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The Greatness that is Vitali Klitschko.
This thread is a long time coming...
Vitali Klitschko is a chess player. This fact is reflected in his fighting approach. Let me explain.
A lot of people watch Vitali Klitschko fight and sadly don't understand what they're watching. They think they're seeing a big man with decent boxing skills, when in fact they're actually watching one of the greatest HW's of all time and one of the greatest boxing brains of all time.
Lets start with "ring generalship". There is never 1 time in a fight, whether its prefight hype and press conferences or the actual fight itself where YOU DON'T KNOW VITALI IS THE BOSS.
He is a master of psychological manipulation. He beats you before you even enter the ring. He is a master at intimidating opponents with his mind, with his eyes, and with his soul.
He has recently adopted "hells bells" as his entrance music and its totally appropriate. Jreckoning rightly called him "satan's minion"...
Imagine if you're the opponent waiting in the ring while Big V comes in knowing all the mythology and lore associated with him. His history of destruction. His record k.o %. His overall bad ass ways.
Imagine that feeling. Imagine the inertia working against you mentally knowing Big V is coming to collect that ass... Wow...
As for technical ability.
Vitali Klitschko has one of the best and most developed intelligent left hands in the history of the sport. The way he can time opponents coming in and force them to duck right into his hooks, upjabs, uppers and jabs is totally masterful. I stand in awe.
He understands the distance between him and his opponent and his opponents height in direct proportion to his reach and punches. The man is a master at boxing geometry and should receive some sort of accolade tbh...
He wins most of his fights simply by using his left hand to soften you up and distort your sense of distance. Many of the punches he lands aren't even punches that can be taught. They're punches that you discover while you're on the path of destruction and boxing immortality.
Not only this, but let me qualify the chess reference from earlier.
Vitali is like a master policy adviser. Master policy advisers think in 25 and 30 year spans when they formulate policy.Vitali is no different. He interprets boxing matches in terms of chunks of time, not individual rounds.
A lot of you who saw the Sosnowski fight probably asked yourselves why he didn't finish Sosnowski under 5.
The answer is complex as it is masterful. Not only did Vitali want to get rounds in, which is obvious given his age. In order to stay sharp you must go some rounds.
But there is a class element at work here as well. Albert Sosnowski is in some ways trying to emulate the Klitschko's. He is a very good athlete who is also a man of culture and letters. For this reason, Vitali's competitive spirit went into overdrive. He wanted to put a slow and severe beating on him in order to let him know that if there was a dominant athlete who was also a man of letters in the ring, that it was him.
Think of it as sending a personal message to him about who is the true renaissance man in the ring. Vitali is a very smart and aware fighter and don't think Sosnowski's status as Polish champion and man of culture didn't equate into his personal sensibilities for the fight.
With this in mind, we must consider Vitali's approach to a fight. To the laymen, one would expect Vitali to impose his power and skill advantage in the first 5 rounds, but for the reasons already explained here, it must be noted that Vitali thinks of fights in chunks of time and not round by round.
He is prepared to finish you in 3 if you allow him, but he is also prepared to slowly wear you down and destroy you if you can absorb his initial shock and awe and wait you out until he's smashed your will.
He sees fights as long term affairs and is ready for anything. Wheareas Sosnowski and other lesser fighters telegraph their intentions, Vitali not only keeps a poker face, he also is genuienly prepared for every possible outcome before it actually happens.
This is part of the reason his stamina is so great. He doesn't waste any physical energy being nervous or apprehensive since he is fully aware and has all his bases covered.
Vitali Klitschko imo, is the most dominant HW in the history of the sport and considering he's still performing his craft at such a high level at almost 40 years old, it only makes him that much more impressive.
Vitali Klitschko...
When its all said and done, the Klitschko's will be remembered as not only the 2 greatest HW's of all time, but as 2 of the greatest depression era fighters of all time.
Vitali Klitschko is a chess player. This fact is reflected in his fighting approach. Let me explain.
A lot of people watch Vitali Klitschko fight and sadly don't understand what they're watching. They think they're seeing a big man with decent boxing skills, when in fact they're actually watching one of the greatest HW's of all time and one of the greatest boxing brains of all time.
Lets start with "ring generalship". There is never 1 time in a fight, whether its prefight hype and press conferences or the actual fight itself where YOU DON'T KNOW VITALI IS THE BOSS.
He is a master of psychological manipulation. He beats you before you even enter the ring. He is a master at intimidating opponents with his mind, with his eyes, and with his soul.
He has recently adopted "hells bells" as his entrance music and its totally appropriate. Jreckoning rightly called him "satan's minion"...
Imagine if you're the opponent waiting in the ring while Big V comes in knowing all the mythology and lore associated with him. His history of destruction. His record k.o %. His overall bad ass ways.
Imagine that feeling. Imagine the inertia working against you mentally knowing Big V is coming to collect that ass... Wow...
As for technical ability.
Vitali Klitschko has one of the best and most developed intelligent left hands in the history of the sport. The way he can time opponents coming in and force them to duck right into his hooks, upjabs, uppers and jabs is totally masterful. I stand in awe.
He understands the distance between him and his opponent and his opponents height in direct proportion to his reach and punches. The man is a master at boxing geometry and should receive some sort of accolade tbh...
He wins most of his fights simply by using his left hand to soften you up and distort your sense of distance. Many of the punches he lands aren't even punches that can be taught. They're punches that you discover while you're on the path of destruction and boxing immortality.
Not only this, but let me qualify the chess reference from earlier.
Vitali is like a master policy adviser. Master policy advisers think in 25 and 30 year spans when they formulate policy.Vitali is no different. He interprets boxing matches in terms of chunks of time, not individual rounds.
A lot of you who saw the Sosnowski fight probably asked yourselves why he didn't finish Sosnowski under 5.
The answer is complex as it is masterful. Not only did Vitali want to get rounds in, which is obvious given his age. In order to stay sharp you must go some rounds.
But there is a class element at work here as well. Albert Sosnowski is in some ways trying to emulate the Klitschko's. He is a very good athlete who is also a man of culture and letters. For this reason, Vitali's competitive spirit went into overdrive. He wanted to put a slow and severe beating on him in order to let him know that if there was a dominant athlete who was also a man of letters in the ring, that it was him.
Think of it as sending a personal message to him about who is the true renaissance man in the ring. Vitali is a very smart and aware fighter and don't think Sosnowski's status as Polish champion and man of culture didn't equate into his personal sensibilities for the fight.
With this in mind, we must consider Vitali's approach to a fight. To the laymen, one would expect Vitali to impose his power and skill advantage in the first 5 rounds, but for the reasons already explained here, it must be noted that Vitali thinks of fights in chunks of time and not round by round.
He is prepared to finish you in 3 if you allow him, but he is also prepared to slowly wear you down and destroy you if you can absorb his initial shock and awe and wait you out until he's smashed your will.
He sees fights as long term affairs and is ready for anything. Wheareas Sosnowski and other lesser fighters telegraph their intentions, Vitali not only keeps a poker face, he also is genuienly prepared for every possible outcome before it actually happens.
This is part of the reason his stamina is so great. He doesn't waste any physical energy being nervous or apprehensive since he is fully aware and has all his bases covered.
Vitali Klitschko imo, is the most dominant HW in the history of the sport and considering he's still performing his craft at such a high level at almost 40 years old, it only makes him that much more impressive.
Vitali Klitschko...
When its all said and done, the Klitschko's will be remembered as not only the 2 greatest HW's of all time, but as 2 of the greatest depression era fighters of all time.
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