When David met Wlad..

[erics44]

Haye needs to forget about Vitali. Its almost a meaningless fight. Instead put in the effort to get another crack at Wlad. Watch some tape and devise a game plan. Get rid of Booth if need be instead of just showing up. FFS Sam Peter was able to get under that jab and he was slower then the second coming of Christ.

I agree somewhat with this in that I can't really see what Booth does to help his fighters technique wise. I think both Haye and Groves are both very gifted, particularly offensively but their technique is lacking that finesse and adaptability that only a good trainer can implant. I am not sure that Haye could ever beat Wlad because I am not blind to Wladamir's undoubted ability to use his physical advantage and skillset to nullify the opposition. It is frustrating that he doesn't push himself out of his comfort zone, he could destroy people early and it used to frustrate Manny that he did not sometimes.

early is the operative word because with a 80% KO ratio, he clearly is knocking people the F out.

i for one think he is right up there with the best of all time, he is massively underrated by a lot of people in those conversations and in my opinion fighters like ali and frasier are massively over rated, at his best i would put him in the top 5 without a doubt

he is extremely boring tho and if there has been a less entertaining period of hw boxing ill eat my hat, coupled with his boring style in the ring he is extremely boring in interviews and outside the ring also

if you had stats of all the genuine HW champs in history having never seen any of them fight and you had to pick one to be the HW champ you may well pick wlad, having seen them fight you definately wouldnt, in fact he would be a long way down the list

on this occasion the stats are very deceiveing

[El Kabong]

People can complain all they want to about Wlad, but he's efficient & effective. No he won't be drawn into a war #1 because that's not his style and that's not the style of many fighters though none catch as much hell as Wlad #2 because nobody is talented enough to force Wladimir into a war there were guys around that could have, but either lacked the mental or physical strength to make that happen.

Lamon Brewster vs Wlad I was about as close as it gets to Wlad being in a "war". Brewster pressured, pressured, and pressured some more took lots of damage and just wore Wlad down, but in the rematch you see what happens to fighters who enjoy having wars, they get older quicker, they break down, they casn't keep that intensity that high throughout their career. Look at Riddick Bowe, each fight was a battle and his prime was very short as a result.

Wlad fights smart and in the future I bet we see talented heavyweights who are intent on being "exciting" and their successes will not reach their maximum potential because they won't fight smart. Wlad fights the way which he is most comfortable and again he is most successful that way, why expect him to fight like Tyson or Marciano? Let Wlad be Wlad, I'd say the same for any other heavyweight this successful. What matters at the end of the day are wins & losses, Wlad keeps winning fighting the way he's fighting so easily that no person can think of a current threat to his title.

[Master]

And yet @Eric44 has him top 5 heavyweight?

[El Kabong]

And yet @Eric44 has him top 5 heavyweight?

....where he'd still be behind Frank Bruno

[erics44]

obviously bruno is the best lb 4 lb fighter of all time, who is better?

[Master]

obviously bruno is the best lb 4 lb fighter of all time, who is better?

He is certainly p4p one of the hardest punchers in all seriousness.