I foresee one of two situations playing out:
Either Holyfield catches Wlad early and begins to pressure Wlad to a stoppage
or
Wlad successfully slows the pace to his liking with his jab and grab style and grinds out Holyfield to a UD.
Of the two I see the former being the slighty more likely scenario playing out. Wlad isn't nearly as vulnerable to durable punchers as he was in the past (so anyone mentioning the likes of Purrity needs to get the hell out of this thread) but he's still vulnerable to getting caught in that split second when a fighter bridges the gap and Wlad clinches him up. Holyfield could catch him at some point coming in and whilst I don't think one shot would KO Wlad, it would certainly swing things in Holy's favour, especially if he starts to time Wlad and land with some regularity. I can see him stunning Wlad with a sharp overhand right, Wlad vainly trying to clinch him up and getting caught with a barrage of follow up blows, Holy fighting his way out of the clinch as Wlad gets increasingly groggy, then dropping him to his knees a few seconds later. Wlad gets up, gets dropped a few more times and the ref or corner stops the fight.
On the other hand, if Wlad establishes his jab early he could disrupt Holy's rhythm, especially if he can time Holy bouncing in. Holy's got a great beard but Wlad's a massive puncher and could easily stun him at several times with a quick right or hybrid jab/hook. If Wlad starts getting some momentum I see him begin to grind down Holy with jabs and leaning clinches, Holyfield getting the odd good punch in but not really troubling Wlad and eventually losing a UD (I think Holy's resilient enough and Wlad reticent enough to make this fight go the scorecards). Would easily be the toughest fight of Wlad's career though.
Holyfield 60/40
Either Holyfield catches Wlad early and begins to pressure Wlad to a stoppage
or
Wlad successfully slows the pace to his liking with his jab and grab style and grinds out Holyfield to a UD.
Of the two I see the former being the slighty more likely scenario playing out. Wlad isn't nearly as vulnerable to durable punchers as he was in the past (so anyone mentioning the likes of Purrity needs to get the hell out of this thread) but he's still vulnerable to getting caught in that split second when a fighter bridges the gap and Wlad clinches him up. Holyfield could catch him at some point coming in and whilst I don't think one shot would KO Wlad, it would certainly swing things in Holy's favour, especially if he starts to time Wlad and land with some regularity. I can see him stunning Wlad with a sharp overhand right, Wlad vainly trying to clinch him up and getting caught with a barrage of follow up blows, Holy fighting his way out of the clinch as Wlad gets increasingly groggy, then dropping him to his knees a few seconds later. Wlad gets up, gets dropped a few more times and the ref or corner stops the fight.
On the other hand, if Wlad establishes his jab early he could disrupt Holy's rhythm, especially if he can time Holy bouncing in. Holy's got a great beard but Wlad's a massive puncher and could easily stun him at several times with a quick right or hybrid jab/hook. If Wlad starts getting some momentum I see him begin to grind down Holy with jabs and leaning clinches, Holyfield getting the odd good punch in but not really troubling Wlad and eventually losing a UD (I think Holy's resilient enough and Wlad reticent enough to make this fight go the scorecards). Would easily be the toughest fight of Wlad's career though.
Holyfield 60/40
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