Changing styles doesn't happen over night, Manny had to rescue Wlad mentally and psychologically to get him back on top. Manny had to do a similar thing to Lennox Lewis. Like with Lennox Lewis who wasn't appreciated in the US until very late in his career, Manny wants to get Wlad that appreciation. I have faith that Manny and Wlad will make it happen, the only issue is back when Lennox was fighting there were some distractions in the heavyweight division, now it's JUST Wlad and Vitali and that makes it a little difficult to have these kind of "throw away" fights and try to explain them to the average fan. A spectacular KO of Derek Chisora means fuck all but the means in which that KO is acheived means a lot.

Wlad won't be exactly like he was vs Mercer because he had flaws there obviously, but Manny will get Wlad to open up sooner and utilize his defense a bit and maybe counter punch. I think they could have probably tried to get this style changed around earlier but that could have upended Wlad's career had they forced the change. It's going to be an easy change and you already see parts of it vs Sam Peter, more left hooks, more uppercuts, soon you may see Wlad go to the body a bit more or throw in combinations a bit more. It's going to take a while but once that switch flips in Wlad's mind we'll see more action and that's a great thing especially if other contenders can develop a bit as well.