If Wilder Never Fought Again..?

Definitely not top 30. At least not in terms of achievements.

 

What Wilder is benefiting from is that he has defended the WBC title 10 times (including one title defense against Tyson Fury), and he has done more in a century and a half:
- Muhammad Ali (10 defending the title during his second reign)
- Tommy Burns (11 title defenses)
- Vladimir Klitschko (18 defending titles)
- Larry Holmes (20 defending titles)
and
- Joe Lewis (25 title defense).

Yes, his legacy is nothing, but that is the only reason why he will join the HOF.
The percentage of knockouts is terrible, he knocked down everyone he fought with.
That is why it is among the top 30, even as the 30th.

 

I think a case could be made for top 30, at least in a head to head sense. The guy definitely has the power to stop a lot of good heavyweights, past and present.

 

Depends on the criteria. His title defenses are better than Burns or Patterson, probably Johnson, too. I would rank above Baer in all ways. Head to head, he likely wipes the slate clean with the division up till Lewis' time.

 

The quality of his wins are very poor. But his 11 title fight wins, incredible KO percentage and giving hell to the only man who beat him all have to count for something. Top thirty is hard but manageable. Top forty is still fair. Anything below top fifty is hard to justify.

 

His consistency and power, tho against poor opposition, could see him in the top 100 i reckon. What saves him is the lack of losses and maybe you could even post a positive enough spin to eek him into the top 50. How many legit top 10 heavyweights has he beat?

 

2+1
Bermane stiverne (champion; twice), Luis ortiz (two heavy knockouts), and Tyson Fury draw (during winning the WBC belt and 10 defending titles).

 

He’s in the same tier as the alphabet belt holders of the 80s

 

That's exactly how I look at him. He's a B-level fighter with A+ power. He'd never have been anywhere as successful as he has been without that right hand.

 

His power would let him mix it up with anyone. Put him against your top 10 H2H heavyweights and he's going to end up brutally KO'ing 3-5 of them, probably score knockdowns on 8-9 of them.

 

Fergy, I have been hearing that Tyson Fury is going to retire.

 

I think he’s a difficult man to judge. He beat so few real contenders. Obviously had the power but had he faced good competition there’s zero chance imo he would last ten title defenses against ranked men. Even if only half were. He was lucky to beat Old and imo not very good Ortiz twice. And he should have lost the first Fury fight it wasn’t close. He missed so many good fighters. Not just AJ but he missed Povetkin (who kills him imo), Ruiz, Whyte, Wlad, Parker, Usyk, Miller I’m not so sure he can beat any of them with his skill set. How can I put any man with such a thin resume top 30? No way for me. Maybe top 75. If he has a few more fights and sparks Ruiz or Whyte that may bump him to top 40 for me. But he’s got to prove it. Looking good against bums means zip.