Deontay Wilder In The 70s

Wilder never fought anyone like Jimmy Ellis, because failed middleweights don't become heavyweight boxing champions anymore.

Nobody today could lose FIVE fights at middleweight and move up to heavyweight and win a vacant belt, like Jimmy Ellis did.

Looking around today, there aren't any highly rated heavyweights who lost FIVE times at middleweight, like there were 50 years ago when Shavers knocked out Ellis.

Do you see anyone who challenged the Charlos with FIVE losses moving up to heavyweight and winning a vacant heavyweight belt? I do not.

But I'm sure if a guy who lost FIVE times at middleweight moved up to heavyweight today and somehow managed to win a vacant belt, Wilder would take care of him posthaste.



Don't hold it against Wilder that he was outweighed by 20, 40 or 50 pounds and was knocking guys out, but didn't get around to knocking out some failed middleweights who can't even crack 200 pounds.

I'm sure he'd prefer to fight 180 and 190 pounders like Earnie did.

 

Fury, Ortiz and Stiverne could all crack hard and he took their best for many rounds. I also don’t see him losing to Bob Stallings, Ron Lyle or even Jerry Quarry

 

He does alright, better than Shavers in some areas.

He'd KTFO any Norton, Ellis or Shavers.

Foreman and Frazier would absolutely batter him. I'd favour Lyle over Wilder. Jimmy Young is a large favourite over him and I'd be confident taking any version of Ali - including the one who thought Shavers - over him.

Jerry Quarry is a winnable fight for him, but he could also lose that one spectacularly.

Wilder's chin and stamina are also pretty bad. Never got why people thought they were ever any good.

And seeing dubble embarrass himself over Wilder after all this time is still hilarious

 

It's all on the timing. The best version of 70's Ali beats him, the best version of 70's Holmes beats him, the best version of Foreman beats him etc. Frazier would be a good chance of smothering his power and gassing him down. Rabbit punches would be a big danger. He'd be dangerous in these fights but more fleeting moments dangerous than anything like with Fury. All these guys could come back from big punches and with the possible exception of Frazier he wouldn't be able to keep them down. Wilder hasn't beaten anyone near this level. Realistically he's 0-3 against Fury. He had some big moments against Fury but in reality those moments are akin to Shavers/Snipes against Holmes, Lyle's against Foreman, etc. The fat lady was all warmed up but she didn't take the stage.

The other guys are interesting matchups. These are the fights that would determine his place, unless he was timed to fight poor versions of the above. Jimmy Young would be interesting. He'd see Wilder's right hand coming miles away and Wilder isn't hard to outwork which was sometimes Jimmy's problem. He'd have to overcome a lot of dimension tho. Norton would have to overcome styles and history, Lyle was flawed but tough. Bonavena, Quarry, Chuvalo, Bugner, He'd be in the mix with these guys. He'd win some IMO.

 

Some of you have a higher opinion of Wilder’s skills than I do. I don’t think he stands out in the 70’s era, much like he doesn’t stand out much now in the weakest heavyweight era in history.

 

I'm not sold on them either. People talk about Foreman but if Wilder threw the amount of punches he did in The Rumble he'd collapse at some point. When he has to get busy or is pressured he gases quick. He gets another wind somewhat and still has big power but he was a physical wreck in the second Fury fight in no time at all and for quite a bit of the third despite his fleeting successes.

It never gets old does it. We can look forward to many more years of it because as long as the sun is hot and water wet he won't be able to help himself.

 

I can't agree Wilder's chin is glass. He took some downright inhumane punishment against Fury before finally succumbing especially in the third fight. His performances against Fury have aged remarkably since Fury-Whyte.

 

I don't see anyone beating him except Ali, Foreman, Holmes, and perhaps Frazier tbh.

 

He fought Marlon Hayes instead, who was former 5'9 middleweight who came back out of retirement overweighed. I can't find this fight on YT, but Wilder had a lot of problems with him supposedly...

I'm not so sure. Wilder's biggest advantage over these huge stiffs is his speed and explosiveness. He wouldn't have that advantage against smaller and better boxers. I'm sure someone like Ellis would be a more dangerous opponent for him than the majority of Wilder's best wins, because Wilder didn't face good boxers except few times and he struggled in all of them.

 

Whyte is done, I fail to understand why people put so much value into that Fury win. Whyte looked absolutely horrible in that fight and he looked bad in previous fights as well.

 

I disagree. He looked good against Povetkin in his last fight, and the fight before that before he was caught with a brutal uppercut.

He's the exact same age of Fury (they're literally one day apart), and much younger than Wilder.

 

You have to go right to the point where Ali is very close to retirement and his speech has shown clear signs of slowing. WIlder is a guy who loses almost every round and only wins rounds where he hurts/knocks guys down. Gerald Washington winning rounds comfortably. If you go back a few years to 74 when Ali was comfortable taking everything Foreman had to offer, there is no chance for Wilder.

 

He doesn't stand out much now? Seriously?

 

Povetkin was 42 years old in the rematch... I fail to see what's impressive with Whyte performance. He didn't look good in any of Povetkin's fights to me, maybe you have different standards for top HWs though.

Not all boxers age the same way. Again, Povetkin was over 40 when he stopped Whyte.