Wlads Left hook problem

**Mushroom** · 05-02-2017, 08:49 AM

I can always tell when he's about to throw it. The way he dips his head is a real giveaway

**deathofaclown** · 05-02-2017, 08:58 AM

He was telegraphing it way too much but i think he thought Joshua was done and one of them would connect anyway and finish it.

I do think his punch selection after he got Joshua hurt wasn't the best but then as great as he was, he isn't a fighter with killer instinct and it showed. Haye is finished now i think but if someone like him had been in that ring and hurt Joshua, he wouldn't have been let off the hook.

**iamboxing** · 05-02-2017, 09:03 AM

Originally posted by slimshandy69

Vlad got his tactics wrong, or at 41 he didnt realise that his left hook is not as explosive as it once was.

In the pulev and povetkin fights, it was quick and times well.

In the Joshua fight, he landed two out of 20 thrown. Eating up energy.

Joshua, who has a poor defence saw the hook everytime. Wlad will regret not sticking with what got the innitial knock down, his classic 1-2.

Wlad kinda landed a left hook after Joshua was falling, then he landed a weak left hook when Joshua was on chciken legs, other than that he had a horrible sucess rate with it.

Was it a tactical error, or did Klitscko not realise how telegraphed it was in his older years?

Thoughts?

If that left hook had landed flush when he was falling AJ wouldn't have got up. I do think afterwards AJ was expecting Wlad to unload left hooks, but it baffles me how Wlad just wouldn't let his right go and then just stood in front of AJ with his right ****ed like he was about to throw it and didn't....AJ was lucky.

**j0zef** · 05-02-2017, 09:14 AM

That left hook he kept throwing was so bad it made me cringe looking at it. He landed it once with force, every other time it was just shameful. I'm surprised AJ didn't counter and lay Wlad out flat after the 5th time.

**AllEyesOpen** · 05-02-2017, 09:34 AM

Wlad got too used to just using his jab for most his career against smaller opponents to keep them from setting up their offense, once he fought guy equal in size or bigger he couldn't adjust. He threw some great right hands in round six then went right back to the jab without the follow up right hand for the rest of the fight.

**#1Assassin** · 05-02-2017, 09:52 AM

wlad has always been hesitant to let his right go against opposition his own size. its not a strategic mistake it is just one of the ways he is flawed as a fighter. just like his inability to adapt.

i think he is uncomfortable throwing the right because he doesnt want to plant his feet and square up fearing what might come back at him.

one of the best punches of the fight was wlad walking joshua into a right hand as joshua threw a right of his own, i think wlad fears being on the other side of that. given joshuas similar reach and hand speed he just didnt want to let it go.

with the hook he doesnt have to square up and he can stay light on his feet. most of it is probably in his head though.

the left hook was probably that shot on the memory stick he was looking for as well and he simply failed to adapt.

all that said his left hook is a great weapon and he got a few good ones in too. he just should have been a bit more varied in his attack. then again he always had a great arsenal of punches but always struggled to let it go.

**paulf** · 05-02-2017, 09:58 AM

It was sad to see. He's knocked guys out cold with that shot, but father time has slowed down his reflexes/reaction time. He just doesn't have it anymore.

**Larry the boss** · 05-02-2017, 10:15 AM

He lost speed and explosiveness... most fighters who had damn good left hooks lose it with age..you need speed and timing to pull off a left hook

**BoxingFan85** · 05-02-2017, 10:22 AM

what it lacked was the decoy & speed.. AJ was well prepared to duck under the left hook & even when he was badly hurt he managed to duck under it.. Wlad used to position it like a jab & whip it around.. His hand speed isn't what it was 2yrs ago & it was pretty evident in the fight..

Wlads Left hook problem