Can Wilder become Champion again?

No.

Not even in some alternate universe.

 

No.
He is 38 years old and line for titlle fight is pretty damn long. In best way its 2 fight Fury vs Usyk + later Joshua, Hrgovic, Zhang on the list.

He just lost on top with Parker and say "no" to Zhang fight where win can put him again on top.

He getting old soo he cant be better. He will just wait for another Saudi payday.
Chance he get some belts is max 10%

 

The only way he could become champion again is to pull a whole new strategy like Foreman did who proved it could be done at 38, but the problem here is to do that Wilder must first accept his earlier faults which he has proven he is incapable of doing.

That is the first step to get past. If he can't do that, he'll never win another championship again. If he can do it however, then yeah he needs a whole new gameplan. Particularly what would work best for him is a Larry Holmes/Old Foreman type of approach. Use long, accurate jabs with strong power behind them. Use them sparingly to prevent getting too tired and when defending, use head movement in combination with his long arms to push the other guy off him. This is something I think that can work for him to get him to champion level again.

 

I've probably been Wilder's biggest fan on this board and have been for years.

But no.

I always figured he'd retire after he lost his title, whenever that would be. If the Saudis hadn't gotten involved, he probably would've remained retired after the third Fury fight.

He made a fortune. He was being appreciated by fans after that third fight. You go out with the Fury series, you can walk away clean.

IMO, the fact that the Saudis started waving 'generational wealth' to boxers to fight there is the only reason he's still in the gym.

They're offering his peers $90 million for heavyweight title fights. It's nearly impossible to walk away from that kind of money when you came from nothing. When the price structure in the sport takes a big jump like that, historically, it's drawn so many fighters back.

(I remember Jerry Quarry being interviewed and saying he was only coming back because guys he knocked out in one round, like Earnie Shavers, were fighting Ali for more money than Quarry ever made for a fight. And that money Shavers and Ali were making is peanuts compared to now.)

However, in his last fight with Parker, according to punchstat, Wilder threw and landed fewer punches than Ali did against Holmes.

And every fighter who was in Saudi and was interviewed said before the Parker fight Wilder just didn't seem to be into it any more. He fought like he wasn't into it anymore.

Add to that that fact that Wilder went to therapists to control his anger. Took hallucinogens to try to alter the way he was thinking and to be more positive. (Presumably to prepare for a happy retirement.)

He also filmed a TV show for NBC's streaming arm Peacock called The Traitors, which apparently is a game show where people lie to each other. And he quit after an episode or two because he said it brought back some childhood trauma. (I haven't seen it. Sounds like it sucks.)

Then he came back and wept openly after knocking out Helenius, because he didn't want to hurt him and was afraid he did.

Throw in the Parker non-effort, and he probably needs to just go back to Alabama and enjoy his life.

But Malik, Finkel and those around him all want those paydays to keep coming in.

But, if your mind isn't right, it won't happen. He went from claiming he wanted to kill someone in the ring (which is the ultimate killer instinct - and he had it) to crying when he scored KOs because he doesn't want to hurt people.

And he certainly didn't hurt Parker. (It was the first Wilder fight I ever watched where I was bored.)

I think he's done.

He's 38. He's much lighter than everyone else. He's even light for the Bridgerweight division at this point.

If he's not going to go all out to KO people, then what's the point?

He had it right when he stopped fighting after the third Fury fight. Whoever is convincing him to go on is doing him no favors.

 

What titles?

 

After the way Parker dismantled him?

No chance.

 

He can... He can even go on to have another decent length reign...

IF.

BIG IF.

He's set up with another gatekeeper level fight to win it.

Given how awful some of the orgs are, and how nonchalantly the WBC allowed him to keep his title fighting primarily journeymen..
Is it impossible? No.

It's not very likely, but he's led a very charmed career for his combination of ability and lack of adventurousness.

 

Doubtful, 1 he’s past it and 2 he’s always been overrated. Now he can’t defend his belt against journeymen and actually has to fight legit top 10 guys who can move their legs a little I see him struggling massively.

 

WBU?

 

He can. He still has that power, and still knocks out most heavyweights. He's only lost three fights in his career and people think he's done? This is why boxing sucks and fighters cherry pick to keep that zero.

 

While that's a decent point, I think the idea he can't is more about how he lost. Not to mention his age. And for a while now, we've all seen his technique is not that great. There's a reason he's relied on his power to bail him out. And while he still has that, there needs to be the ability to pull that trigger when the opening provides it.

I was a big fan of Wilder early on. He was what US boxing needed. A big and powerful HW KO artist. He had some charisma as well, which helps sell. But the level of competition he faced sort of suggested something. HIs own promoter saying he was not ready for Wlad when Wilder was already a belt holder was a sign. Personally, I believe if you hold a belt, then you cannot use the "Not ready for..." excuse. When you have a belt, it's all comers from there on. But Finkel didn't want to match him w/ Wlad. That was a flag.

And now after how he lost to Parker, it's easy to see why some think he's done.

I'm of the opinion he's not 100% done. For me, would take one more fight to give me the full story. A lot of fighters have the bad night. But when it's a couple in a row, that's more telling for me.

 

There's no champion he can beat. I doubt he beats Joshua, don't see him beating Joyce or Zhang, Hrgovic I dunno, maybe he could clip him but he's getting up there and his style is based on wild speed. If he can't land with both speed and power.................

 

Maybe the IBA, WBU or WBF champ. Lollolol

 

All it takes is some crap to win a vacant title like Stiverne did and then he could possibly pick one up again just like how he got his belt which he held hostage the first time.