Some people are much too hard on Wladimir

[The Hammer]

He's the best heavyweight in the world, but receives a lot of unjustified criticism. He has 50 wins, 44 KOs, and three world heavyweight titles, yet the negativity never ceases.

People weren't so hard on Ali, who was in many boring decision wins. Ali had just as much of a reach advantage over most of his opponents as Wlad had over Sultan, yet we didn't hear about it so much.

Foreman and Lewis were much bigger than a lot of their opponents, yet it wasn't mentioned so often. In every article about Wlad, his size is mentioned. Tyson was shorter than Ibragimov, yet defeated many much bigger opponents.

Wlad fought well on Saturday night, and would have KOed Sultan if not for the fact that the Russian was just trying to go the distance, not really trying to win. That's why the fight wasn't entertaining.

The one who deserves some criticism is Sultan Ibragimov. He knew he was way behind on the cards by the late rounds, but instead of trying for a KO he cowardly continued to fight defensively, just trying to not get KOed.

[ИATAS]

Don't worry, it seems people have a short term memory. If Wlad wins his next fight by KO, everyone is going to talk about how great of a fighter he is. It's just the way it works with fans, especially on this site it seems.

And it's not like Wlad is the first person in the sport to win a boring fight. Boxing is about match ups, and I think Wlad/Sultan was just a bad match up, style wise.

[DrewWoodside]

Sultan made quite a few attempts to take out Vlad. He threw quite a few haymakers in the later rounds. He was also trying not to get his head taken off and it's difficult to get inside on a big guy like Vlad. It would be nice if Vlad was disposing of the competition in more devastating fashion, but I blame the HW division for sucking so much that Vlad can get away with slaping away Ibragimov's jab for half the fight. If Vlad wants more money and fame he'll need to be a little more entertaining but I don't think his abilities should be in question. He could have won that fight with one hand if he really wanted to and it still wouldn't have been close.

[Froch You]

I agree with you Tunney. Sultan deserves most of the blame for the fight being boring. He fights in that crouched position flicking his right jab with his left hand ****ed ready to counter. I believe he stunned Austin in the first round when he reached and fell in with a right hand, also rocked Holyfield and Whitaker reaching with straight rights. Sultan doesn't really slip punches but squats under them(especially right hands) and bombs away with his left. I don't blame Wlad for being concerned about being tagged by a southpaw especially after the Sanders loss.

The fight was boring as hell I don't think anyone can deny that, but if you look at it in another way, He dominated a legit top 5 heavyweight titleholder with one hand just like he KO'd Austin just using one hand. Wlad's going to reign for a few more years

[GranTorino]

Sultan made quite a few attempts to take out Vlad. He threw quite a few haymakers in the later rounds. He was also trying not to get his head taken off and it's difficult to get inside on a big guy like Vlad. It would be nice if Vlad was disposing of the competition in more devastating fashion, but I blame the HW division for sucking so much that Vlad can get away with slaping away Ibragimov's jab for half the fight. If Vlad wants more money and fame he'll need to be a little more entertaining but I don't think his abilities should be in question. He could have won that fight with one hand if he really wanted to and it still wouldn't have been close.

Fighting smart is still fighting smart. And that's what Wlad was doing. As a somewhat knowelegable boxign fan, I realize that Wlad's first priority is to not get hurt, and he does what he has to do to ensure that.

It'd be assinine to ask a boxer to put himself in undue danger just for the entertainment of the fans, yet that seems to be exactly the complaint many of these posters have.

[BrooklynBomber]

Nah, just the haters were all hiding under the rock and the second Wlad didn ot knock someone out(but still dominated) they are out yapping.


Oh and btw, he was "slapping" the jab for a reson, to neutralize Iggy's right hand. He actually used that movement his whole career and was doing pretty well with it.

But I guess I can't really explain anything to people that never boxed.

[RL_GMA]

I can understand being careful in a fight, but come on man. If everytime I threw my right hand it landed flush on my opponent, I'd go for the kill. I think that's why Manny was pissed in the corner. He saw Sultan had nothing for Klitschko's right hand.

I mean, look at the size advantage Klitschko had and how he was dominating Sultan with the jab.

Boring ****in fight at the end of the day. I don't buy him being "Too Careful". Sultun was hitting his shoulder blade the whole ****in night! LOL

[Benny Leonard]

Ali, prior to the exile, was very exciting and "beautiful" to watch. We missed his true prime. When he came back, he wasn't as exciting because of the rust. Although maybe I shouldn't say that since I'm sure people were "excited" to see a diminished Ali having to stand there and fight instead of dancing around and taking few shots, running his big mouth. He was heavier and slower and did what he had to do to win. His adjustment to the new, diminished version, was what was applauded as well as his actions outside the ring.

I don't agree with some, maybe many of the things Ali did, especially to Joe Frazier, but who he beat after his exile boosts him up.




I would like to see Wlad throw the right more often, but understand why he is cautious not to do to much if he doesn't have to. At this point in his career, he is more concerned about the safe win. "Win" being key. Just like Floyd jr. is now compared to back when he was younger.


Cus D'Amato said a fighter, a HW Champion especially, should be exciting as well getting the win, which is why his fighters fought the way they did, since this is entertainment, but oh well...Wlad is still cashing his checks with his "W." If you don't like him, change the channel.

It was a boring fight but I can say I'm a bit spoiled with the fighters I like to watch.

[MELLY-MEL...]

i gotta be honest, anyone who cries about the fight he fought really does not appreciate the sport in ALL it's integrity, or do not know **** about the sport. either way, the above are not real boxing fans, and it is not worth my time trying to explain anything to ignorant fools!

[DrewWoodside]

i understand he needs an accumulation of punches, but he wasn't able to land the punches he was throwing. He can't land an accumulation of punches if he can't land any. I'm saying he was trying to land punches but he couldn't. There is no doubt he wanted to land as many punches as possible but he couldn't land any, and the fact that he was trying to throw i think showed he had a desire to knock out vlad. Regardless I think it was clear that Vlad was too much for him. Everytime he opened up he found himself in vlad's wheelhouse. He tried to find his openings but vlad closed them out at everyturn. Hopefully Vlad's next fight isn't a snoozefest.