If Klitschko had let his hands go after dropping Joshua does he win the fight?

[Eff Pandas]

I've seen more than a few suggest that Klitschko could have won the fight in the 6th round when he had Joshua seemingly dead to rights (I legit thought the fight was over or seconds from being over) if he had merely been more aggressive &/or let his hands go after Joshua got up from the KD.

I mean for sure Joshua was tired at a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale + hurt with plenty of time left in the round (2mins iirc). Klitschko was still cautious & never really made any attempt to go into kill mode despite the way things looked.

Did this cost him the fight or was he wisely cautious since Joshua had him seemingly dead to rights just the round before? Maybe he was still not fully recovered or just not wanting to take the risk of something big landing if he was overly aggressive.

Plus at that point I think the assumption was even if Joshua recovered Klitschko would likely have an advantage for the rest of the fight & be able to secure more of the last 6 rounds than Joshua & win the fight on points. So maybe this was the intelligent +EV move to make for an intelligent +EV strategy type fighter like Klitschko.

What say you (said in Richard Dwyer voice, who is one of the cats holding this opinion)?

[mlac]

ridicilus (dwyer voice)

Of course he does, he doesnt even need to land flush, just flurry on him on the ropes and it gets stopped.

[gmc_rfc_06]

He did let his hands go, he just didn't land much.

He threw several big left hooks and 3-4 right hands looking to end the fight. He only landed 1 of those punches and Joshua took it well, the rest missed the target by a distance. Wlad gasses, there's a reason he stopped combination punching over a decade ago.

[HeadShots]

Joshua was like Corey Sanders vs Vitali. Stood straight up. he was so done he was stretched out with head leaning back.


Vitali walked straight up with a barrage of hooks to the head and body ..... forced the stoppage.



I don't understand why Wlad can't throw short range hooks. put your head on Joshua's chest and just dig into the body and head.


he physically can't do it.

[SplitSecond]

Irrelevant I think, he didnt and that's all there is to it. There was no right answer, he just aswell could have been caught and stopped or failed and burned out. He made his call.

[Sparked_26]

He did let his hands go, he just didn't land much.

He threw several big left hooks and 3-4 right hands looking to end the fight. He only landed 1 of those punches and Joshua took it well, the rest missed the target by a distance. Wlad gasses, there's a reason he stopped combination punching over a decade ago.

I saw it like you. Wlad missed a lot. And like Joshua said it is tiring when the big lads throw those shots. Wlad hid it better than Josh.

[Simurgh]

Wlad felt like he can cruise through the rest of the fight. He was wrong, AJ got the 2nd wind and it cost him the fight.

Wlad should gamble to finish it in 6th - that's what AJ did. He could get caught in 11th, but he didn't care and it's fair he won the fight.

[uppercut510]

he was throwing but want landing

[Redd Foxx]

Yea, he would have likely taken the fight. But, part of boxing is your decision making. He made a poor decision and lost the fight. Just like he probably would have smoked Fury if he went in with the mindset that he had on Saturday. But, he didn't, so he lost fair and square.

Both the mind and the body are in there fighting and the fight can be lost if either makes a mistake.

[The plunger man]

Would cassius clay have been stopped by henry cooper if the bell did not ring , would the ref have stopped marciano with a split nose against ezzard charles ....its all hindsight if ,what, how and when lol.
The fact of the matter is joshua had klitchcko hurt 1st but didnt finish him and klitchcko repaid the compliment and klitchcko missed at least 6 go home left hooks and many right hands and he is clinical puncher who never unloads in rapid fashion and its just not in his fighting style
Joshua came back and finished klitchcko in ruthless fashion but at the day both fighters gave him us a fight for the ages and have nothing but respect for them