It's interesting that Wlad was all but washed up before the Peter fight, and now is the best fighter in the division!

The man probably has the most talent in the division right now, at least at this level. He has monster power, great hand speed, and a good mix of punches. One of his most overlooked attributes is his excellent footwork. He is by no means washed up!

With that being said, I still don't think he'll stay at the top very long. For whatever reason, he folds under pressure. He did really well against Peter in that regard, hanging in there until it even looked like he caught a third wind. Also, lots of people here are complaining about Peter hitting him in the back of the head. Am I the only one who saw Wlad turning his back to Peter? I've watched that fight several times, and most of those shots were at least partially due to Wlad turning away from the punches. In any event, if Wlad gets caught by a solid punch, it really rattles him.

Another thing - the Peter fight isn't a good indicator of future success against heavy punchers. Why? Peter is in fact a heavy handed puncher, no doubt - but his punches are terribly slow. That's a good reason why Briggs might very well pose the biggest threat to Wlad's comeback to this point. He's WAY faster than Peter. He's nowhere near as heavy handed, but Briggs can still throw. Add that to the similar reach and height, and Wlad might be in for a tougher fight than expected.

With all that said, I'll still put my money on Wlad for this one...but I think it will be a good indicator of where Wlad really is at this point, where his last two fights weren't quite as illuminating.