I like Manny Steward. I like to hear him talk, and I like to dissect his analysis. But I DONT like him cornering a fighter!
I think the advice he gave to Klitchko last night was atrocious. Here we have Vladimir clearly winning the fight easily going into the final rounds.. Most trainers, in similiar circumstances, would tell their fighters, 'youve got the fight won, so dont take any stupid chances.. Just stick and jab through the final round, and dont get hit!'. That would be the prudent approach to take.. Especially with a wild swinger like this Ibragimov. Clearly, Klitchko was having alot of trouble against this lefty stance. Ibragimov was throwing bombs from all angles, any one of which could have been big trouble had they landed. . After all, the guy has won 70% of his fights by knockout; not quite up to Klitchko's own knockout record of over 80%, but still, Ibragimov was not without power. After a few rounds, it was apparent that Klitchko was having big trouble with his left handed opponent's style. And as a result, there should have been a shift in Steward's strategy away from having to look exciting to one which said that a knockout would be nice if it came, but it would be preferable for Klitchko to just box the guy, stay away, and chalk up the victory.
Its not possible for a fighter to look great against everybody. As they say, styles make fights, and Ibragimov's style was not one Klitchko would ever look great against.
So, for Steward in the last rounds to say to his charge, '...if you dont knock him out, its going to be Really Bad', to me, bordered on sheer incompetence. The main thing you want to do against an awkward fighter like Ibragimov who has knockout power of his own, is to NOT GET CAUGHT. In the end, while it was a boring fight, I think Klitchko did exactly the right thing. He demonstrated a terrific defense, scored plenty enough to win almost every round, without taking stupid chances. Thats how to build up a good pro record, and to consolidate your career, and the division. Klitchko is clearly the most talented heavyweight out there, and so long as he keeps putting up those Ws, he'll be recognized as the single HW champ of the world before long. All it takes is one bad loss to derail his future.
With all that on the line, I think Klitchko had the right idea, and Manny Steward didnt! I think he should give up his training career and stick to commentating.
I think the advice he gave to Klitchko last night was atrocious. Here we have Vladimir clearly winning the fight easily going into the final rounds.. Most trainers, in similiar circumstances, would tell their fighters, 'youve got the fight won, so dont take any stupid chances.. Just stick and jab through the final round, and dont get hit!'. That would be the prudent approach to take.. Especially with a wild swinger like this Ibragimov. Clearly, Klitchko was having alot of trouble against this lefty stance. Ibragimov was throwing bombs from all angles, any one of which could have been big trouble had they landed. . After all, the guy has won 70% of his fights by knockout; not quite up to Klitchko's own knockout record of over 80%, but still, Ibragimov was not without power. After a few rounds, it was apparent that Klitchko was having big trouble with his left handed opponent's style. And as a result, there should have been a shift in Steward's strategy away from having to look exciting to one which said that a knockout would be nice if it came, but it would be preferable for Klitchko to just box the guy, stay away, and chalk up the victory.
Its not possible for a fighter to look great against everybody. As they say, styles make fights, and Ibragimov's style was not one Klitchko would ever look great against.
So, for Steward in the last rounds to say to his charge, '...if you dont knock him out, its going to be Really Bad', to me, bordered on sheer incompetence. The main thing you want to do against an awkward fighter like Ibragimov who has knockout power of his own, is to NOT GET CAUGHT. In the end, while it was a boring fight, I think Klitchko did exactly the right thing. He demonstrated a terrific defense, scored plenty enough to win almost every round, without taking stupid chances. Thats how to build up a good pro record, and to consolidate your career, and the division. Klitchko is clearly the most talented heavyweight out there, and so long as he keeps putting up those Ws, he'll be recognized as the single HW champ of the world before long. All it takes is one bad loss to derail his future.
With all that on the line, I think Klitchko had the right idea, and Manny Steward didnt! I think he should give up his training career and stick to commentating.
