It seems like Wilder gets both downplayed as an overrated fighter, but is used to further Fury's legacy due to him winning the trilogy.
Zero. At best Wilder was a powerful fringe contender with a punchers chance against anyone if he'd dare to fight them - and we can't really even be sure of that because he hid for so much of his prime. Now Wilder is ready for the fork - he's done. The zombie of a myth. It's a bit of name recognition on a resume that already has plenty of better fighters and several bigger names... It adds nothing.
Fans and history remember great fights. They don't remember resume's. They don't remember belts. They don't remember how much you got paid. Fury Wilder HW trilogy in terms of pure entertainment and drama is pretty much GOAT'd - ABOVE Ali Frazier's legendary trilogy which is quite a statement. Fights where you can rewatch it multiple times are what history remembers. Fury 1, fairly lackluster in till the end rounds and a legendary 12th round. Fury Wilder 2 a blowout but a battering for the ages and the 3rd bout a war for ages with nothing but guts and balls. Don't remember how much everyone cried about Fury Wilder 3, majority bemoaned it taking place. This content is protected
hes the tape measure with which furys legacy is measured. his magnum opus. the reality of his level as a fighter.
Fury has a legacy? If anything Fury's legacy is the guy who dethroned Wlad and blew it all on cocaine and buffets.
They were great fights, loads of intrigue and entertainment. Fury won all 3. Fury wasn't nearly fully fit or seriously prepared for 2 of them. Wilder isn't that good and never was. These things can all be true... And they are. Wilder not being very good doesn't detract a jot from how good those fights were. Fury being unfit in 3 made it much more interesting than a carbon copy of 2 as was expected at the time.
No, knockdown caused by a novice boxer in his first match will forever more be at the top of Fury's legacy. Ngannou is Fury's Monica Lewinski.
50 years from now folk WONT talk of the Fury/Wilder trilogy in the same breath as Ali/Frazier......anyone suggesting otherwise really needs to stop being a gobbling fanboy
But unfortunately, now there's boxing before and after Mayweather. Its all about that 0 and those Ls.
Well, the trilogy means a lot, really. Once Fury beat him, everyone claimed he was easy to beat or that it validated their opinion of him being easy to beat. Fact is that nobody beat him though and AJ avoided him clearly. At the very least Wilder was considered a threat to AJ, which means he couldn't have been an easy win. The narrative you just need to be able to box to beat him is downright ridiculous. Ortiz got KO'd twice while outboxing him. The Polish guy who outboxed Adamek got KO'd while outboxing him. Stiverne was a good boxer and got beaten twice. Arreola was also a pretty good boxer and got beaten, though was quite old then. Helenius was a good boxer, a class above the fat Pole pressure fighter, and got KO'd. So Fury wins. Then Wilder is nearing forty and gets beaten by Parker and Zhang and suddenly he was always going to lose to everyone with some skill. But it simply isn't what happened. What happened is that good boxers could win rounds until they got KO'd. Wilder was very dangerous and Fury faced him three times, nobody else did that. He almost got KO'd twice despite having the best defence in the HW league until Usyk came up. That alone tells you that most people are getting bombed unless they can take Wilder out first. Parker actually dodged Wilder until he was KO'd and old. I have little doubt he'd have been taken out when Wilder was younger. Look what Fabio just did. Zhang I give a shot to take Wilder out when Wilder was younger, maybe he does it. But Zhang has rare power and chin. If he gasses Wilder has the advantage though. It's possible AJ would have beaten him, Povetkin may have. We give Zhang a chance. But who else? Maybe an upset here and there if he fought everyone. But he was dangerous, no denying it, simply because of the speed and punch.