An unbiased look at Wilder’s top 10 opponents

Southpaw mover Szpilka beat an aging but still decent Adamek and got a post-Wilder win over Wach, who gave Whyte a very tough fight. In his prime, Szpilka would have given Andy Rice Pudding Jr. hell.

 

I've read it before, I don't take any rankings agency very seriously. No one believes that a 9th ranked Martin or Breazeale would be better wins than 10th ranked Usyk, everyone knows that Usyk is a vastly better fighter than either. No AJ fan on this forum would take it seriously if AJ had beaten Usyk and I said "Usyk was only the 10th ranked heavyweight, lower than Breazeale and Martin". I'm interested in working out who the best fighters are, not who is ranked higher by this or that agency.

 

This was about Wilder's 10 best opponents, not 10 best wins. Just as AJ's contain only 8 wins and losses to Ruiz and Usyk, Wilder's contains 7 wins with a Fury draw and losses to Fury x2. Soon I expect AJ's top 10 opponents to consist of 7 wins and 3 losses.

If you read carefully, you will see that I concede AJ probably has the better top win, even given the context but Wilder's top 5 opponents are stronger. Furthermore, Wilder hasn't lost to a "tomato can" short notice 10/90 underdog, let alone been dropped 4 times and quit, which is something that AJ's staunchest defenders always love to omit.

 

I make the comparison to show that these rankings are deeply flawed, which you accept to some degree when you said they're not perfect. For example, Takam was rated 6th but his best win was a mid 40's Tony Thompson: a 9-3 decision in France. He'd also lost to Gregory Tony. He wasn't a puncher either, hence he was a 14/1 underdog against AJ. The public were being conned by Hearn, thinking these short and/or old, possibly short notice light punching fringe contenders were among the best in the division.

It's also very arbitrary to consider "top 10's" only. Why not top 2/3? Why not include losses? The question should be "do these rankings have predictive power?"

 

"10 best opponents and 10 best wins are the same thing, you dumb****"

No, they're actually very distinct. Chisora's top 10 opponents include Tyson Fury, Usyk and Vitali Klitschko. They don't include shopworn Takam, Kevin Johnson or David Price, who are right at the top of his wins column.

 

Adamek was 38, Wach was younger and fresher than he was when he gave Whyte a good fight. The version of Szpilka who beat Wach was also faded. If Spzilka gets no credit for his wins over Adamek and Wach, Whyte gets no credit for wins over 40+ Wach and 40+ Povetkin. And Szpilka didn't lose to a senior citizen either, much less in his prime by KO.

I'm not saying Szpilka is a good opponent: he's a blown-up, C level cruiserweight. But he's also a slick southpaw, which adds some diversity to the resume. In the same vein, I don't think a 37 year old, short notice Takam was more than a C level win either. AJ fans assure me that this was a "top 10 win" lmao.

 

I tried to be gentle with him, I'm not in the business of mocking the severely intellectually compromised.