How does Wilder's Comeback End?

Fury was lineal champ. Whether he was better than AJ or not he was "the champ"

I don't see how one can blame a fighter for chasing the lineal title. AJ would have fought Fury instead of Wilder too for the same reason.

 

Because if he had fought AJ, he would've probably won and earned $100M more...

 

Hmm... A big deal is made of lineal on here, but I don't know that many would value lineal above undisputed - nor that too many would consider undisputed to be meaningless/invalid without including lineal.

And at that time... You had Fury who had no belts and a claim to being lineal despite being in very poor shape and expected to lose to Wilder (in hindsight, it seems odd, but at the time it made sense) on the one hand, and you had Joshua who'd beaten the same former lineal champ and unified three belts.

Which was "the" champ at the time in general opinion?

From my recollection it was Joshua - I think the emphasis on lineal became a lot more pronounced after Fury was robbed in the first Wilder fight.

 

Lineal is a prestigious honor that all fighters have dreamt of for a century, undisputed is a marketing gimmick created in the 21st century by the ABCs that doesn't even count interim titles. I truly think you are out of touch on this matter.

This is true but at the time you were referencing AJ and Wilder were waiting on Furys return mainly because a fight between them would not have been for the lineal title until he was gone a bit longer.

I don't feel as strongly about it as I did before Dubois but AJ might have been better than Fury. IMO Fury, AJ, Wilder and to an extent all tricked the fighting public into thinking they were the best. That doesn't mean I can reach into a time machine and pretend someone else was considered the best at that time. They weren't and when AJ had clearly pulled ahead of Fury in late 2023 and 2024 it did not erase the reality of the prior 7 years.

Fury won the lineal belt off Klitschko. Wilder and AJ co shared the spotlight during Furys hiatus and if Fury had been stripped they'd have been matched to fight for lineal. AJ was the first of the trio to lose and had lost three times nearly two years before Furys first loss which was the closest either him or AJ came to beating Usyk. AJ was considered better than Fury for less than a year in 2023-2024 when he held no belt. And he clearly surpassed Wilder around the same time when Parker dominated Wilder. That is the truth of how the public saw these fighters whether its the truth of who was actually the best is another story. But titles are given based on who is considered the best at that time(and "the man beating the man") not who is actually the best though you hope those things go together which they often do.

 

A body on his record, his own!

 

Few cans, then a fight with AJ in Riyadh that ends with Wilder being knocked out again.

although AJ could use some fight with cans himself at this point.

note — I don’t want Wilder to lose to AJ. Wilder has said some dumb things here and there but it seems out of the ring and away from boxing he’s nothing but a good dude. Family man, loves his kids, etc.

 

He would completely destroy any semblance of having a legacy, getting beat by Chisora.

 

Definitely, need more fighters like Wilfredo Benitez, who can no longer remember his own name.

 

Wouldn't have mattered, AJ would have ended him too. He could only face bums and washed up guys for so long.

 

Wilder wasn't chasing a lineal title since he called it a fake mickey mouse BS saying stupid casual shyte like: WHERE'S THE BELT FOR THAT LINEAL TITLE, HUH?

 

Against Jake Paul

 

Off topic for the OP, but I clicked the vid, let it play and scrolled down. As soon as the Clubber Lang 9 second bit ended, the music video for Fabolous ' Holla Back ' started playing. Scrolled back up and watched the whole thing... on this thread.
Best time I ever had on this site for no dang reason lol

 

Man you do not know about him look at his court cases and his history of physical abuse of women.

 

Yikes apparently not. Have a good link to it?

 

Well, Deontay Wilder is an aged fighter. He'll be 40 this fall. We all know how the game ends for 99.9 percent of these guys in their 40s. It isn't good.

But, as long as he fights guys around his weight or smaller, he'll be okay.

Fury stopped him and Zhang stopped him. Zhang, who was a top-rated heavyweight, outweighed him by 80 pounds. That's like Wilder knocking out a welterweight, and people complaining that the welterweight should've won. It's ridiculous at this stage of his career.

Wilder shouldn't be fighting anyone 80 pounds heavier than him. Finkel should've been fired for that alone.

Also, Fury was 40 pounds heavier than Wilder both times he stopped Wilder. And Fury was the best he has ever been in their second fight. Fury beats most heavyweights who ever lived on that night in February 2020.

Over the last few years, Wilder started fighting like Malik Scott did, running and basically just looking to counter. It was a terrible game plan, and he only won one fight out of the four he had under Malik.

But, for all the mileage Joseph Parker got for outpointing him, he only OUTPOINTED Wilder. Wilder didn't get beaten up. And others Parker has beaten in recent years can't say the same thing.

In fact, Wilder emerged from that fight relatively unscathed. But the fight was awful. And, fighting backing up, he threw next to nothing. (I think Ali landed more punches on Holmes - according to punchstat - than Wilder did against Parker). Still, Wilder raised his hands at the end, under the misguided notion, encouraged by Malik Scott, that he was doing fine backing up.

Parker was even surprised Wilder retreated all night.

Saturday was nice because Scott was gone and Wilder was fighting a guy a little lighter than him (for the first time in 13 years, which Finkel should also have been fired for), and Deontay didn't have to worry about anything. He won every round, scored a couple knockdowns, came forward, and got in some good rounds.

It was a nice tuneup. Nothing more.

At one point, Wilder had a shot to stop everyone you could ever put in the ring with him. The punch is the last thing to go, and it is GOING. There's no doubt about that.

However, if he fights opponents in the 220s or lower, he can likely reach 50 wins, which would be a commendable goal to aim for if he plans to continue fighting.

If he's going to keep fighting, his team should only match him with guys in the cruiser and bridger weight ranges. Those guys are heavyweights by the time the bell rings, but at least they won't have close to 100 pounds on him. If he only fights name cruisers and bridgers, I think he'll do fine for the time he's got left. But 40 is 40, after all. Most top heavyweights in history were long gone by this point.

If it's anyone heavier than him, they need to be selective. However, the days of him fighting guys 40 and 50 pounds more than him (or 80 or 100) AND WINNING, are over.