Haye will get and will deserve another shot, but enough of this nonsense about Haye having done better than Thompson or being the best potential opponent. Thompson fought better in the first Wlad fight than Haye did, in my opinion, and Haye has done nothing in his career to solidify the status of 'best of the rest'. He's in the pack, to be sure, but ranks right alongside Thompson, Chambers, Povetkin, etc. He doesn't have better wins at HW than those guys. He only has more celebrity in his home country
For years I've been saying Floyd needs to try to win the middleweight championship if he wants to be rated among the legends of the game. This is his chance, with a small but slick and charismatic champion at that weight.
This lack of career ambition is disconcerting. Retire at the right time, but not before you've achieved anything. If he wins, retiring without a single defense would not be "going out on top." If he loses, his failure to fight top ten HWs other than Wlad will raise questions about his courage and character.
Btw, Floyd's great and he should be the favorite, but I think you should think that fight through a bit more if you don't think that it is a serious fight. Floyd may be too crafty for Vic in the end, but I see this as a FOTY matchup. Floyd deserves a lot of credit. Glad to see that people are still dismissing Ortiz though.
I hope you're right, but I see that fight as a case of extortion played on the boxing public. Ortiz is my opinion one of the weaker WW belt-holders of recent years.
Wlad is a wonderful human being and all, a great ambassador for the support (for whatever that's worth), but he is soooo goddamn boring. He must go, and he must go hard.
That's fine if it's your aesthetic preference, but as a boxing prediction I can't take it too seriously. Haye is an easy matchup for Wlad. This fight is all hype and no substance. Haye has not proven to have one-punch knockout power at HW, and it's hard to imagine him sustaining any type of attack over many rounds. Forgetting Wlad's flaws, Haye has bad balance, is open and hittable, has a leaky gas tank, and a chin that's outright laughable at HW. This is no more of a serious fight than is Ortiz-Mayweather.
Since when does unbeaten = quality. :dunce: Haye is the best opponent Wlad will have fought and he's a CW. Wlads resume = shiite, even his own trainer admits it.
Haye is NOT the best opponent Wlad has faced, not even in the top five. What Steward says here is that even in a weak division Haye had to fake and talk his way to a shot. Thompson, Chambers, and Chagaev might be weak as challengers, but they are all better HWs than Haye is. Haye would be a massive underdog on any non-Limey reckoning against any of that three.
I only came into this thread to read kayjay's post
It's an NSB rarity in recent years. Now I'll get back to life and log onto the forums again maybe next year.
Btw reference to the Sanders fight is out of place. That fight was ten years ago and before Wlad developed his defense and footwork under Steward. Haye is not nearly as good at HW as Sanders was, but that's an irrelevant point since that sanders couldn't get within a foot of today's Wladimir. Regarding chins, I think if you look at tape you'll see Wlad has a much better chin than haye does.
I hven't seen the fight yet, just read on it. Was his heart in it?! Did he look like he wanted to fight?!
Mayorga defnitely wanted to fight. He came out swinging from the bell; I thought he lost the fight in the first ten seconds with wild rights. He threw a lot of punches from beginning to end but Oscar simply blocked hiis telegraphed punches. Oscar never even really had to go on the attack and establish the jab.
It was not Mayorga's desire that was the problem. If anything it was Oscar who looked too relaxed as if this fight was too easy for him
lewis took the fight on 2weeks notice. to fight vitali.
originally he was gonna fite kirk fatty johnson.
but lennox if the fight wasnt stopped. was on the verge of givin vittali a great beating. NO DOUBT about that
lennox cud beat any1 !!! period!!
If I remember correctly Lennox had difficulty getting to his corner after the last round (he lunged onto the ropes and was helped back). At the time I didn't think he could even fight another round, which is why the stoppage seemed unjust to me. I have not watched the tape since the night of the fight though, so I could be wrong. I have always wondered why no one ever talked about this.
I must point out what Steward said in the post fight wrap-up, which was something along the lines of Oscar's meaner than he lets on. Beneath the nice guy persona there's still the street kid who had no choice but to box. And I agree with that, I mean look at his profession and how he always tears into his man when he's got him hurt. That kind of killer instinct comes from having been through some shit. I just think the fact that he's humble about it is a good thing.
Exactly. If he was so nice he'd let his man off the hook, which he never does. I think he's just smart and has learned how to control himself. He is tough when he fights and tough enough to leave it in the ring.
undercards really sucked. so i decided to pay more attention to the strippers in the strip club then watch that bullshit undercard non-stop
I did the same thing and ended up spending more than the cost of the ppv.
I agree w/Gunstar. Hopefully Wlad will take a voluntary before the mandatory anyway. This also spoils any potential showdown between Sultan and Brock or Peter like we discussed last week.
exactly...I watched his last fight and was very shocked at how wide and slow Marg is...also with how easy he is to hit...Margarito looks like Mayorga
Thanks for the video. It looked like every other KO he's had. After watching Oscar's masterclass on Saturday I don't understand how anyone would think Margarito's attack would be effective against ODLH, not to mention Hatton
Do you guys think Wlad intends to build his fan base here by taking on all the American heavies he can find, or will he focus on making superfights in Europe? If he takes the first route he should call out Toney, Brock, and eventually Rahman will come.
stewerd and his strong left hand his right trash, just like delahoyas
heavyhands you've been saying this about WK's right for days now; i have to admit i don't understand; could you post a clip of his right that looks weak and explain why; i thought the 5th round right that knocked Byrd down was pretty strong, and that's to name just the most recent and easiest example
That's what I was afraid of hearing, that Valuev is pereceived as boring and that he pretty much stunk up the ring against Ruiz and Larry Donald. That might be true, but I'm of the opinion that Valuev would be a difficult style matchup for Wladimir Klitschko, since Wladdy couldn't just stay outside the whole fight and dominate Valuev with his jab and reach.
In order for me to really feel like Wladdy is a great fighter I have to see more versatility from him. I need to see him do some inside fighting, learn to move his head and stop holding all the time on the inside.
I agree. It would be a very awkward fight. Wlad could not tally up the rounds as easily as he does against smaller fighters, and we also don't know how easily Valuev will go down. With that said I still can't imagine Valuev as a real threat to Wlad.
if rahman fights WK like he did toney, the fight won't last as long as Byrd's fight.
Rahman winning from WK's chin is like him winning vs Lenox' chin, which DID happen, but only when Lewis wasn't trained and prepared..
it's like Wladimir said, when guys 200+ pounds are hitting you hard in the face, anyone can get KO'd. I just don't see Rahman about to capitalize on Wlad's Immanuel Stewart's fight plans.
they both have good jabs, but Wlad is one up on Rahman with his left hook off the jab..
Exactly. Byrd takes a good punch and can move his head, so he lasted to the seventh.
Why are Americans so desperate for an American and black heavyweight champ? Relax a little on this and enjoy the great fights. It sounds like NBA fans from the sixties who got worried that blacks were taking over. Maybe the 'Russians' are taking over but we should be ****** than this xenophobia now. When I look at Wlad I see not only the most talented HW today but also a multilingual, intelligent man with a doctorate. I don't need some ignorant bitch like Toney to hold a title just becaus ehe comes from the same country
Unfrotunately for Rahman he stands little chance. An American heavy will come along soon enough, but he is not the man.
Thank you ferocity for the fights! It caused me to let too much work slip this afternoon. I don't know if he can compete with Mayweather (assuming that is the question), but he is an exciting fighter nonetheless.
I would take a KO either way over a decision, which will inevitably go to Wlad, but I'm betting against a KO. I would like to think Wlad will feel the need to be agressive to gain some respect, but I don't think he cares. A close decision will satisfy his fans and everyone else will tune in for the following fight no matter what is said about him.
Of course Wlad - Brewster would be more exciting. But they look to be in great shape, Byrd has nothing to lose in a way (except a title!)and appears interested in challenging Wlad, and Wlad should fight with more confidence than he has since the Brewster fight. All in all I think there is plenty to watch for. Enjoy it evenm if it's not a war.