Would modern Deontay Wilder be too small for the 80s/90s HW divison?

People commonly refer to the 80s and 90s as the emergence of the skilled SHWs.

Wilder, while very tall, last fought at 216lb.
And let's face it, weight classes aren't determined by height.
Would he be too small for all those SHW world beaters?

 

Ok, just to summarize

He'd be giving up from 10-35lb on guys like:

Lewis
Morrison
Bowe
Bruno
Ruddock
Tyson
Holmes
McCall
Rahman
Golota
Briggs
Tucker
Grant


He'd be the smallest of the pack.
He'd be even lighter than Holyfield in many of his HW fights.


You sure it's all good with that big frame?
I mean he's gonna need it, right?
These guys are good. And they hit hard. And there's a lot of them.
Even Foreman had to turn into a SHW to content.
You sure?

 

Interesting.
A 216lber with abysmal technique.

If I told you in 2013 that a man of that description would be the most feared HW belt holder in 5 years, what do you think your reaction would be?

 

But Lewis had a big frame + 35lb.
Different leagues of fighter, no?

And we can't draw a Foreman parallel, right?
Because he only made his comeback after being enlightened about the evolving conditions of the division, making himself into a modern SHW.

So Wilder compensates for being the smallest fighter of the pack of skilled SHWs with a big frame?
A frame that nets him less than 217lb? Hmm

 

a) Doesn't that seem like a very quick dismissal of this supposed evolution in the sport? What happened to athletes becoming just bigger and better? If the division can just "suck the hind tit" because a 216lb fighter is running rampant, did the theory even have legs in the first place? Does this shatter that theory altogether?

b) It's 2018. The sport is relatively fair. And he beat Ortiz by KO.

c) Sure, take it.

I notice that none of your reasons mention that a fighter of that size simply can be effective enough to be better than his much larger peers. Can this not be a plausible reason worth considering?

 

I know youre all about them long necks, I gotchu.

 

He had the flu. But at the end of the day he defeated Luis Ortis by KO weighing 216lb.
And he seems so comfortable having done so, that he is considering making himself even smaller to compete at a lower weight class.

No worries, based on my spelling, its apparent ive been up for too long!

 

Perhaps, but I'm talking about the revolutionary skilled SHWs that everyone has been talking about these last 5 years.