was going to happen, they just never tried to find an answer to it

[RozzySean]

Wlad might not have looked good, but Sultan wouldn't let him look good. Sultan didn't fight to win, he fought to survive. Wlad could have opened up more and really gunned for the KO, but he had an easy win fighting the way he did. Fair enough to him. This was somewhat like the Calzaghe-Bika fight in that Bika is a hard guy to really look good against.

Wlad isn't a poor man's Lennox. He's a very different fighter, as people have mentioned before. He's not as good as Lewis was. If that if he fought three times with Lennox, he'd win one by KO, get KO'd one time, and lose by a decision once.

[The Shadow]

I don't think the statements about "dominating by holding" are fair. Wladimir works at a distance, if an opponent gets past the jab and works to the inside holding is perfect technique....Lennox Lewis did that and he also pushed off a lot and I think that is how Wlad should mix this up and stay away from the holding, people are watching to see if he gets in a clinch just so they can say "Oh there he goes again, he always holds!". You let a fighter get inside your reach and let his hands stay free then you're going to be in big trouble and you should know that.

Wladimir doesn't hold any more or any less than the champions of similar styles did before him: Ali, Holmes, Lewis.

This is the way tall fighters fight, Wladimir puts on a performance to show how to use height and reach....and sometimes that style looks bad.

It was a bad style match up and everyone has those nights

Indeed. It was a bad style match-up. But that being said, the holding comes right out of the Steward play-book. He's looking quite similar to Lewis. From what I've heard and read, Sultan is one tough S.O.B. and stood in there with a heavy-handed puncher for 12. That's pretty admirable in my neck of the woods.

[littlebif]

Indeed. It was a bad style match-up. But that being said, the holding comes right out of the Steward play-book. He's looking quite similar to Lewis. From what I've heard and read, Sultan is one tough S.O.B. and stood in there with a heavy-handed puncher for 12. That's pretty admirable in my neck of the woods.

Wlad only let his right hand go about 2 times in the whole fight.

[El Kabong]

Wlad only let his right hand go about 2 times in the whole fight.

hyperboles are not needed to try to get your point across....Wladimir landed a lot more than 2 right hands.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I think Wlad boxed badly...

And he still won against a world class opponent.

You've GOT to be good to have an off night and still win.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

Wladimir Klitschko Is A Poor Man's Lennox Lewis?

He could well be a poor mans Klitschko