The Wilder Excuses Begin

[Gandalf]

It's a funny one isn't it? Wlad definitely turned up for Joshua, but he just seemed so fragile and brittle to me. He gave it a good shot, but wilted all too easily. We have seen in the last few fights that Joshua is hardly Mike Tyson, so I think it just highlights how fragile Wlad is and has always been. He did very well in a weak division where most of the men were smaller and he could use his reach and clinch. He didn't really have that chin touched all that much in a lot of those fights. Fair play to him on having the career he did and using his strengths and masking the weaknesses, that is an intelligence and craft at work, but that chin and vulnerability were always there whence the stoppages he had. It makes sense that he would end by being stopped. I always considered Vitali the more meaningful fighter of the two. He didn't really have any of those weaknesses.

[TitoFan]

Oh absolutely. I've always been very outspoken in my criticism of Wlad, and yet I have to give him credit for like you said, masking his weaknesses well enough to rule over the division as long as he did. Of course, there were some MADDENING fights along the way, such as the Povetkin one. Had I been in Alexander's shoes I would've gotten disqualified because I would've kicked Wlad in the balls for his antics (which of course Wlad should've gotten points deducted or a DQ himself). But rule the division he did, to the detriment of heavyweight boxing fans everywhere. He learned from those early KO losses.... but man, did some of his later fights stink up the joint.

[Beanz]

So Finkel and Hayman called yesterday's planned meeting with Hearn off. Very strange actions for somebody so desperate to do a deal. The 24hr deadline too with no contract prepared? it all sound like a PR move to ensure Breazeale goes ahaed and Wilder can pretend that it is Joshua ducking him.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/anth...lder-is-legit/