Let's compare Wlad with Lennox. Lewis was also a cautious fighter. By no means was he as reckless as a Mike Tyson, who would jump the opponent like a wild animal. (And as reckless and exciting as Mike was, he didn't just ignore defense. He used head movement as he came in for the kill). But Lennox was a more offensive-minded fighter than Wlad. Lennox would engage when he had to, or when he needed to get the guy out of there. I don't recall the same look of confused fear on Lennox's face as I've seen on Wlad when a flurry comes his way (which is extremely, extremely rare). Lennox's worst fight (that I saw) from a cautious standpoint was David Tua. Had Lennox fought more fights like that, I would've never watched. And Lewis got knocked out, also. It's not like he never tasted what that felt like. But he came back and avenged each knockout loss. Wlad seems to have been permanently affected by those early career knockouts and now will go to any lengths necessary to protect his chin. The funny thing is... most of his opponents come into the fight scared shitless as well. It makes for excrutiatingly boring boxing. Which in turn is why Wlad gets dumped on so much. He protects his fragile chin to an extreme... and his opponents make no sign of wanting to reach for that chin.