Originally Posted by
J_Undisputed
Not to $h*t on anyone's riff here. I know Fury is a fave among a lot of saddo-mites on the Euro side of the pond.... but i didn't really the see the one sided, near death beating the fight has become in some of the boxing circles since Saturday. The scorecards say drubbing and yes Fury did take most of the rounds. Maybe many fans were just so tired of Klitch and his technical points earning, less risk, chin protecting style that any win was a Great win.
What I saw was a Klitch that looked positively befuddled. Intimidated by size, confused by an opponent that kept switching his stance, carried his hands low, and tried to bait Vlad into countering opportunities by feinting a lot. He didn't even know where to begin because his offense (linear approach) was taken away by fury's size. Once fury smelled blood, he cautiously used good movement and pot shotting to keep vlad in his shell. Occasionally taking advantage down the stretch with a combo here or there and walking away with the title because the champ stood in there and weathered a storm without a plan. If anything, i'd say that vlads arms were more sore the next day than anything else the next day.
I'll agree that the rematch might be pointless because of Vlad's showing. It wasn't that he got out pointed, out muscled, out maneuvered. I'm hesitant to use the phrase outfought, because to me that implies that Vlad was aggressively trying everything to turn the fight in his favor. I saw him do more gawking, standing, shelling and clinching than fighting. So in the sense that Fury used his movement, feinting and whatever was in his toolbox to nullify Vlad and keep him from getting confident enough to try to box his way to a victory... i'll say that Fury outboxed Vlad. I congratulate him and say i admire his candor when on the mic.
But really I think even taking age into account, Klitchsko is really being sold short (I'm not a fan of the younger Klitchsko). The best thing about him doing absolutely nothing this fight is that doing ANYTHING in the next fight would be better. He can certainly do that. There's a ton of things he can work on to stifle the feints, squirming and switching (not many will or have to take vlad out of his comfort zone and fury keeping his hands low actually does a lot of the work for him)...
- Depending on the linear approach because hes used to being the taller guy put him behind the 8 ball. Scrap it for the first half of the fight. Step around, use your angles and out flank him. When hes expecting straight punches from the 12 o clock position, land your hooks from the 10 and 2 positions. Go back to the frontal assault later when you have him on the run and hes stepping straight back.
- bigger guys make bigger targets. When he's feinting, switching and blading up on you from the outside, target the lead shoulder. It doesn't move as much, You don't have to reach as far to commit yourself and his chin is right behind it. So you cant miss-- throw it and you'll hit something. If Fury shrugs it off and gets complacent... small adjustments (inches to the inside) later will pay off big.
- When hes shoe shining, and carrying that hand low, step around, and close the distance and check it... to keep it low and out of the way while you're throwing your hooks.
....and after that its an easier fight. Height and reach are important, but "distance" in a boxing ring is relevant and not constant. It's more about timing than it is about just reach. -- This will/can all come down to Banks, and the rest of the team and whether or not they know what they're doing and whether Vlad believes in them enough to listen. I know i joked about him hiring roach, but a fresh respected perspective from anyone would help. Especially someone who can keep him loose. "Failure is not an option ..." and all that other Terminator BS will only lock him up again. Just my opinion. I could be wrong .
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