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I'm not entirely sure if a thread of this type has been put up before, and I apologize if it has, but I thought, for those that are interested, we could discuss the ways in which either of the Klitschko brothers could be beaten.
First and foremost, I like the style of both of the Klitschko brothers. I think that they are both excellent fighters and phenomenal athletes, if either was not the case they would not be dominating the heavyweight division like they are in spite of the dearth of talent.
However, I have noticed flaws in both fighters, that, with great skill, can be exploited. I've noticed more flaws in Wladimir than I have in Vitali-I view Vitali as the greater fighter though I think his opposition has not been as good as consistently as his brother's.
Beginning with Wladimir, I will start with his positives and why they make him so dominant. Wladimir, unlike so many of his heavyweight opponents maintains himself even while not fighting. He does not blow up an extra thirty pounds in-between fights, instead he remains in great shape. That means that he can recover quickly after fights, suffers fewer problematic injuries, and can jump into training camp and begin working on his skills versus just trying to get in shape. He is a very solid with little body fat and the only way a fighter can maintain that, especially at his size and weight, is to be consistent and disciplined in his or her's workout regiment.
Aside from that, he is very tall with an incredible reach. And his style suits his physical attributes perfectly. Some say all he does is jab, but if you've ever been on the other side of a good jab, you'll realize that there is a lot more to what he does. For example, most of his opponents stay on the end of that jab. His reach advantage is a huge factor, but he wouldn't be able to maintain that distance if it weren't for timing and speed and even more importantly-angles.
Most of Wlad's opponents have very slow feet and fight flat-footed. They tend to distribute their weight almost evenly between their two legs and so remain rooted and thus react and attack slowly. What makes it even worse is that so many are terrible at fighting off a straight line. Wlad's jab is effective because his opponents tend to through looping shots in an attempt to reach his head (which is foolish when at a distance, he's much too tall) and come in straight lines. For someone with long arms and a powerful jab, that's perfect. Wlad literally has to do very little work. When they lunge in with a wide-shot (short, wide shots are good for in-fighting only because they are hard to see, at a distance they can make a fighter vulnerable to counters) he simply has to a) jab and b) step off of the line. Once Wlad has done this, he makes the slower fighter reset and they are back at square one. And if they do manage to get in close, he simply ties them up, the ref breaks them apart and he's back to jabbing.
Another attribute is his power. The man can punch. His jab hurts, I'm sure. But his right hand can be devastating and it also accurate. With all of that power, I'm sure that he makes fighters wary of it and this can affect how they approach the fight. Wlad is also athletic and can move fairly quickly on his feet. This also helps him in maintaining the perfect range to throw his punches.
But his flaws:
Wladimir Klitschko cannot fight on the inside. As I mentioned previously, what Wlad does do when an opponent finally works his way past his jab is clinch. He ties up fighters quickly and he is strong, but he lacks the ability to fight on the inside. A skilled and fast fighter who throws combinations(Prime Mike Tyson, for example) once past that long jab would be able to exploit his inability to fight at close range and punish Wlad to the body and head.
Wladimir Klitschko cannot fight going backwards. This is directly related to his inability to fight on the inside. He doesn't really know how to fight off of the back foot. His discomfort is clear when he is backing up and he tends to stop throwing altogether or throw even less. A skilled fighter with good footwork who works off of angles well and has great upper body and head movement would be able to take full advantage of this. In fact, the only way I can see Wlad being beaten is if he is forced to go backwards by a skilled aggressor.
Wlad can be VERY passive at times. Against a fighter who works off of angles and gets past his jab and who forces him to go backwards consistently, Wlad could lose on points (though I doubt I'll ever see that happening) or possibly get stopped. He doesn't like to throw combinations frequently, which would prevent the above from happening.
And lastly, Wlad can sometimes pull his head straight back when trying to avoid punches instead of stepping off of the line, pivoting, or just moving his head side to side. He just doesn't have good head movement, and I understand, how many opponents can actually reach his head without getting hit first? However, a flaw is still a flaw, and it can be exploited.
The kind of fighter able to exploit all of the above flaws, however, just doesn't exist in this era.
Up Next Vitali Klitschko...
First and foremost, I like the style of both of the Klitschko brothers. I think that they are both excellent fighters and phenomenal athletes, if either was not the case they would not be dominating the heavyweight division like they are in spite of the dearth of talent.
However, I have noticed flaws in both fighters, that, with great skill, can be exploited. I've noticed more flaws in Wladimir than I have in Vitali-I view Vitali as the greater fighter though I think his opposition has not been as good as consistently as his brother's.
Beginning with Wladimir, I will start with his positives and why they make him so dominant. Wladimir, unlike so many of his heavyweight opponents maintains himself even while not fighting. He does not blow up an extra thirty pounds in-between fights, instead he remains in great shape. That means that he can recover quickly after fights, suffers fewer problematic injuries, and can jump into training camp and begin working on his skills versus just trying to get in shape. He is a very solid with little body fat and the only way a fighter can maintain that, especially at his size and weight, is to be consistent and disciplined in his or her's workout regiment.
Aside from that, he is very tall with an incredible reach. And his style suits his physical attributes perfectly. Some say all he does is jab, but if you've ever been on the other side of a good jab, you'll realize that there is a lot more to what he does. For example, most of his opponents stay on the end of that jab. His reach advantage is a huge factor, but he wouldn't be able to maintain that distance if it weren't for timing and speed and even more importantly-angles.
Most of Wlad's opponents have very slow feet and fight flat-footed. They tend to distribute their weight almost evenly between their two legs and so remain rooted and thus react and attack slowly. What makes it even worse is that so many are terrible at fighting off a straight line. Wlad's jab is effective because his opponents tend to through looping shots in an attempt to reach his head (which is foolish when at a distance, he's much too tall) and come in straight lines. For someone with long arms and a powerful jab, that's perfect. Wlad literally has to do very little work. When they lunge in with a wide-shot (short, wide shots are good for in-fighting only because they are hard to see, at a distance they can make a fighter vulnerable to counters) he simply has to a) jab and b) step off of the line. Once Wlad has done this, he makes the slower fighter reset and they are back at square one. And if they do manage to get in close, he simply ties them up, the ref breaks them apart and he's back to jabbing.
Another attribute is his power. The man can punch. His jab hurts, I'm sure. But his right hand can be devastating and it also accurate. With all of that power, I'm sure that he makes fighters wary of it and this can affect how they approach the fight. Wlad is also athletic and can move fairly quickly on his feet. This also helps him in maintaining the perfect range to throw his punches.
But his flaws:
Wladimir Klitschko cannot fight on the inside. As I mentioned previously, what Wlad does do when an opponent finally works his way past his jab is clinch. He ties up fighters quickly and he is strong, but he lacks the ability to fight on the inside. A skilled and fast fighter who throws combinations(Prime Mike Tyson, for example) once past that long jab would be able to exploit his inability to fight at close range and punish Wlad to the body and head.
Wladimir Klitschko cannot fight going backwards. This is directly related to his inability to fight on the inside. He doesn't really know how to fight off of the back foot. His discomfort is clear when he is backing up and he tends to stop throwing altogether or throw even less. A skilled fighter with good footwork who works off of angles well and has great upper body and head movement would be able to take full advantage of this. In fact, the only way I can see Wlad being beaten is if he is forced to go backwards by a skilled aggressor.
Wlad can be VERY passive at times. Against a fighter who works off of angles and gets past his jab and who forces him to go backwards consistently, Wlad could lose on points (though I doubt I'll ever see that happening) or possibly get stopped. He doesn't like to throw combinations frequently, which would prevent the above from happening.
And lastly, Wlad can sometimes pull his head straight back when trying to avoid punches instead of stepping off of the line, pivoting, or just moving his head side to side. He just doesn't have good head movement, and I understand, how many opponents can actually reach his head without getting hit first? However, a flaw is still a flaw, and it can be exploited.
The kind of fighter able to exploit all of the above flaws, however, just doesn't exist in this era.
Up Next Vitali Klitschko...
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