Oh it's without question a dangerous fight for Wilder. In some ways more dangerous than a Fury match, absolutely. Smith was more than capable of smacking the crap out of Deontay.
Smith didn't have the fire power or the hand speed to to have a victory over Wilder. He did possess size though, but he couldn't maul his way to a win.
I don't see the case for Smith. His horrible defense and very slow movement is a disaster against a puncher of Wilder's caliber. I would be very surprised if Smith makes it competitive to be honest and I'm not high on Wilder at all.
Bruno was a puncher with a very dangerous right hand like Wilder, he wasn't able to get rid of Bonecrusher. As for making a case for Bonecrusher ? Simple Bonecrusher beat names like Weaver, Witherspoon, Bruno, who are better than anyone on Wilder's resume. Bonecrusher was also a puncher himself, with fairly good durability and size to tackle the modern Heavyweights. Wilder has been rocked and put down by lesser men than Bonecrusher, and is also very crude himself, infact at times can be even more crude than Bonecrusher. I don't know why everyone seems to dismiss Bonecrusher so easily, I think hes a live underdog in this match up.
Everything you typed was okay until the last part. From the 1970's on you frequently seen 6'4,6'5, 6'6 ect heavyweights. I don't know why people act like that size is something new. Also there is no such thing as super heavyweight as a pro. Also Bone Crusher was a 240 pound guy who got down to 230 for little bit. Most of his career he was 230/240 range which means Smith weighed just as much as Anthony Joshua .
Um Deontay Wilder weighs 210. The only heavyweight champion/s who were lighter than Wilder were Holyfield and Frazier and even then sometimes they came into the bout weighing around 210 up to 224. So Deontay Wilder isn't a modern heavyweight? Also James Smith boxed in the late 1990's where we had guys like Michael Grant who was 6'7 250, Lance Whitaker who was 6'8 240/250, Jorge Luis Gonzales who was 6'7/6'8,Henry Akinwande who was 6'8 and Mike White who was 6'10 250 to 300 pounds. Amazing how nobody ever called them super heavyweights now the moment a guy is 6'5 230 people like you act like this is so shocking.
James Smith is a better fighter than Wilder. Neither had head movement. Most heavyweights don't unless they are short like Mike Tyson. James Smith took some good punches from Tyson and didn't seem that buzzed. Smith could punch himself. Smith is physically more imposing. Wilder is taller but Smith is far more bulky. Smith fought and beat way better opponents than Wilder. Wilder's best win to date is still against a 78 year old Luis Ortiz. Smith should be favorite to win. If you think anything besides that maybe you don't know boxing like you think you know boxing.
When did I say Deontay Wilder wasn't a modern Heavyweight ? You may want to read my post again. I said Bonecrusher was 6'4 and weighed up to 220+/230+. So he'd be able to mix it with the modern Heavyweights, and he wouldn't be undersized like some of the Heavyweights from yesteryear. I made no mention of Wilder not being a modern Heavyweight of course he is. My point is Wilder's size wouldn't be that much of a factor as Bonecrusher is a pretty big Heavyweight himself.
Wilder has a hard time missing on the caveman. Smith is one of the most overrated boxers in h2h discussions and I can't fathom why. Who the hell did he beat besides a green weak chinned Bruno and a disinterested Witherspoon who mentally checked out before the fight began? The guy lost to Marvis ****ing Frazier. He was stopped by Larry Holmes who would probably need to land 3-4 punches to match one of Wilder's. Wide open defense, slow as molasses, flat feet, terrible ring IQ. Good but not great power. If Smith fought today and Wilder beat him, not one person on this forum would rate him as a decent heavyweight and you know it. Smith isn't any better than other cavemen brawlers like Cobb, Peter, or Arreola (who Wilder stopped despite having a broken hand). I would hesitate to even give Smith much of a punchers chance since Wilder would easily beat him to the punch with his advantages in speed, reach, and athleticism. He isn't outboxing Wilder in a dozen attempts. Wilder TKOs Smith within 5-7 rounds tops.
You bring up Witherspoon yet atleast Bonecrusher destroyed an overweight Witherspoon. Wilder couldn't stop Fury in their 1st meeting, who had been grossly overweight on drug binge. I don't really favour Bonecrusher in H2H match ups, nor am I saying he even wins this fight. But I don't see why Wilder should be such a massive favourite. Your discrediting Bonecrushers win over Bruno, yet if Wilder had Bruno on his resume it would arguably be Wilders best win of his career. Along with Bonecrushers victories over Weaver, Witherspoon. Also Bruno like Wilder had tremendous right hand power, yet Bruno could not get rid of Bonecrusher. I don't know why your so confident Wilder finishes off Bonecrusher. If Bonecrusher can get on inside and make his physical strength apparent, and rough up Wilder I think he has decent chance of pulling off the upset. Again I'm not saying I'm making Bonecrusher the favourite in this match up, I just don't think Wilder is such an overwhelming favourite. As for the Holmes loss that was on a cut.
Smith would make Wilder work for the win and might even rock him a few times. But ultimately I think Deontay prevails.
Fury wasn't on drugs when he fought Wilder, stop it. He lost the weight from his inactivity and had two tune ups. I'm tired of this revisionist history. I watched all of these events transpire live, all of the reports and workouts. Fury was certainly in better shape mentally and physically than a Witherspoon who lost before he got in the ring. Smith himself will tell you Witherspoon's heart wasn't in that fight! Wilder is definitely a massive favorite. Smith is the PERFECT opponent for Wilder. A slow, stationary guy with no defense who rarely even has the common sense to set up his strong right hand with a jab and just swings away like a gorilla. You do realize the Bruno that Smith beat was green and inexperienced? No, Bruno would definitely not be Wilder's best win. Bruno was only 22 and hadn't fought anyone. Bruno had a good right hand, but he wasn't really using it in the Smith fight. He was boxing behind a jab and going for a points win. Did you even watch the fight? It should still be in YouTube. He wasn't bombing away like Wilder would. Yes Holmes stopped him on cuts but plenty of people stopped Smith and none of them hit even remotely as hard as Wilder. He's a wide open target. As good as his chin is, all it will do is provide Wilder with good target practice. Rough up Wilder on the inside? Smith wasn't exactly a brilliant inside fighter either. Better than Wilder but not by a lot. He was an ok body puncher but he mostly just threw random flurries up close and didn't have a plan on the inside, or at any range for that matter. He was no Frazier lol.
Um little kid that is my point. Deontay Wilder weighs 205 pounds and he is a modern sized heavyweight so why do people like you act like boxers from the 70's, 80's 90's and early 2000's were too small to compete against the heavyweights fighting now. Also based off your logic wouldn't that mean Andy Ruiz a 6'0 guy is small? Then how did he beat Joshua? Alexander Povetkin is 6'1 and he was heavyweight champion recently, Usyk is 6'2 200 pounds and is heavyweight champion now. Every heavyweight champion since Ali became champion was over 200 pounds so unless you are talking about guys like Rocky Marciano and Ezzard Charles there has been no heavyweight since Muhammad Ali to this day who would be considered undersized. Also as i typed Bone Crusher Smith was a 230-240 pound guy. Not a 220-230 pound guy.
I've seen the fight once but a long time ago, i don't really remember much specifics about the fight. Other than Bruno was ahead in the fight and he got floored after getting in trouble along the ropes, as Bruno often did when he got hurt he froze along the ropes. Bruno was green yes but he was still 21-0 KO artist, and Bonecrusher himself had less fights than Bruno. I stand by what i said that if Wilder beat Bruno it would be one of Wilder's best wins of his career, especially if you consider what Bruno did after. As we often rate wins higher with hindsight. Like Tony Tucker's win over Douglas grew in reputation for what Douglas did after. And what about Bonecrusher's win over Mike Weaver in 1 round ? surely that win would be one of Wilder's best wins aswell would it not ? And what about if Bonecrusher catches Wilder ? it's not like Wilder is some master boxer. He's been floored and almost KO'ed by a fighter with a losing record, he had alot of difficulty vs Szpilka, was almost KO'ed by an ancient Ortiz, struggled vs Duhaupas, all these fighters extended Wilder into the 2nd half of the fight. Bonecrusher in his prime was pretty durable the only time he was stopped that i can recall was vs Holmes on a cut, and against the very hard hitting Ruddock in a war. Where he had Ruddock down himself and came close to stopping him. I think this is a tougher fight for Wilder than you think, and i believe Bonecrusher could make it a rough night for Wilder. Do i make Bonecrusher the favourite in this fight ? no. But i don't think it's a formality that Wilder wins. I think Bonecrusher is physically stronger than Wilder and could have success on the inside, i'm not saying he's some master inside fighter. But i think he could use his strength and rough house tactics to make it uncomfortable for Wilder, and as you rightly pointed out he is a better inside fighter than Wilder. Lastly we've had a few discussions about Wilder, and you may think i'm a Wilder hater. I don't dislike him i just don't rate him very highly, atleast on the eye test his skills just don't look that impressive to me. Maybe i'm not seeing what your seeing and what other knowledgeable posters see, and maybe i need to review more of his fights. But outside of his right hand power which is impressive, although for me there's still a little question mark to how good his power actually is. I think if Wilder were to stop Ruiz in his next fight, i'd actually give him alot credit for the stoppage. And actually start to stand up and take notice of him as a fighter. But until that fight happens and answers a few questions for me, i'm just not that impressed or totally sold on Wilder yet.
