Vitali stops him in the middle rounds. Deontay , the hardest hitting single shot all time guy, the ultimate one trick pony ... it's astonishing how poor a fight he was ..
Besides Lennox Wilder should be favored against all the Vitali opponents but not Vitali himself. That doesn't mean Wilder wins all those fights but he'd be favored.
He’d have the ability to score knockouts against all of Vitali’s opponents including Chris Byrd and a 37 year old Lewis who both beat him. In all likelihood however, would it play out that way in every one of those fights ? Probably not.
Wilder "could" beat most of those guys simply by virtue of having an atomic punch. However, that's not the same as favouring him. Sanders sends Wilder to the shadow realm to twerk in darkness. Even the fat-as-**** version that showed up for Vitali. He didn't need 4 rounds to dial in the distance and drop the hammer. Other guys like Puritty, Chisora and Briggs would test the theory of Wilder being a one shot stopper big time. These guys not only had granite chins but big power of their own. There's a whole other slew of guys on Vitali's resume that I can see beating Wilder too. No way in hell does Wilder go through Vitali's resume without several losses, and I'm not even talking about Lewis who would murk him big time.
I’d favor Sanders over 18 holes because he was a good golfer but he got iced by Nate Tubbs and Wilder would probably do the same.
Sanders would be the best bet but we have to take into account Sanders was the end of his career at that point, and put on considerable weight between Wladimir/Vitali fights in which Sanders played golf more than actually training in the gym. Would Sanders still be a threat ? Yes. But the version of Sanders that was out of shape vs Vitali I would say less so unless he can finish Wilder early.
I agree 100%. Sure he has a punchers chance but who doesn't at heavyweight minus Byrd. I think Sanders at his best would smash Wilder. Byrd isn't losing to a guy that wings overhand right hands. He's simply too slick. I would also add Juan Carlos Gomez and Kirk Johnson to the mix of guys that lost to Vitali that could beat Wilder on their best day.
What you have to take into account though is the versions of these fighters Vitali fought. For example Kirk Johnson was 260 pounds vs Vitali as Larry Merchant said "That whale just got harpooned" I don't see grossly out of shape Johnson offering up much resistance. And as I said earlier even Sanders was out of shape vs Vitali and played more golf than training in the gym. Sanders had put on 10 pounds between Wladimir/Vitali fights.
Agreed. Wilder had the chin and conditioning to survive Corrie’s early onslaughts but by the 6th round or so Sanders would start to gas which would create an opening for some of those lethal punches
In that case that changes things slightly. But honestly I'd rather pit Wilder against the versions of each fighter Vitali fought. Because that's actually how it went down in Vitali's career and it's a bit more of realistic scenario. Rather than saying for example Wilder vs 1994 version of Corrie Sanders.
Sanders was not out of shape .. he simply developed a pear shape but he was highly trained , well prepared and ready for the flght ... it was a highly publicized shot at the title ... the saying he was out off shape as in unprepared is revisionist nonsense.