Will the Wlad fans be getting sad again?

[:Bobby:]

Some years ago, Wladimir Klitschko was regarded as the real thing and supposed to defeat Lennox Lewis in a highly-anticipated match. Only few expected Corrie Sanders to make quick way of Dr. Steelhammer by flooring him four times in about four minutes, exposing one, or some, of Klitschko's weaknesses.
Lamon Brewster defeated Wlad some time later in different fashion: out-lasting and out-gutting the Ukranian - many people forget he was already under Steward's guidance at that point.
Anyway, it seems he is redeeming himself and getting back to the position as depicted above. But has something really changed? I don't think so.
Against limited opposition, he looks very strong and even superior to some extent, but when things are not going his way, he is still in trouble.
Let's have a look at Klitschko's recent opponents: Samuel Peter, Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock and Ray Austin.
Peter, at that particular point, was green, basically inexperienced but still managed to give him hell, flooring him three times and almost stopping him in the tenth round had not the bell saved Klitschko. People tend to say two knockdowns happened due to illegal blows, which I completely disagree with. Had Wlad not turned around, away from the danger zone, those punches would not have landed somewhere near the back of the head.
Byrd does not have the tools neccessary to seriously trouble the giant as had been on the decline for years: power and size. He was forced to play his game and got toyed with.
Calvin Brock had also very little chances because of his questionable chin, little size and limited power. Similar thing with Austin (size aside).
What his opponents need to realize is that it's somewhat ****** to play Klitschko's game: they try to out-box him, but there is no point trying to out-box a huge guy with fast hands.
In order to beat him, you have to make use of brute force, break his bones and make him panic again.
In my personal opinion, Klitschko is very lucky at this point, but once he faces someone like Shannon Briggs or Samuel Peter again, we will get to see the flaws are still there and nothing has actually changed.

[Jimmy The Gent]

Shannon Briggs is overrated imo. Wald would make easy work of him and make him look sloppy

[:Bobby:]

I don't think so at all. He is bigger than Sanders and knows how to throw straight hands with amazing speed.

[kayjay]

Shannon Briggs and Sam Peter? Both have a shot at Wlad, that is true. I'll give Peter a 3/10 vs. WK, Briggs maybe .5-1/10.

But to answer your question: yes, Wlad will probably lose again. Maybe more than once, and likely by TKO. But, he will continue to win many more than he will lose, and he will probably be the best heavyweight for the next five or six years.

[Gareth Ivanovic]

anybody with good power will challenge Wlad, but he is much better know and is the class of the HW division. There's still that question about his chin thought and we will see how he reacts when he gets hit really good.

[beez721]

Some years ago, Wladimir Klitschko was regarded as the real thing and supposed to defeat Lennox Lewis in a highly-anticipated match. Only few expected Corrie Sanders to make quick way of Dr. Steelhammer by flooring him four times in about four minutes, exposing one, or some, of Klitschko's weaknesses.
Lamon Brewster defeated Wlad some time later in different fashion: out-lasting and out-gutting the Ukranian - many people forget he was already under Steward's guidance at that point.
Anyway, it seems he is redeeming himself and getting back to the position as depicted above. But has something really changed? I don't think so.
Against limited opposition, he looks very strong and even superior to some extent, but when things are not going his way, he is still in trouble.
Let's have a look at Klitschko's recent opponents: Samuel Peter, Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock and Ray Austin.
Peter, at that particular point, was green, basically inexperienced but still managed to give him hell, flooring him three times and almost stopping him in the tenth round had not the bell saved Klitschko. People tend to say two knockdowns happened due to illegal blows, which I completely disagree with. Had Wlad not turned around, away from the danger zone, those punches would not have landed somewhere near the back of the head.
Byrd does not have the tools neccessary to seriously trouble the giant as had been on the decline for years: power and size. He was forced to play his game and got toyed with.
Calvin Brock had also very little chances because of his questionable chin, little size and limited power. Similar thing with Austin (size aside).
What his opponents need to realize is that it's somewhat ****** to play Klitschko's game: they try to out-box him, but there is no point trying to out-box a huge guy with fast hands.
In order to beat him, you have to make use of brute force, break his bones and make him panic again.
In my personal opinion, Klitschko is very lucky at this point, but once he faces someone like Shannon Briggs or Samuel Peter again, we will get to see the flaws are still there and nothing has actually changed.

against a sharp shooter like corrie sanders sure,,the problems could occurr again but briggs would be a 2 round joke with wlad crushing him. he just doesnt have the defense or chin and his hand speed isnt what it was when he was in the 220's. peter doesnt have any more of a punchers chance than he did the first time and I disagree that wlad was close to being stopped. he looked more in panic mode than he did hurt

[Super_Lightweight]

Brock never had a questionable chin til Wlad broke it.

But yes, there is plenty reason to believe Wlad will have problems again in the future. He is not been cured of his ailes. Peter will give him another good fight if they do it again.

[potatoes]

The only reason Briggs won a belt is because Liakhovich decided to get ****** in the 12th round. All he had to do was run and he would have beaten Briggs on points in one of the worst heavyweight "title" fights in the history of the division. The notion that Briggs has an advantage of any kind against Klitschko is quite comical. All Klitschko has to do is pressure him a bit for 3 rounds and Briggs will collapse from exhaustion. The only possible way Briggs wins is if Klitschko gives it away as did Liakhovich.

[guru]

briggs and sanders are two completely different fighters..... if they fought i'd take sanders..... people talk about wlad's chin and stamina, well briggs is even worse.....

the same arguements people are using against wlad were used against lewis too... and look how lewis turned out... people thought if you just hit lewis on the chin, he'd be out too, but its a whole lot harder than that to get to lewis or wlad...

[The Lodger]

Regarding the Lennox Lewis comparison; I don't agree with it. Lennox Lewis could compose himself when he was under pressure, he showed it in various fights, but Klitschko doesn't appear to be able to fight in the trenches. Lewis became complacent and was caught with two shots, it wasn't the same thing at all. There seems to be extreme arrogance from a lot of people where Klitschko is concerned. He has NOT shown he's gotten over his problems from the Sanders fight, because he hasn't fought Sanders again, or another fighters like Sanders. Since his last loss, he hasn't beaten a good name except for Chris Bryd; a guy he'd already beaten and who he was made for. Some would say Samuel Peter was a decent win, but at that time, Peter was not a proven top heavyweight, and to some degree he's still not.

At this moment in time, Klitschko is undoubtably the best of a bad bunch, but until he has shown he can overcome the faults he has shown in the past, I don't think anyone can legitimately claim he's on the sort of level Lennox Lewis was for much of his career, or that he's not always ''Walking a tightrope.'' I agree that Briggs is certainly not one of the greatest ''Champions'' ever, to put it mildly, but I think for some people to claim he's not a potentially dangerous opponent for Klitschko, given his size, power and hand-speed, shows a lot of arrogance, and may well come back to haunt those same people.

Excuses and assumptions do not make the career of anyone, it has to be there in black and white. Lewis did it, but up until this point, Klitschko hasn't, and may never. A good fighter, but with flaws which have not been tested recently to a great extent.