Sultan ibragimov was very good...

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

I don't think size had much to do with the outcome! Skill did! Whitaker was 6'7 and briggs 6'4! He boxed ring's around those two! Plus he's a southpaw (but then again wlad is a master at countering the southpaw style, see byrd and thompson!)

It was a case of Styles....that's all that fight was! Both fighters are know to be intelligent, cautious fighters! It was never gunna be a classic....

Klitschko's performance was reminscent of some of the performances of Ezzard Charles and Larry Holmes; dominant but unsatisfying in an aesthetic sense. The lack of aesthetic appeal should not convince the discerning boxing fan or student that the fight was anything other than a dominant performance in difficult, even ugly, circumstances by an exceptional fighter.

I thought Klitschko's jab and wait strategy was very smart and IMO he got two legitimate knockdowns too... .

David haye who is polar oposite to ibragimov put on a stinker too but was utterly dominated, wlads style just shuts down most others! We should not judge these men on there performances with wlad but judge them on there performances that got them there! See Iggy v briggs/holy, haye v ruiz/valuev, chambers v dimitrenko/peter etc...

[erics44]

i think it did

wlad was bigger and had all the physical advantages

if they had have been the same size the outcome may have been different and the fight would still have been shit

[DavilaJones]

Klitschko's performance was reminscent of some of the performances of Ezzard Charles and Larry Holmes; dominant but unsatisfying in an aesthetic sense. The lack of aesthetic appeal should not convince the discerning boxing fan or student that the fight was anything other than a dominant performance in difficult, even ugly, circumstances by an exceptional fighter.

I love you for this quote. It embodies everything I believe in the sweet science.

[CutMeMick]

Well talk about two completely opposites...

I think he's one of the worst boxers I've ever seen. Nothing about him was exceptional. I see him more as boxer who fought average opposition and the one time he stepped up in class he got outboxed.

To put it in perspective he couldn't beat Ray Austin that's how shitty Sultan was.

[TitoFan]

Wlad was wary of Sultan's main weapon... his straight left. So he jabbed all night. Or rather... he "pawed" all night. One of the worst displays I've ever seen from Wlad. But Wlad came in as the champ. It was on Sultan to TAKE the title. But Wlad kept Sultan at arm's length. Not ONCE did Sultan even make the token effort to get inside and take the fight to Wlad. The result was a boring snoozefest masquerading as a heavyweight fight. I find it very hard to sympathize with Sultan under circumstances like that. If you finally get your shot and you throw it in the garbage can.... you're toast. Back to the back of the line.

[Master]

I watched Sultan beat Holyfield and was not too excited. Next you will say Briggs is underrated.

[Beanflicker]

Him and Wlad stunk up the joint and ruined a chance to give HW boxing a big shot in the arm. Leading up to the fight there was a lot of press, Wlad even did a bunch of talkshows (including Conan) to build it up. They had a great audience and spoiled and made damn sure that no one would ever care about HW boxing again.

[Spicoli]

Yabba Dabba No.

[gest12645]

Sultan was good but not great. Put him in with guys like Adamek, Povetkin, Arreola, and he probably would have a tough time, and wouldn't necessarily win.

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

Well talk about two completely opposites...

I think he's one of the worst boxers I've ever seen. Nothing about him was exceptional. I see him more as boxer who fought average opposition and the one time he stepped up in class he got outboxed.

To put it in perspective he couldn't beat Ray Austin that's how shitty Sultan was.

Crazy post.

I was waiting for the austin mention! Sultan showed up overweight against Austin (231¾ lbs ffs! He was a regular sub 220lb fighter!) And he was dominating austin early on he just gassed/blew up looking for an early knock out. Outside of the unusually aggressive Wlad spanking, Austin has an underrated chin, taking Sultan's best shots early and making a fight of it down the stretch.

Sultan had really fast fucking hands. Tyson said this, Mayweather said this, everyone who worked with the guy and watched him box said this, Wlad said this, all these people..who you know worked in the business had no reason to lie have said this. You can see it with your own eyes, its clear as day the man had elite hand speed.

He was far from average mate believe me!

He beats povetkin, byrd, chagaev, seth mitchell, peter etc IMO. I would certainly pick him over a host of 90's guys too...

[TitoFan]

Sultan and Haye have one distinction in common. There was a LOT of hype and expectations before their fights with Wlad...... and it all came crashing down with shitty, disgraceful performances. When you turn in a performance like that, on the biggest stage in boxing.... you go back to Square One.