Vitali Klitschko couldn't KO Briggs
I don't like either Haye nor Briggs. But if I had a choice I would want Haye to win. Having said that, I would like to remind everyone that only Darrol Wilson and Lennox Lewis were able to knock Briggs out. Vitali Klitschko hit Briggs with everything he had, but Briggs still stood (regardless of the fact that he was hospitalized with severe injuries afterward). Of course Briggs is old and much slower than Haye. But he is a true heavyweight and Haye is not. I doubt if Haye can knock Briggs out. He's just too massive. I doubt, however, that Briggs is quick enough to catch Haye with a KO punch. Haye wins on a split decision.
Klitschko will punch himself out
If Wladimir let's his Hands go, he will punch himself out and get K.O.ed like he did with Lamon Brewster. He has forgotten how to let his Hands go in the last ten years and has internalised the Punch and grab techniques Emmanuel Steward taught him. He is afraid of getting hit and has showed that througout the last ten years. He's not a brawler or fighter. He is a survivalist in the ring. His reign is now over and all heavyweight fans can hopefully look Forward to fighting, boxing and brawling heavyweight fights. That's what we as spectators want, isn't it?
Luis Ortiz is for real
Luis Ortiz is for real. He's got the Tools to beat the best of them. He's big, strong, variable, and fast. Ortiz and Wilder or Ortiz and Fury would be great matches that would be talked about for years. He would destroy Wlad
Klitschko was finally exposed
I have been an undying fan of both the klitschkos for years now (I first watched Wlad Punch himself out with Ross Puritty). The pre-Emanuel-Steward-Wlad was offensiver and more KO-efficient than the post Emanuel-Steward-Wlad in my opinion (despite KO-loss to Corrie Sanders (which is no real disgrace for the effective-punching-power of then Corrie Sanders) and the punched-himself-out-knockout through the fists of Lamon Brewster).
After Emanuel Steward took over the reigns, my boxing-hero in Wladimir Klitschko became what we all have perceived and witnessed in Wladimir: the boring, take-no-risks, no killer intinct and one-sided (Jab, clinch, right cross clinch, left hook clinch) "clinchko". As the Boxers (Tyson Fury and Wlad) were being announced last Saturday, I thought to myself "Klitschko ist going to be exposed and lose". Although Fury didn't fight as one of the greats in boxing history, he did expose all of the flaws Klitschko has been collecting while hiding behind his guard and his clinching and being afraid to get hit. I was not only disappointed with Wlad on Saturday. I have been dissappointed for years now. With a guy his size, I expect brutal knockouts and not a Chris Byrd like pitter-patter
Everyone says HW-division is in poor state
Just because the giant klitschkos brought some boredom to the HW Division (particularly the post-Stewart-Wladimir with his Punch-and-clinch style), I don't think there were many in the histoy of HW boxing that could compete with thier power size and atheticism. And I am also not sure if the Division is in such a "poor state". We will never know, because we can only compare theoretically. I'm not sure if Ali could have beaten any one of the Klitschkos. I could imagine, however, that Tyson could have. But we will never know. The HW-Division is what it is. Let's enjoy what we have now. I do miss brutal knockouts of past heavyweights, however. But didn't we senn wlad knock Pulev out decisively? Or didn't we witness great knockouts or heavy pummeling from Vitali (Danny Williams, Sanders, or Briggs). We have new blodd coming up in 2016 / 2017 (Wilder, Fury, Ortiz or Joshua). It's going to get more exciting
Low Blow ?
I didn't see the fight. Looking at the picture of the body shot that put Smith down, however, it looks like it was a low blow. Was it?
Hat goes off to Canelo. He is a Level above all competition.
Can Wlad change the way he fights ? I don't know
Fury had his number and has his number still. I would be happy if I could believe that wlad could Change his fighting tactics. I like Wladimir. He's gotten so used to his Punch-and-hold style of boxing in the last 10 or so years that I doubt the results of the rematch will be very much different. I don't think tyson has the skills to KO wlad (despite wlad's doubtable chin), but wlad won't be able to get on inside unless he starts to train for now. Game-as-usual Training camp won't do it for wlad I'm sorry to say.
What about Shannon Briggs ?
What about Shannon Briggs ? He has no Opponent this Weekend.
We could see if Wilder is a real champ and can perhaps stuff the mouth of that numbskull Briggs. That would be an interesting fight, indeed. I remember the pounding Briggs took at the Hands of Vitali Klitschko. Yes, he was hospitalized with a lot of damage, but he didn't go down.