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Am I the only one who thinks that Wlad's style has changed for the worse since Manny's death?
Despite the UD and the score, Wlad wasn't really able to control the fight like he did against haye - that was the main reason why he was clinching and leaning so much (which was just awful, and I say that as a fan of the brothers). He obviously had real trouble keeping Povetkin at a distance, he couldn't really make use of his reach advantage, or set up his jabs - after one or two jabs (most of which missed their target), Povetkin had closed the gap, and Wlad clinched.
His upper body looked quite stiff too, especially if you compare it to the haye fight, where he was showed good movement.
Also, why did he keep his left that far down all the time? I know that Vitali does that all the time, but he is a different kind of animal. I think that's quite a risky tactic for someone with a weak chin.
I also noticed that Wlad was less patient than he used to be when Steward was there. He tried to force it in the 7th, missed with power punches quite often, something that I haven't seen before with Wlad.
The only positive thing that I can say about yesterday's fight is that Wlad's left jab is still very sharp and fast. But generally I found the performance disappointing.
Despite the UD and the score, Wlad wasn't really able to control the fight like he did against haye - that was the main reason why he was clinching and leaning so much (which was just awful, and I say that as a fan of the brothers). He obviously had real trouble keeping Povetkin at a distance, he couldn't really make use of his reach advantage, or set up his jabs - after one or two jabs (most of which missed their target), Povetkin had closed the gap, and Wlad clinched.
His upper body looked quite stiff too, especially if you compare it to the haye fight, where he was showed good movement.
Also, why did he keep his left that far down all the time? I know that Vitali does that all the time, but he is a different kind of animal. I think that's quite a risky tactic for someone with a weak chin.
I also noticed that Wlad was less patient than he used to be when Steward was there. He tried to force it in the 7th, missed with power punches quite often, something that I haven't seen before with Wlad.
The only positive thing that I can say about yesterday's fight is that Wlad's left jab is still very sharp and fast. But generally I found the performance disappointing.
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