Imagine if Wilder manages to knock out Usyk...

In Wardley's defense, he beat Parker by stoppage. Parker probably deserved the shot at Usyk ahead of Kabayel by that stage; it was a stupid fight for him to take. Still, Wardley is now the man who beat one of the main contenders, and I think that carries a lot more weight than the paper title, but the WBO strap definitely adds a bit of spice to it. If Wardley can defend his belt against Joshua or Dubois, it would be the only realistic fight for him and would easily sell out Wembley again. I'd much rather see Wardley fight Usyk than Wilder, but there are about 10 other heavyweights who deserve the fight ahead of Wilder.

 

Its interesting though that AJ (who is clearly the better boxer than Wilder, with far greater list of wins) is scheduled to fight a clown who struggled vs shot Chavez Jr, and Wilder may get the fight vs the best HW who is generally recognized top-3 p4p

 

I agree with most of this but if you assume that Usyk is aware age has caught up with him, then you would think that Wardley would likely beat him? And there is no situation where a fighter who has achieved what Usyk has achieved can allow Wardley to beat him, no real boxing fan wants that for him.
But since you brought deserving into it then you surely the most deserving person here is usyk and how he has done more than enough to deserve to bring his career to an end how he sees fit.
But im gutted for Parker man, he didn’t deserve to go out like this but that’s him done now, I genuinely hope he gets through this because it’s a monumental fall from grace, and if he has been on the beek then I just hope he doesn’t look too the gear as an escape.

 

exactly. Why is why the choice is such a clear duck of Wardley.

Parker, in sure Usyk thought “I’ve got this”. Wardley? **** knows. Everybody looks good against him until they don’t.

I like to say the boxing gods never give it all to one man. There’s always something lacking. That’s why Wlad didn’t have his brother’s chin and why Usyk isn’t a big puncher. But with Wardley, the boxing gods really had a sense of humor — how about we actually DO give it all to one man, but give him a way too late start to the sport?

A 12 year old Wardley walks into a real boxing gym? **** me. You may get your Lennox Lewis or Wlad with a good chin.

 

Respectfully, you are forgetting that a vast majority of fans thought it was a British stoppage, which means Wardley can't be "ducked," because he hasn't even earned the spot.

If anyone, Kabayel is the guy being hard done.

 

im on the fence about the stoppage. Wardley almost had it done by the end of the 10th, and Parker was barely answering that barrage back in the 11th. Wardley still had time. If the ref hadn’t stopped it, my guess is that Wardley would have emptied everything he had and then some in that moment and eventually got the job done. But who knows.

Kabayel? He’s the guy who people thought Bakole was. He’s the legit boogeyman and nobody wants that smoke.

 

He delayed the Parker fight until he lost, relinquished the WBO belt so he wouldn't face Wardley and don't seem to be keen to face Kabayel.

 

He ducked Wardley, what he did is the definition of a duck. Not saying he doesn't believe he beats Wardley he most likely does... but he ducked that fight. You can't turn down mandated fights and say oh well Usyk would have won anyway. Fights are not won on paper, get in there and fight.

 

I find it very difficult to have sympathy for Kabayel when he's fighting an absolute zero, after a C level bumfighter dropped out on him - he's showing no interest in being serious right now (not for the first time)

 

Even though Zhang and Parker beat Wilder, he has the best punchers chance against Usyk as none of them can outbox Usyk.

 

100%. But there's a little thought at the back of my head that maybe his decline is less physical and more mental. I always felt Wilder was a bit of a confidence fighter and I wonder if that and the risk aversion which comes with age is the issue more than physical decline.

Against Usyk he and his trainers must surely know he has no chance apart from a very lucky punch, so he needs to go for broke early with his trademark windmills etc. If he does this and still has the physical athleticism, he has a small puncher's chance for sure.

I somehow don't feel as confident in Usyk here as i would have expected - he's getting old too and there is a chance he takes this one easily. I suspect he thought Chisora wasn't going to be that competitive a fight.

 

Nobody thinks Chisora is going to be an easy fight. He’s beatable, but it’s going to be a rough night anyway.

 

Nearly all Wilder's KOs were against guys who compliantly stood still in front of him and gave him time to plant his feet and wind up that big overhand right.

Usyk doesn't stand still.

I won't say Wilder's chances are about as good as Paul's .... but they ain't much better....

The biggest piece of suspense for me: With all the people calling this a cash grab, the question is where will the $$ for this sad excuse for a fight come from? Turki? PPV? I'm really wrestling with whether I shell out $$ beyond my regular DAZN subscription to see this.

 

He has the same chance as Jake Paul KOing AJ.
I think they should both be 1000-1 underdogs
Which would work out at £1,000,000 back on the £1 if you put on the accumulator (parlay) and they done the business.

 

The stoppage was totally fine.

Parker took a beating at the end of the 10th round.

Parker hadn't recovered going into the next round then Wardley hit him with another hard right hand and landed 20+ unanswered punches.

Totally legit stoppage and people making a song and dance about it is absolutely baffling to me.

So people want a 250+ pound KO artist walling away on an opponent for 40 seconds without the fighter fighting back ? Do these people want fighters to get permanently damaged ?

Thank god these fans aren't involved in boxing.