Incidentally, if Deontay Wilder is the hardest puncher of all time, it would actually be a significant blow to the supporters of modern superheavyweights. He might be a contemporary fighter, but his weight has been as low as 214lbs, which puts it within the range of the old timers. It would mean by implication, that the current generation of behemoths, do not necessarily hit harder then James Jeffries, Max Baer, Joe Louis, or Sonny Liston.
Wilder is deeply misunderstood, he's actually one of the most intelligent, articulate and well educated heavyweights in history, which he combines with having exceptional drive and motivation. A modern Gene Tunney, he's a scholar of classic literature. He set his sights on being both Don Quixote and a windmill, and has succeeded in both triumphantly. First with his uncontrolled flailing, and now with his delusional unhinged ramblings.
Correct, which is why they desperately and laughably attempt to move the goal posts of what constitutes a SHW by pointing to his height lol. It’s comical really. Seamus will explain.
What's the heaviest Wilder has been? Isn't it like 230? Francois Botha said Mike Tyson hit harder than Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko on more than one occasion and he's not the only person to say Tyson hit harder than Lennox. Danny Williams said Tyson hit harder than Vitali Klitschko too. A few guys said Wilder hits harder than Wlad too.
Wilder has an unusually rangey build which means he can get a lot of leverage on his punches. "The old timers" that you quoted are typically more blocky. That said I don't think anybody anywhere said that Liston, Baer and Louis didn't hit hard.
Yeah there's not really anyone built like Wilder in the heavyweight division, maybe Steve Cunningham was similar, a bit shorter and was around the 210 range at heavyweight but didn't have anywhere near the power of Wilder.
Wilder is an athlete with fighting instinct, he is not a conventional boxer. He does things that can't be taught, a lot of it is exaggerated technique. An example, boxers are taught to transfer most of their weight to their rear foot when they hook, Wilder often transfers ALL of his weight, taking his front foot off the ground. Everything he does is similar, it would be useless to train another fighter using Wilder's techniques. For it to work, it would take a clone of Wilder. Wilder has a delivery system for his big punches too. He opens and closes distance with his length, he's fast and he carries his power. A person could probably train one of the World's Strongest Men (WSM) to throw a punch that would register on a machine higher than any boxer, but the system to land the punch probably wouldn't be there. Wilder has the speed, the courage, the movement to land his unconventional power shots and that's what makes him so dangerous. He has the confidence that he can give away rounds and he'll land what he wants eventually. It looks like the obvious place to fight Wilder would be close/inside, but that might be hard to do. Wilder is physically strong, he doesn't do conventional fighting - he might just jump back or run around the ring, losing points just so the other fighter couldn't fight him on the inside. But every time the other man tries to close the distance he is going to be in danger of one of Wilder's "unconventional" punches. Fury was able to beat him, but how many Tyson Furys have there been in boxing history? Fury and Wilder are one of a kind fighters. If they fight again and neither has lost anything, Fury has the boxing skill to beat Wilder, but Wilder has the speed, and power to pull the upset.